Reading through the paper
on May 13, 2003, I spied a small article pertaining to the release
of a possible SARS patient from the city hospital near my home.
It suddenly dawned on me the ramifications of this.
Coupled with the article in the same paper about the West Nile
Virus and its impact last year, I realized we need a guide to
information about these serious diseases.
I dug up a few things on
SARS so that you won't have to:
How
do I get it? What happens?
CDC
(Center for Disease Control) Definition of SARS
SARS is spread like a cold through close contact. Colds are spread
by airborne droplets and germ exchange from shaking hands and
other contact. Asian fabrics should not cause SARS to spread.
With SARS, there are three
levels of difficulties from the illness. The CDC reports you can
have mild, moderate or severe. Mild carries no symptoms OR mild
respiratory illness (such as a cold).
With moderate symptoms,
you would most likely feel a general
malaise, have a fever of more than 100.4°F that may be accompanied
by chills, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing. You may
have a headache and body aches. A SARS infection might also give
you muscular stiffness, loss of appetite, confusion, rash and
diarrhea
Severe respiratory symptoms
would be classified as the same above, but accelerated and often
accompanied by respiratory distress and/or a confirmed pneumonia
on x-ray.
SARS symptoms are also associated
with colds, flu and pneumonia, so any illnesses of this kind are
being treated as possible SARS -- especially if you've knowingly
come in close contact with a traveler visiting the nations where
it's most prevalant in, have been a traveller there yourself,
are a healthcare worker, or a family member of an infected individual.
Tests won't reveal whether it's a true SARS infection for approximately
four weeks.
Initially, you may show
respiratory symptoms, and in 3-7 days develop a dry, nonproductive
cough that might progress to where insufficient oxygen is circulating
the bloodstream and supplying your organs. ten to twenty percent
of patients will require artificial ventilation in the hospital;
three percent of reported cases resulted in death.
There is no known vaccine or cure for SARS, and treatment is just
to keep the patient hydrated and stave off other infections. In
my findings, there has been some inconsistency about whether patients
are or are not treated with antibiotics and antivirals. A vaccination
found in six months may be fruitless, as the virus will most likely
have mutated by then. A possible example of the mutation is in
a report I found in the Sydney Morning Herald
(SMH)
from April 23, 2003.
"A number of deaths over the past week have occurred in younger,
previously healthy people - one being a 34-year-old pregnant women.
An increasing number of those infected
with SARS are now suffering from diarrhoea. As many of two-thirds
of the residents who contracted SARS in the outbreak at the Amoy
Gardens high-rise had diarrhoea, according to health officials.
"
"Initially patients
were presenting with just respiratory failure," Dr Buckley
said. "Now we're seeing renal failure and other organ failure."
If you
think you have SARS, call your doctor
For more information, contact
either your state or local health department or the CDC Emergency
Operations Center at 770-488-7100.
What about
my kids?
There are reports in hospitals
and schools around the world of children with SARS.
Dr.Greene
states, "The focus of much of the reporting thus far has
been on adults, such as business travelers and healthcare workers.
I would not be surprised, however, to see children turn out to
be those at highest risk. Children are often especially vulnerable
to pneumonias and flus – and respiratory infections can
spread very quickly through communities of children. It is important
to underscore that SARS may turn out to be nothing more than a
nasty strain of flu; it might turn out, though, to be an important
new illness."
This report from Straight
Times seems to disagree, saying that kids may be less severely
affected by SARS. As of May 1, 2003, there were no known SARS
related deaths in children.
I think we all want to
believe that as parents our children are strong enough. They may
be more susceptible, but should withstand the disease. We still
need to take every precaution to keep them protected.
SARS is here, we can't ignore it. Keep the kids' hands washed,
keep them close, and maybe cancel that trip to Singapore for Mariah
Carey's concert, eh?
Special Report By
Gina Ritter
CDC:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) about SARS
Information and sources
from:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/21/1050777212052.html
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/casedefinition.htm
http://www.pulsemed.org/sars.htm
http://www.drgreene.com/21_1442.html
http://www.who.int/csr/sars/en/
