Five Patients Spread SARS to Scores, Study Says

Bloomberg ^ | May 8, 2003 | John Lauerman

[Dog Gone]

Atlanta, May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Five particularly infectious patients may have triggered the Singapore outbreak of severe acute respiratory disease that health officials have just brought under control, according to a study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[Nov3]

Five Patients Spread SARS to Scores, Study Says

STOP SPREADING THIS HYSTERIA. THIS DISEASE IS NOT THAT CONTAGIOUS AND ONLY KILS 50 PERCENT OF THE ELDERLY! Get a grip!

I said that to preempt all of the people who think this is nothing.

I pray they get this under control.

[Nov3]

All five people characterized as super-spreaders were linked to a 22-year-old guest at Hong Kong's Metropole Hotel.

The metropole again. That guy had some nasty strain.

[aristeides]

Metropole connection seems to be the only common trait they've found among the five spreaders.

[discostu]

This isn't hysteria, this is a good study. We're learning more about the streakiness of SARS transmission.

[Dog Gone]

The super-spreaders are one of the fascinating mysteries of this disease. I don't know of any other disease that has shown this characteristic.

I'm hoping that they are all somehow related to the early course of this virus, and that no new super-spreaders will emerge. But without a working theory as to why some people were far more contagious, it's just a hope.

I doubt it has anything to do with coughing. That's a very common symptom of SARS.

[harpseal]

``We do think there's a biological reason'' such as more virus shedding, Annelies Wilder-Smith, head of a travel medicine center at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, said in an interview. ``It is a very important question because if we can identify the super- spreaders earlier then we can stop, or can control, the epidemic.''

Unless and until they get a handle on how some people become super spreaders of this virus the risk of this becoming a pandemic is high.

[Joe Hadenuf]

While the U.S. checks incoming travelers for symptoms, there is no way to know who the super-spreaders are, said Julie Gerberding, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Since there is no way to know, we better let them all in...Makes sense...About as much sense as our immigration policies, and our open border lunacy.

[Dog Gone]

Unless and until they get a handle on how some people become super spreaders of this virus the risk of this becoming a pandemic is high.

It may not be that easy to figure out. You can compare patient profiles to see if there is a common factor like a blood-type or pre-existing medical condition, but we can't exactly experiment with the patients to see if we can turn them into super-spreaders. In any event, I don't know how you measure whether someone is a super-spreader until you notice that everyone who they come in contact with gets the disease.

[Betty Jo]

Perhaps we need to stop and think.

Maybe we are missing something very obvious.

Could we be too close to the picture?

Could the "super-spreaders" have been intentinally infected?

Could the Amoy Gardens Apartments been a target?

Is someone tracking and modifying the virus?

Was this all part of the plan?

[blam]

"Was this all part of the plan?"

No, imo.

[discostu]

I think the non-spreaders are even more important than the super spreaders. If we can figure out how to make someone a non-spreader that's almost as good as a vaccine.