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06/24/2003 Public Health Update: New Suspect SARS Case in San Mateo County

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June 24, 2003 In order to provide you with up-to-date information regarding Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) cases and other public health issues, the San Mateo County Health Services Agency will issue Public Health Updates to notify you of any new developments. The following reflects the status of suspect SARS cases in San Mateo County. SARS One new suspect SARS case has been identified in San Mateo County. The patient, a 40-year-old woman, recently traveled to Hong Kong and is in isolation at home. As per recommendations from the state and CDC, SARS patients are isolated until they are no longer infectious. This practice allows patients to receive appropriate care, and it contains the potential spread of the illness. The following reflects the numbers of cases reported from San Mateo County: Current total 7 Probable SARS cases 2 Suspect SARS cases 5 To date, no cases in San Mateo County have turned out to be proven SARS cases, and in fact, proven cases are very rare in the country as a whole. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated the United States (U.S.) definition of SARS on June 5, 2003. U.S. cases are now classified as either suspect or probable as outlined by the following: Case Classification (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/casedefinition.htm) Probable case: meets the clinical criteria for severe respiratory illness of unknown etiology and epidemiologic criteria for exposure; laboratory criteria confirmed, negative, or undetermined. Suspect case: meets the clinical criteria for moderate respiratory illness of unknown etiology, and epidemiologic criteria for exposure; laboratory criteria confirmed, negative, or undetermined. SARS remains a serious worldwide health problem, and though much progress has been made and the number of new cases continues to drop, the outbreak is by no means over. Given the high level of alert, potential cases have been and will continue to be identified until the CDC and WHO declare the end of the outbreak. Contact Information: Beverly Thames, Public Information Officer, (650) 573-3935 SARS information has been posted to the Health Services Web site: http://www.smhealth.org/