• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Study: Hospitals should isolate SARS patients

Hospital Safety Connection, May 9, 2003

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Connection!

A review of Toronto's recent problem with the rapid spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in hospitals should lead them to isolate patients with the virus and protect health care workers and others from infection, Reuters reports.

Recognizing the problem of hospital infections, the province of Ontario took precautions such as putting SARS patients in rooms with separate air circulation systems, protecting workers with suits, better masks, two layers of gloves, and barring transfers of SARS patients.

A study of 144 SARS patients brought to 10 Toronto hospitals found that 77% of infections occurred in hospital settings during the early stages of the outbreak, from March 7 to April 10.

The Journal of the American Medical Association plans to publish the University of Toronto study, but it released the study's results early because of public health concerns.

The Canadian SARS outbreak was the only fatal one outside of Asia. So far, there are 346 confirmed or suspected cases and 23 deaths in Canada, most of them in Toronto. But health officials now say the virus is under control in Toronto.

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Connection!

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive