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Sars cluster feared in maternity ward
07/06/2003 11:14 - (SA)
Toronto - Health authorities are investigating Sars symptoms in a medical student who helped deliver babies shortly before getting sick, an official said, in a setback to Toronto's efforts to control a second outbreak of the disease.
Dr Donald Low, a microbiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, said on Friday that the student was exposed to severe acute respiratory syndrome on May 23 at another hospital, but went 12 days before first showing symptoms.
That is two days longer than what health authorities believe is the incubation period for the disease. The unidentified male student went into a 10-day quarantine after the May 23 exposure, then emerged to work Wednesday at Mount Sinai's labour and delivery ward, according to Low.
The student started showing symptoms on Wednesday night after assisting in the delivery of twins during his day-long shift, Low said.
"We're treating it as a case although it's still under investigation," he said.
Sars has generally stricken adults and the elderly, with no children listed among Canadian deaths reported so far.
Health officials have told about 60 people, including obstetricians and women with their newborn babies, to go into home quarantine, said Dr James Young, the Ontario commissioner of public safety. The women were instructed to stay with their infants, separate from other family members.
The quarantine period remains 10 days long, Young said, even though the possible Mount Sinai case indicates a longer incubation.
"There could be outlying cases beyond 10 days," he said. "The vast, vast majority of cases fall within 10 days."
Authorities closed the maternity ward at Mount Sinai Hospital and told expectant mothers scheduled to deliver there to phone an information hotline for referral to a different hospital.
The news was a setback to the city's efforts to control a second outbreak of Sars in recent weeks, following an initial cluster in March and April.
Latest figures for Canada's largest city, the epicentre of the biggest Sars outbreak outside of Asia, were 70 probable cases, up two from Thursday, with 221 people displaying symptoms of Sars under investigation.
The illness has killed 31 people in the Toronto area. Officials say several patients are in critical condition, so the death toll could rise.
Toronto authorities thought they had the illness under control after the initial cluster had mostly disappeared by mid-May. An undiagnosed case at North York General Hospital led to a further spread among other patients, family members and health care workers.
The second cluster of Sars cases landed Toronto back on a World Health Organisation list of Sars -affected cities or regions. The UN agency also previously issued a travel advisory for Toronto, but rescinded it a week later after Canadian officials complained it was unwarranted and promised better screening of international travellers for Sars.
Health care workers have complained authorities dropped their vigilance in May in a rush to proclaim Toronto safe after the initial outbreak of Sars. A WHO official called for continued vigilance on Friday.
"It's important that public health authorities around the world remember that even though there are fewer and fewer new cases at the moment that that doesn't mean that we've got rid of Sars, that the problem is solved," WHO spokesman Iain Simpson said. "We have to really be very careful to make sure that any new cases are quickly identified, isolated and treated."
The Sars outbreak has hurt Toronto's crucial convention and tourism industry, with hotels, restaurants and theatres saying business is down due to a lack of visitors, especially Americans. - Sapa-AP
- SAPA
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