SARS Outbreak, Taiwan, 2003

Autor: Ying-Hen Hsieh, Cathy W.S. Chen, Sze-Bi Hsu
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2004
Předmět:
Zdroj: Emerging Infectious Diseases, Vol 10, Iss 2, Pp 201-206 (2004)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1080-6040
1080-6059
DOI: 10.3201/eid1002.030515
Popis: We studied the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Taiwan, using the daily case-reporting data from May 5 to June 4 to learn how it had spread so rapidly. Our results indicate that most SARS-infected persons had symptoms and were admitted before their infections were reclassified as probable cases. This finding could indicate efficient admission, slow reclassification process, or both. The high percentage of nosocomial infections in Taiwan suggests that infection from hospitalized patients with suspected, but not yet classified, cases is a major factor in the spread of disease. Delays in reclassification also contributed to the problem. Because accurate diagnostic testing for SARS is currently lacking, intervention measures aimed at more efficient diagnosis, isolation of suspected SARS patients, and reclassification procedures could greatly reduce the number of infections in future outbreaks.
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