[flashbunny]

Didn't see this posted yet. Maybe it's not doom and gloom enough for some...

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[Sally II]

Sars wreaks havoc on Asian airlines

[HiTech RedNeck]

Health authorities are baffled at the apparent difference in the severity of a disease caused by the same virus in different countries. ''We can't explain it,'' says John Jernigan, the CDC expert who is monitoring patient care in the USA. ''We're actively investigating possible reasons for that.''

Could it be the health care system is better here

[Fishing-guy]

There is also a rumor that as the disease spreads, it becomes weaker. Not sure what is the reason behind that?

[goldstategop]

The greatest country in the history of the world appears to be unusually blessed. Or is it my imagination?

[Blackyce]

I think we might just have alot of people who have been misdiagnosed.

[djf]

There was an interesting story about Syphilis(sp?) on the discovery channel. Seems there was a strain in the carribean that was very mild, and not sexually transmitted amongst the natives. Most children would get it at some time, resulting in a fever and chicken pox type rash,

But getting it conferred lifeling immunity to the more devastating, venereal flavor of the disease. Scientists and epidemologists are trying to find out if there is a way to get it from graveyards or wherever so they can cultivate it. Guess it disappeared in the late 1700's

[EternalHope]

Thus far the U.S. has chosen to err on the side of caution in the diagnosis of SARS. This has led to over-diagnosis of SARS in the U.S. relative to every other country. If you check the WHO statistics, you will even see an asterisk next to the U.S. numbers, with a footnote explaining that the U.S. numbers are reported differently.

To meet the U.S. definition of SARS requires only that you have a history of recent travel to an affected area, plus a very common set of symptoms. The result has been an acknowledged over-statement of the number of cases.

To illustrate how extreme this has become, the U.S. was listing 166 cases of "possible" SARS last week, but only 33 actually had pneumonia. Of those 33 with pneumonia, only 5 had actually been confirmed as SARS cases.

The U.S. CDC announced last week that they were looking into possible problems over-diagnosis may be causing, including the public perception that SARS was weaker in the U.S. than in the rest of the world.

The U.S. CDC mentioned at the same time that they were certain the number of U.S. cases would fall substantially once a reliable way to diagnose SARS was found.

The idea that the SARS virus would somehow be weaker in the U.S. has not been advanced by anybody working on SARS, nor is there any medical explanation as to why that would be so.

The idea that SARS patients would have better medical care in the U.S. has been prevalent in the press. However, the medical care received in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Toronto has been comparable to what would be received here.

On balance, the most likely explanation for the better than expected SARS results in the U.S. is simply that we do not really have very many cases of SARS. Let's hope it stays that way.

[EternalHope]

(C-D-C Director, Dr. Julie Gerberding says)... The latest suspected U-S cases of SARS may be whittled down to a smaller number by the end of the week. Gerberding says the U-S will adopt the World Health Organization's more stringent definition of probable cases, which includes the use of chest X-rays.

SARS looks weaker here because a lot of our SARS cases are not really SARS.

A CDC spokesman last week estimated 80% or more of U.S. cases are not really SARS. Here in Washington state, ALL of the suspected cases may be reclassified into something else.

[Scenic Sounds]

"American-style SARS appears be a weaker cousin of the devastating pneumonia-like illness that has taken root in Canada and Asia, statistics out Thursday suggest."

Good news, huh?

Do you think it would be OK if I brought the toilets back into the house now? I'm getting a lot of complaints.

[keri]

FYI.