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Poor infection control blamed for 2003 SARS outbreak in Toronto

Infection Control Monitor, January 19, 2007

Poor hospital infection control procedures led to the deadly SARS epidemic in the Toronto area that killed 44 people, a commission that investigated the outbreak reported last week. 

The outbreak began in February 2003, when a woman from the Toronto area contracted the SARS virus on a trip to Hong Kong and returned to Canada, dying soon after, reported the New York Times. Her son went to a hospital with an unidentified condition that was later diagnosed as SARS. While waiting for 16 hours in a crowded emergency room, the man  transmitted the virus to two other patients, and it continued to spread, according to the commission's report. 
 

"Systemic problems ran through every hospital and every government 
agency," the newspaper quoted Doug Hunt, chief counsel for the commission, who spoke at a news conference at which the report's findings were released. 

Of the 375 SARS cases identified in Ontario Province, healthcare workers accounted for 45%. Two nurses and a physician died from the infection. The commission recommended dozens of changes to hospital practices and health surveillance. To read the commission's report, go to www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/pub/ministry_reports/campbell06/campbell06.html
     

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