37 In United States May Have SARS

Dr. Koop ^ | 03-24-03

[Mother Abigail]

The United States now has 37 suspected cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The latest list from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows 17 states with suspected cases, including New York with five, California with eight, and Texas and Hawaii with three each.

There were no immediate details of the new U.S. totals, which have increased by 15 since Friday. But the global toll of suspected and confirmed cases of the deadly respiratory illness also continued to rise.

In Hong Kong, the top hospital health official was hospitalized Sunday night with pneumonia symptoms, as health officials there announced two more deaths and another 38 people infected, the Associated Press reports.

Hong Kong Hospital Authority chief executive, Dr. William Ho, was reported in stable condition Monday, according to the AP, but it is not yet clear whether he has SARS. Officials say Ho had been going through hospitals lately to offer moral support to medical workers and patients.

In Singapore, meanwhile, the government reported 14 new cases Monday and ordered 740 people who may have been exposed to SARS to stay home for 10 days in a bid to contain the illness, the Washington Post reports.

Health Minister Lim Hng Kiang said he was invoking the Infectious Diseases Act for what could be the first time since Singapore gained independence in 1965, the Post said.

Singapore's total number of SARS cases is now 65, including 12 in intensive care. That puts it second to Hong Kong, which has 240, and ahead of Vietnam, which has 63.

The new deaths and illnesses in Singapore and Hong Kong are not yet included in the official World Health Organization tally, which now lists 15 countries, 386 cases, and 11 deaths. In addition, there are more than 300 illnesses and 5 deaths in China's Guangdong province that have yet to be officially counted.

[Mother Abigail]

Incubation period is established at:

3-7 days

Secondary infections are only occurring after the onset of symptoms (3-4) days

[Prince Charles]

Okay. What caught my eye was the doubling of cases over the weekend. I presume this is just due to reporting delays. But if the total doubles again sometime towards the end of this week, then things get interesting.

[COBOL2Java]

Suspected United States Cases (As of March 21, 2003)

[Mother Abigail]

Stay safe

The West Coast is going to be Ground Zero for US

This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better, because of the rate of spread, the heroic means necessary to stabilize patient, lack of isolation facilities, etc..

[Petronski]

I'm not really worried about me as much as I'm worried about my father, 75.

[mabelkitty]

bio/chem weapons gone bad.

[Mother Abigail]

To be fair what we are watching is the evolution of infected patients.

As the number of patients rise the number of deaths rise.

If I remember correctly HK has discharged only 7 patients while 10? have died. Many others in the process of following one of those two paths...

[Mother Abigail]

Thank you for the graphic

[Mother Abigail]

Nature (Rust never sleeps)

[Conservative Me]

State/Suspected cases under investigation*
California 8
Connecticut 1
Hawaii 3
Illinois 1
Maine 1
Massachusetts 1
Michigan 2
Missouri 2
Mississippi 1
New Jersey 1
New Mexico 1
North Carolina 2
New York 5
Pennsylvania 1
Rhode Island 1
Texas 3
Utah 1
Virginia 2
Total Suspected Cases Under Investigation 37

[Prince Charles]

Understood. I just went through 3 weeks being as sick as I've been in 20 years -- extreme sore throat, cough, headaches, but no fever or nausea. Presumed VURI. I'm only now back to about 98% of normal.

What scared me was that I had dinner in Chinatown in Chicago the weekend before I fell ill.

[Black Agnes]

Where did you find that list? Any way to find out the cities in the respective states?

[Petronski]

What scared me was that I had dinner in Chinatown in Chicago the weekend before I fell ill.

[Conservative Me]

Actually, I found it on the CDC website. It seems they are finally ready to address the issue. The link to the SARDs information is on their home page. I didn't see mention of specific cities within the listed states, however. The WHO website is also a good source for information (also linked to on the CDC website).

Actually, on MSNBC one of their live feeds will be a CDC press conference on the SARDs issue (not that I would ever recommend using MSNBC for any other reason but their live feed stuff). It is coming on shortly.

[Mother Abigail]

According to Britain's Press Association, the IRB confirmed that 21 sides - excluding France, Italy and Argentina - had confirmed their participation in the Sevens showpiece, which takes place on March 28-30.

France and Italy withdrew on Friday, while Argentina joined them later in the weekend.

England, the defending champions, were one of the 21 teams to confirm their participation, with a South African official also confirming to Planet Rugby that they were committed to travelling to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has been the centre of a global outbreak of a form of pneumonia that has affected more than 300 people and killed at least 10 which, coupled with the war in Iraq, has led to the withdrawals

[sphinx]

You forget to add "highly sanitary" and "highly moral" to your description of our society.

Highly sanitary, yes. Not too sure about the other part ....

[myprecious]

A young woman in our church is scheduled to go on a mission trip to remote Asia (forbidden to name country) in May this year. I know she has prepared for this trip for years, but it does not look good.

The head ER nurse of our country hospital is in my Sunday School class. She made a few subtle comments about praying for us here at home and mentioned the North Texas case of SARS. It was obvious she had more information than she could reveal. It was unsettling....

[Mother Abigail]

The Hong Kong Doctors Union has called for the government to order all schools to close for two weeks after a case of atypical pneumonia is confirmed. Schools are currently required to shut for seven days. But the president of the doctors union, Dr Yeung Chiu-fat, doesn't think this is long enough. The Doctors Union has also called on the authorities to step up efforts to contain the spread of the disease. It says everyone should wear surgical masks.

[myprecious]

So much for feeling safe because I live in a rural area. I thought being 80 miles from a big city would do it.....