Airbubba
20th May 2003, 16:54
Man exhibiting SARS-like symptoms hospitalized
SUSPECTED CASE: Patient fell ill after arriving on cargo flight from China.
By ANN POTEMPA
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: May 19, 2003)
Health officials announced Sunday afternoon that Alaska has its first suspected case of SARS, a virus that has sickened thousands and killed hundreds around the world this year.
The man possibly carrying the virus is a young adult who arrived in Anchorage on Friday as part of a four-person crew on a cargo airplane from China, officials said at a press conference at Anchorage's Emergency Operations Center. The man, who was not named, was staying at an Anchorage hotel and is now hospitalized in an isolation room at Providence Alaska Medical Center.
The man does not pose a threat to other patients, health official said.
"The person had very limited contact with anyone else in Anchorage," said Dr. Tom Hennessy with the Centers for Disease Control.
"Those people have been contacted and have no symptoms."
Health officials said the patient had contact with crew members aboard his flight before his symptoms started. Dr. Bruce Chandler, Anchorage's medical officer, said SARS is transmitted like influenza, with close contact that exposes people to respiratory droplets through coughing or sneezing. People don't transmit the virus before showing SARS symptoms, which include high fever, dry cough and difficulty breathing, he said.
After becoming symptomatic, the patient had contact with one paramedic and health officials at Providence, who are instructed to wear protective gear. No one shared the hotel room with the patient, health officials said. Officials would not name the hotel.
Until Sunday, Alaska was one of 12 states that had not yet reported a suspected case of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Health officials had predicted SARS would come to Alaska, however, because of the state's role in international travel and tourism. As of Saturday, the World Health Organization had reported almost 300 suspected cases under investigation in the United States, 66 of which are probably SARS. Nobody has died from SARS in the United States.
The man in Alaska is said to have only a suspected case, not a probable one, because his chest X-ray came back normal, Hennessy said. More tests need to be done to look for the virus that causes SARS or for other potential causes of this man's illness. Initial tests have shown the patient does not have influenza.
"The list is long of the other conditions he could have that could possibly cause his fever," Hennessy said.
The patient's high fever, cough and recent travel from China are the factors that raised the fear of SARS among health officials.
More tests could take several weeks, Hennessy said. If health officials diagnose this man with probable SARS, he will be observed and kept in isolation for at least 10 days after his fever subsides and respiratory symptoms are improving, Chandler said. SARS can become life-threatening, but this patient is not on a ventilator to help him breathe and is listed in fair condition, health officials said.
The events leading up to Alaska's first suspected SARS case began Friday when the cargo plane from China landed around 10:45 a.m. at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, said Soren Threadgill, chief of emergency medical services for the Anchorage Fire Department.
By 2 a.m. Sunday, the man had developed a fever and started coughing in his hotel room. Chandler said he didn't want to name the hotel or cargo airline because it didn't serve a public health purpose. He said naming the hotel might cause unnecessary worry.
"It's my understanding that there's been no cases of SARS transmitted to hotel workers in the course of their normal work," Chandler said. He added that he doesn't believe there's a risk to hotel guests either.
Later Sunday morning, the man called the hotel's front desk to tell the staff he was feeling sick. The staff contacted Anchorage EMS' dispatch crew around 6:30 a.m. Sunday, Threadgill said.
Threadgill said an ambulance arrived at the hotel and only one paramedic entered the patient's room, wearing a gown, gloves, safety glasses and a mask that filters out airborne contaminants. The paramedic gave the patient a paper mask to wear, he said.
EMS called Providence to prepare its staff for an incoming patient with suspected SARS, Threadgill said. The paramedic and patient arrived at Providence's emergency room around 7:30 a.m., and the patient was placed in a negative pressure isolation room.
A negative pressure room is used to filter the air in the room and prevent it from circulating throughout the rest of the hospital, health officials said. There are a total of 56 such rooms in Providence, Alaska Regional Hospital and Alaska Native Medical Center -- all Anchorage facilities, Chandler said.
