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Tuesday, May 06, 2003Ontario will launch a major overhaul of its hospital operations in the wake of the SARS outbreak, forcing changes in everything from basic infection control to the use of casual nursing help, Tony Clement, the Health Minister, said. "We want to make sure that as a result of what I call the 'new normal,' our hospital system continues to be of the highest quality," Mr. Clement said in an interview. "Some aspects of hospital operations have changed forever." The changes include less use of part-time nurses who work in several hospitals at a time, less transfer of patients between hospitals, and the recognition that hospitals need a "surge capacity" to handle unexpected epidemics. That's something hospitals here in the U.S. would do well to recognize, too. And, as familiarity with SARS grows, so does our understanding of its natural history. Looks like it’s one of those viruses that can survive outside the body: New laboratory findings support the theory that the SARS virus can survive up to four days on contaminated household surfaces like toilets but that disinfectants like bleach are effective weapons to kill it, the World Health Organization said yesterday. The findings are important because doctors have determined that people infected with the virus can excrete it in large amounts in their stool and urine, raising the distinct possibility that less than vigorous hygiene - particularly a lack of hand-washing - can lead to its spread on surfaces in the home and elsewhere. Health officials had assumed that this must be the case because of the pattern of spread in an apartment complex and hotel in Hong Kong. The new findings strengthen the theory, said Dr. Klaus Stohr, a German virologist and epidemiologist who is the scientific director of the W.H.O.'s SARS investigation. Researchers at The University of Hong Kong found that disinfectants like bleach, ethanol, phenol, formaldehyde and paraformaldehyde can kill the virus, the W.H.O. said. The findings should give further confidence that such measures, particularly in hospitals and homes where people who had contact with SARS patients are quarantined, will work, Dr. Stohr said in an interview. The rest of the article has all the details on the viruses survival at various temperatures as well as its survival in various qualities of stool. (I don't envy the people doing those studies.) But, the LA Times points out that it’s still unclear how all of this translates into communicability: Stohr cautioned that the full meaning of the findings will not become clear until researchers learn how much virus is necessary to trigger an infection. That the virus can persist for hours on, say, handrails in a bus station may not be important if there is not enough of the virus present to produce disease.... .....Scientists remain convinced that the main way the disease is spread is through the coughs of patients. The greatest danger is thus to people in their immediate vicinity. So, cover your mouth when you sneeze and wash your hands. posted by Sydney on 5/06/2003 08:12:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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