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SARS Information Center Despite news reports that SARS incidence has peaked in the United States, public health officials ask physicians throughout the state to remain alert to symptoms of SARS in their patients. Physicians in San Francisco and Los Angeles should be particularly careful, because of those cities’ positions as international travel hubs. Pubic health officials recommend that all operators of clinics and emergency rooms, as well as primary care physicians, place a warning sign in waiting rooms reminding patients with cough or fever—and recent travel to areas of risk—to identify themselves to the front desk. Click here to download sample signs in English, Spanish and Cantonese. If SARS is suspected, you or your staff should provide and place a surgical mask over the patient’s nose and mouth. If masking the patient is not feasible, ask the patient to cover his or her mouth with a tissue when coughing, talking, or sneezing. Separate the patient from others in the reception area as quickly as possible, preferably in a private room. Physicians evaluating suspected cases should take standard infection-control precautions (e.g., hand hygiene) together with airborne protections (e.g., N-95 respirator), and contact barriers (e.g., gowns and gloves). Click here for additional infection-control guidelines. For more information, contact your local health department or the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s emer-gency operations center at 770/488-7100.For more information, contact your local health department or the CDC emergency operations center at 770/488-7100. Bookmark this page and check back regularly for the latest SARS developments. Contact: Robin Flagg Strimling, 415/882-5110 or rstrimling@cmanet.org.
Latest SARS-related headlines: Los Angeles Times: Health Officials Identify 14 Possible SARS
Cases
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