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SUNNY Temp: 67 °F Wind: N at 4 mph Sunday, June 15, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend May 6, 2003 S. Oregon hospitals are ready for SARS By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune If sudden acute respiratory syndrome arrives in Southern Oregon, local hospitals are ready. Patients who appear to have SARS would be isolated from others and given a surgical mask. Samples of their blood would be sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for analysis. Doctors and nurses would wear masks, gloves and eye protection to treat them. Health-care workers need to protect themselves to be able to care for others, said Dr. Ken Rhee, director of the emergency department at Rogue Valley Medical Center. Those precautions "might make people feel a little weird," Rhee said, "but it won’t affect their care. If I don’t have personnel who can work, I don’t have an emergency department." Advertisement SARS remains rare in the United States, and there has been only one suspected case in Oregon. As of Monday, there were more than 6,500 cases around the world and 463 deaths, but just 54 probable cases in the United States — and no deaths. Interest in the disease continues to rise, however, as more cases are confirmed and the death toll mounts. "People are paying more attention as they become more aware," said Hank Collins, Jackson County’s director of health and human services. The low incidence of cases in the United States suggests SARS may not spread as easily as scientists once thought, said Dr. Paul Cieslak, manager of the communicable disease program for the Oregon Health Division. Cieslak noted that a major outbreak in Toronto, Canada, did not move into the United States despite heavy cross-border traffic. Cieslak said SARS needs to be viewed in context. Influenza, for example, typically kills about 36,000 people in the United States every year. On the other hand, SARS has killed about 6.5 percent of the people who have been infected. "For a disease that can be transferred by a respiratory route, that’s concerning," he said. Mindful of SARS’ ability to travel, small-town airports are following protocols set down by the CDC and World Health Organization to contain it. If a passenger on a flight to Medford showed SARS symptoms and had traveled recently to Asia, he or she would be given a surgical mask and isolated from other passengers for the balance of the flight, said Kim Stearns, the airport’s public information officer. When the plane landed, ambulance crews wearing gloves and masks would remove the affected passenger. Stearns said the airline would record the names of passengers who might have been exposed, and pass their names to the CDC, which would inquire about their health within two weeks. While SARS has not surfaced here, its spread in Asia made some people change their travel plans. Dave Bernard of Ashland scrapped a trip to a major Chinese trade show as the disease spread. "We were supposed to fly into Beijing," said Bernard, who manufactures drill sharpening equipment that’s sold under the Drill Doctor brand. "When we first set up the trip, Beijing wasn’t affected. Then we just watched the news. It kept getting worse and worse and we decided it wasn’t that important. "I didn’t want to be known as the guy who brought SARS to Ashland." Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times