Clinical Course and Management of SARS

A new study details the course that severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) took in 14 front-line healthcare workers and provides information on their treatment and status after discharge. The study was published in the May 28, 2003, online issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Individual, not aggregate, patient data are presented, with emphasis on treatment regimens and information on clinical status one and three weeks after discharge. Clinical information includes x-rays showing the disease's impact on patients' lungs. A key finding is that severe hemolytic anemia may either be a feature of SARS or a complication of treatment, possibly associated with the use of ribavirin. The authors note that it is difficult to decide on the appropriate time to discharge patients, that SARS appears to have lingering effects once the acute phase ends, and psychosocial aspects of the illness "should not be underestimated.” The study, conducted by clinicians at the West Park Healthcare Center in Toronto (Canada), contains verbatim summaries of the disease's impact on some of the 14 healthcare workers who participated in the study.

In related developments, scientists in China have found the SARS virus in animals, including the civets, badgers, and raccoon dogs that are often sold for meat in Guangdong Province, which may indicate such animals are the source of the disease. Although some of the people involved in animal markets have been shown by blood tests to be infected with the SARS virus, they never became ill. Meanwhile, scientists at Hong Kong University have announced they are developing an experimental vaccine for SARS.

The World Health Organization (WHO, Geneva, Switzerland) is holding a global conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia June 17-18, 2003, to review epidemiologic, clinical management, and laboratory findings on SARS. The total number of cases has risen to more than 8,000, with 750 deaths, as of May 29, 2003.




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