Thursday, April 03, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME: Officials set to thwart SARS

Clark County Health District develops protocol to deal with potential infection

U.S. Customs Agent Daniela Bernazzani hands a SARS alert notice to Brenda Wong as she and her sister, Gladys Wong, leave the International Terminal at McCarran International Airport on Wednesday. The Wongs, who live in Las Vegas, had been in Hong Kong for a cousin's wedding. Photo by Amy Beth Bennett.

The mysterious disease plaguing people mostly in Asian countries could be contained before it ever infects anybody in Las Vegas, local health officials said Wednesday.

Health officials are prepared to isolate and quarantine quickly any airplane passengers arriving on direct flights to Las Vegas from Asia who exhibit symptoms of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, said Rose Bell, the chief epidemiologist at the Clark County Health District.

Airplane passengers with suspicious coughs or breathing difficulties will be isolated from other passengers if possible and will be asked to wear a paper mask for the remainder of the flight.

"If the flight crew noticed something worrisome, they would call to the ground and notify the nurse or paramedics stationed at the airport," Bell said. "That individual would then be escorted off the airplane and transported to a hospital with an isolation room."

SARS, a severe form of pneumonia, is a new disease first reported in China and Vietnam, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. There have been 2,223 cases of the disease reported worldwide, 85 of which have been in the United States. Seventy-eight patients have died, but none of the deaths were in the United States.

There are no known cases of SARS in Nevada. There are 19 suspected cases in California. Las Vegas is a tourist destination for many Asian visitors each year. In 2001, about 4 percent of visitors to Las Vegas (1.4 million) were Asian or Asian-American, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Only two airlines, Japan Airlines and Singapore Airlines, offer direct flights from Asia to Las Vegas.

According to the CDC, all U.S. SARS patients had traveled recently to Asia. The CDC recommends that people postpone nonessential trips to mainland China and Hong Kong, Singapore, Hanoi and Vietnam.

Although SARS is suspected in California, local health officials say it's uncertain whether the virus will infect anyone in the Las Vegas Valley. They say it's possible to contain the strange virus because so few people worldwide have been diagnosed with it.

"When you think about it, it's not exactly a huge number," Bell said. "We may never see a case here. Even in the cities where there has been cases of SARS, there has not been transmission to anyone else except perhaps very close family members."

Las Vegas infectious disease specialist Dr. Eugene Speck agrees, saying the virus wouldn't keep him from traveling to China.

"It wouldn't stop me from going," Speck said. "The chances of getting it are slim and the chances of surviving if you do get it are very good."

The death rate from the disease is approximately 4 percent, Bell said. "That means that if 100 people get this disease, 96 of them are going to be just fine," she said.

Some local physicians, however, are concerned about the disease because it's much more aggressive than pneumonia and often causes hospitalization.

"If you want to worry about something, don't worry about the war, worry about this," said Dr. Dale Carrison, director of the emergency department at University Medical Center. "It could be a big deal because it's very aggressive."

Thousands of Clark County doctors, such as Carrison, have been receiving information almost daily about the disease and what symptoms to look for. Doctors are asked to notify the health district immediately if they suspect a patient has SARS.

Symptoms of the disease include a fever greater than 100.4 degrees, headache, body aches, dry cough and breathing difficulties.

Carrison said the most important risk factor is whether an individual has recently been to Asia.

"It's not something to worry about if you haven't had a travel history to Asia," he said. "I have people coming in thinking they have it, but they haven't been out of Las Vegas."

CDC officials believe the disease is spread through close contact with an infected person.

It's possible that the syndrome also can be spread through the air or by touching contaminated objects.

There is no current cure or treatment for the disease, which usually resolves itself after several days.