Six Dead and over 100 infected with SARS
in Toronto, CANADA.
By Mohamed Yousuf BHUGUN.
MSc (UK), FIBMS (UK).RT ( Can)
International Liaison officer ABA
The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak has
already caused six deaths and over 100 infected people in the city of Toronto
(CANADA) where the Provincial Ministry of Health has declared an Emergency
Health Alert for the city.
Two large hospitals in the eastern part of the city have
been closed to avoid the spread of the virus. All the patients, workers and those
who visited the hospitals after March 16 have been asked to stay at home for
a10-day quarantine. Furthermore, all the family members of these suspected
cases have been asked to wear a protective mask during the quarantine period.
These are part of the measures taken to avoid the spread of the disease. A
total of 70 doctors are under quarantine where 5 have been infected and two are
critically ill. Actually, all the Toronto-based hospitals are operating under
severe restrictions, keeping doors closed to virtually all visitors except
those for critically ill patients.
It all started with one Canadian, Sui-Chi Kwan who brought
the virus in the country and later died with the disease. She was one of the
seven people who got infected in Hong-Kong at the Metropole Hotel. It is
suspected that SARS is spread through droplets of spray through an infected
person’s cough or sneeze. However, according to Health Officials, the risk of
catching the disease among the general public is very low but higher risk are those
who recently traveled to Hong-Kong, China, Singapore and Taiwan.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) in USA, SARS is caused by a coronavirus which has been isolated in many
of the infected persons but other viruses are still under investigation. The
coronaviruses are a group of viruses that cause mild to moderate
upper-respiratory illness in humans. At present, there is no laboratory test
for the detection of the virus but the CDC together with WHO have set up two
research tests for the detection of the antibodies produced by the patients
against the virus.
The virus has originated from a small province in the
Southern part of China called Guangdong. The symptoms for SARS include high
fever, dry cough, sore throat and joint pain. The Ministry of Health is
advising all people who are showing these signs of symptoms to report
immediately to the emergency care department of the nearest hospital.
Canadian Health Officials have started to screen all
passengers on international flights from Toronto to avoid further spreading of
the disease to other countries. At the same time, all passengers from China,
Hong-Kong and Singapore are being examined by Medical Officers at the airport
for any signs of SARS. The disease is spreading world-wide especially in Asian
countries including China, Hong-Kong, Singapore and Taiwan where more than 1600
people have already been infected.
Although no treatment for SARS has yet been found, most
patients seem to recover after some weeks with normal hospital care. Except for
about 10 percent who are mainly elderly or have other illness and become
critically ill.