How is SARS defined?
Clinicians should be alert for persons with respiratory illness of unknown etiology with onset since February 1, 2003. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are currently defining a Suspect Case as: • Fever (>38° C or >100.4° F) and • One or more signs or symptoms of respiratory illness including cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, hypoxia, radiographic findings of pneumonia, or respiratory distress and One or more of the following: • History of travel to Hong Kong or Guangdong Province in People’s Republic of China, or Hanoi, Vietnam, within 7 days of symptom onset • Close contact with persons with respiratory illness having the above travel history. Close contact includes having cared for, having lived with, or having had direct contact with respiratory secretions and body fluids of a person with SARS. or • A person with an unexplained respiratory illness resulting in death who traveled recently to Hong Kong or Guangdong Province in People’s Republic of China,
