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BY TONI LAPP
The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome -- or SARS -- underscores the need for better disease surveillance and improved methods to transmit data, say CDC officials.
Researchers are working to identify the cause of the illness; preliminary findings have suggested the presence of a paramyxovirus, a member of a family of viruses known to cause respiratory illness in humans, in three patients diagnosed with SARS.
The CDC held a March 17 telebriefing to provide the latest information on the illness that's been spreading through China and Southeast Asia. The CDC issued a health alert March 15, and a document with interim information and recommendations for health care professionals has been posted at http://www.aafp.org/x20033.xml.
"There is no evidence to suggest that this can be spread through brief contact or assemblages of large numbers of people," CDC Director Julie Gerberding, M.D., said in the telebriefing. Likely, transmission has occurred through direct contact with respiratory secretions or body fluids of an infected person, said Gerberding.
At press time, of the 306 suspect and probable cases reported worldwide, 10 patients had died. According to CDC statistics through March 20, Chinese officials had reported suspect and probable cases from Guangdong province and were still updating figures.
Health officials urge isolation of persons with suspicious symptoms. Case findings include a fever greater than 100.4 degrees, signs or symptoms of respiratory illness, and either recent travel to areas reporting cases of the syndrome or close contact with someone who's been diagnosed with SARS.
Physicians who suspect the illness in patients should contact their state or local health department. Go to http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/ to read more about the illness.
To reach writer Toni Lapp, e-mail tlapp@aafp.org.
FP Report is published by the
AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2003 by
American Academy of Family Physicians.
