SARS: Confusion and precautions

Over the past few weeks I’ve received a number of e-mails regarding the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic, but I’ve been reluctant to address this issue for two reasons: 1) The e-Alert is not designed to be a news outlet (and even if it was, every new SARS development I might tell you about would almost certainly be old news by the time the e-Alert arrived in your in-box). And 2) In spite of the supposed break through several weeks ago when SARS was identified as coronavirus, it’s clear that the more we learn about SARS the more confusing this situation is becoming.

For instance, a report on sarstravel.com late last month revealed a statement from Dr. Frank Plummer (Canada’s leading SARS microbiologist) that the coronavirus could only be detected in 30 percent of SARS patients. This would seem to be a clear set-back in unraveling the mystery of SARS, and yet you didn’t hear about it on the evening news reports with the same fanfare that the “breakthrough” was given.

Meanwhile, early last week the World Health Organization (WHO) revised its estimate of the percentage of SARS victims who have died from the disease from 6 percent to 15 percent – quite a significant jump! And on Friday, WHO acknowledged that health authorities in Beijing, China, have not been diligent in tracking the transmission reports that indicate how each patient has contacted the disease.

I other words: confusion reigns. And it’s at least partly due to misinformation. As William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., pointed out in a recent Daily Dose e-letter (“SARS Scars” 5/2/03), WHO downplays the communicability of the virus, even though one theory reported in the Washington Post suggests that hundreds of residents of a 33-story Hong Kong apartment building may have been exposed to SARS through sewage pipe gasses – a far cry from the person-to-person contact we’ve been hearing about.

So it seems that it may be awhile before we’ll be able to fully trust the daily news we hear from different parts of the globe, coming from various government agencies and health organizations that may have reasons to downplay or even alter information.

In the midst of all this, last week the British medical journal The Lancet released what they call the first major epidemiological study of SARS. The Lancet material emphasizes these two important points that I believe will remain reliable throughout this health crisis: When the symptoms of SARS are recognized, patients should seek medical care immediately in order to increase their chances of survival and to reduce the risk of transmission. This is especially true for patients 60 years of age and older, who tend to be most vulnerable to mortality caused by the disease

These precautions may seem simple or even obvious, but if they’re not taken seriously and rigorously adhered to, SARS could spread with geometric leaps. The good news from The Lancet study is that the disease appears to be controllable when concerted public-health interventions are in place. Hopefully that will prove to be true. But health practitioners can only be as diligent as the patients who respond quickly and responsibly when their symptoms arise.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

Sources:
“SARS Scars” William Campbell Douglass II, M.D., Daily Dose, 5/2/03, realhealthnews.com
“Confused Quacks Ignoring Vital SARS Evidence” Fintan Dunne, 4/27/03, homepage.eircom.net
“Research Studies Shed New Light on SARS Virus” Patricia Reaney, Reuters, 5/8/03, asia.reuters.com
“Results of First Major Epidemiological Study of SARS” Press release from The Lancet, 5/7/03, thelancet.com