Officials report SARS symptoms

  • Published
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  Several airmen and non-military people who had potential contact with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome victims have been isolated at home here. They exhibited mild to moderate respiratory illness symptoms, according to 7th Medical Group physicians here.

The symptoms meet the medical criteria to be considered suspect for SARS. Those symptoms include a fever, respiratory symptoms such as coughing or difficulty breathing, and transit through a community with documented SARS cases, physicians said.

Nine patients exhibited minimal symptoms of SARS after recently traveling through Toronto or being in contact with people who traveled there.

No one has been diagnosed as having SARS, according to officials.

Earlier in the week, an airman reported to the medical clinic here with mild to moderate respiratory symptoms. After the staff learned he had recently traveled through the Toronto airport, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines required them to isolate him as if he had SARS. Other airmen were identified with similar symptoms including two who also traveled through the airport.

At the time of their travel, Toronto was still on both the World Health Organization’s and the CDC’s lists as being a risk for travelers. Toronto was taken off both lists within a week. In addition, the airmen were only at the Toronto airport for an hour while waiting for connecting flights en route to an air show in New England.

All of the patients are under the care of medical staff here and are being treated, observed and isolated according to medical protocol established by the CDC. None of those identified has required hospitalization. Instead, they are isolated in their own homes for recovery and recuperation. Their families have been given specific instructions for their care, which can be found at www.cdc.gov.

“Their care and well-being is of the utmost importance to us and we will do everything possible to get them well and return them to duty,” said base spokesman Capt. David May.

The patients are all in stable condition. Their identities are not being released to protect their privacy.

Dyess medics sent patient samples for testing to the Air Force Institute for Operational Health in San Antonio to help diagnose whether any of the Dyess patients might indeed have SARS.

“Nothing is more important than the safety and health of our people and our community,” May said. “Although there is no concrete evidence that any of our quarantined members have SARS, we are following all CDC guidelines and performing the necessary precautions as if they do to ensure no infections spread and our people are well taken care of.”

Scientists at CDC and other laboratories have detected a previously unrecognized coronavirus in patients with SARS. This new coronavirus is the leading hypothesis for the cause of SARS. The Dyess patients have been tested for the presence of coronavirus, and medics are awaiting results, which will be made public; however, even if the coronavirus is not present, it does not guarantee that a person does not have SARS. Conversely, if a coronavirus is present, this does not guarantee that a patient does have SARS. A combination of diagnostic tools is used to identify SARS.

The CDC recommends that people consult a health-care provider if they have a fever greater than 100.4 degrees accompanied by a cough or difficulty breathing. The patient should tell the provider about any recent travel to regions where cases of SARS have been reported. The patient should also tell if he or she has potentially been in contact with someone who had these symptoms, officials said.

People who think they might have symptoms of SARS should not proceed to local hospitals or emergency rooms. Instead, they should contact their primary health-care provider. Currently, there is no designated treatment for SARS; only the symptoms are treated.