Any health care providers tending to the patient at Providence will wear gloves, gowns, eyeware and tight-fitting paper respirators, Hennessy said.
Threadgill said the ambulance was fully disinfected after transporting the patient. The CDC recommended that the hotel staff also disinfect the room where the patient stayed, Hennessy said.
Hennessy said his staff have been working with the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to share health information with passengers and crew members from commercial and cargo planes coming from areas with SARS cases. That means contacting passengers on a couple of passenger flights a week, and hundreds of cargo flights.
Hennessy said he has met with the three members of the cargo crew who traveled with the ill patient and learned none of them have symptoms. Their plans are uncertain, he said, but the CDC will continue to monitor their health.
_____________________________________
Possible SARS patient is 'fair'
By ANN POTEMPA
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: May 20, 2003)
Public health officials said Monday that the Anchorage patient with suspected SARS is still in fair condition in an isolated room at Providence Alaska Medical Center. No one else in Alaska has developed symptoms of the potentially deadly virus, said Kerre Fisher, spokesperson for the state public health department.
The patient is a young adult man from China who arrived here Friday morning on a cargo jet. Early Sunday morning, the man developed a fever and a cough while staying by himself in the Ramada Ltd. Hotel on Muldoon Road.
Health officials initially declined to name the hotel. Dr. Beth Funk, medical epidemiologist, said the decision whether to name a business involved in a health-related event is made case by case. They withheld the name this time because the hotel had been compliant and accepted recommendations for cleaning the bed linens, towels and surfaces in the room where the ill man had stayed.
Health officials also said they had contacted everyone they believe had contact with the ill man and none of them showed SARS symptoms, which include high fever, coughing and difficulty breathing.
Officials were concerned that releasing the hotel name might cause the hotel to lose business, Funk said, even though it's a safe place for patrons and hotel staff members.
"I would go there in a minute if I needed a hotel," she said.
Jennifer Payne, spokeswoman for Mayor George Wuerch, however, named the hotel Monday evening. Payne said various media organizations had requested the information, saying they thought the public had the right to know it.
SUSPECTED CASE: Patient fell ill after arriving on cargo flight from China.
By ANN POTEMPA
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: May 19, 2003)
Health officials announced Sunday afternoon that Alaska has its first suspected case of SARS, a virus that has sickened thousands and killed hundreds around the world this year.
The man possibly carrying the virus is a young adult who arrived in Anchorage on Friday as part of a four-person crew on a cargo airplane from China, officials said at a press conference at Anchorage's Emergency Operations Center. The man, who was not named, was staying at an Anchorage hotel and is now hospitalized in an isolation room at Providence Alaska Medical Center.
The man does not pose a threat to other patients, health official said.
"The person had very limited contact with anyone else in Anchorage," said Dr. Tom Hennessy with the Centers for Disease Control.
"Those people have been contacted and have no symptoms."
Health officials said the patient had contact with crew members aboard his flight before his symptoms started. Dr. Bruce Chandler, Anchorage's medical officer, said SARS is transmitted like influenza, with close contact that exposes people to respiratory droplets through coughing or sneezing. People don't transmit the virus before showing SARS symptoms, which include high fever, dry cough and difficulty breathing, he said.
After becoming symptomatic, the patient had contact with one paramedic and health officials at Providence, who are instructed to wear protective gear. No one shared the hotel room with the patient, health officials said. Officials would not name the hotel.
Until Sunday, Alaska was one of 12 states that had not yet reported a suspected case of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Health officials had predicted SARS would come to Alaska, however, because of the state's role in international travel and tourism. As of Saturday, the World Health Organization had reported almost 300 suspected cases under investigation in the United States, 66 of which are probably SARS. Nobody has died from SARS in the United States.
The man in Alaska is said to have only a suspected case, not a probable one, because his chest X-ray came back normal, Hennessy said. More tests need to be done to look for the virus that causes SARS or for other potential causes of this man's illness. Initial tests have shown the patient does not have influenza.
"The list is long of the other conditions he could have that could possibly cause his fever," Hennessy said.
The patient's high fever, cough and recent travel from China are the factors that raised the fear of SARS among health officials.
More tests could take several weeks, Hennessy said. If health officials diagnose this man with probable SARS, he will be observed and kept in isolation for at least 10 days after his fever subsides and respiratory symptoms are improving, Chandler said. SARS can become life-threatening, but this patient is not on a ventilator to help him breathe and is listed in fair condition, health officials said.
The events leading up to Alaska's first suspected SARS case began Friday when the cargo plane from China landed around 10:45 a.m. at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, said Soren Threadgill, chief of emergency medical services for the Anchorage Fire Department.
By 2 a.m. Sunday, the man had developed a fever and started coughing in his hotel room. Chandler said he didn't want to name the hotel or cargo airline because it didn't serve a public health purpose. He said naming the hotel might cause unnecessary worry.
"It's my understanding that there's been no cases of SARS transmitted to hotel workers in the course of their normal work," Chandler said. He added that he doesn't believe there's a risk to hotel guests either.
Later Sunday morning, the man called the hotel's front desk to tell the staff he was feeling sick. The staff contacted Anchorage EMS' dispatch crew around 6:30 a.m. Sunday, Threadgill said.
Threadgill said an ambulance arrived at the hotel and only one paramedic entered the patient's room, wearing a gown, gloves, safety glasses and a mask that filters out airborne contaminants. The paramedic gave the patient a paper mask to wear, he said.
EMS called Providence to prepare its staff for an incoming patient with suspected SARS, Threadgill said. The paramedic and patient arrived at Providence's emergency room around 7:30 a.m., and the patient was placed in a negative pressure isolation room.
A negative pressure room is used to filter the air in the room and prevent it from circulating throughout the rest of the hospital, health officials said. There are a total of 56 such rooms in Providence, Alaska Regional Hospital and Alaska Native Medical Center -- all Anchorage facilities, Chandler said.
Any health care providers tending to the patient at Providence will wear gloves, gowns, eyeware and tight-fitting paper respirators, Hennessy said.
Threadgill said the ambulance was fully disinfected after transporting the patient. The CDC recommended that the hotel staff also disinfect the room where the patient stayed, Hennessy said.
Hennessy said his staff have been working with the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to share health information with passengers and crew members from commercial and cargo planes coming from areas with SARS cases. That means contacting passengers on a couple of passenger flights a week, and hundreds of cargo flights.
Hennessy said he has met with the three members of the cargo crew who traveled with the ill patient and learned none of them have symptoms. Their plans are uncertain, he said, but the CDC will continue to monitor their health.
_____________________________________
Possible SARS patient is 'fair'
By ANN POTEMPA
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: May 20, 2003)
Public health officials said Monday that the Anchorage patient with suspected SARS is still in fair condition in an isolated room at Providence Alaska Medical Center. No one else in Alaska has developed symptoms of the potentially deadly virus, said Kerre Fisher, spokesperson for the state public health department.
The patient is a young adult man from China who arrived here Friday morning on a cargo jet. Early Sunday morning, the man developed a fever and a cough while staying by himself in the Ramada Ltd. Hotel on Muldoon Road.
Health officials initially declined to name the hotel. Dr. Beth Funk, medical epidemiologist, said the decision whether to name a business involved in a health-related event is made case by case. They withheld the name this time because the hotel had been compliant and accepted recommendations for cleaning the bed linens, towels and surfaces in the room where the ill man had stayed.
Health officials also said they had contacted everyone they believe had contact with the ill man and none of them showed SARS symptoms, which include high fever, coughing and difficulty breathing.
Officials were concerned that releasing the hotel name might cause the hotel to lose business, Funk said, even though it's a safe place for patrons and hotel staff members.
"I would go there in a minute if I needed a hotel," she said.
Jennifer Payne, spokeswoman for Mayor George Wuerch, however, named the hotel Monday evening. Payne said various media organizations had requested the information, saying they thought the public had the right to know it.