So I was quarantined with Suspected SARS...

[acheron]

So I just got out of St. Joseph's Health Centre after 8 days of quarantine as an 'under investigation' SARS case.

I went to the hospital last Saturday morning at 4am after 4 days of constant fever, aches and coughing.

As they surmised from the initial runup, what I actually had was a mild pneumonia (10% of one lung) coupled with a fever (38.7 when I was admitted). Thing was, the symptoms, combined with blood tests and a chest x-ray, looked almost identical to what they were seeing with SARS cases. Elevated muscle enzymes in particular.

But I had to spend the week in a 10' x 12' hospital room so they could be sure. Add to this that the hastily constructed SARS ward in St. Joseph's used to be one of their Intensive Care Units, and therefore was not equipped for ambulatory patients. That meant my room did not have a bathroom, nor a shower - it DID have a small sink, and a wheelchair with a hole in the seat where they could attach a bedpan. That took some getting used to.

For eight days and nights I didn't see a full human face - just eyes behind goggles and masks and gloves and gowns and haircovers, double layered from Wednesday on as protocols changed. I showed up on the Ontario Government statistics for SARS as "Under Investigation-Suspected - 1" - the "1" was me.

My wife, Christine [Crystal here], and our 1 year-old son Ethan spent the week in voluntary home quarantine - she couldn't go to work, Ethan couldn't go to daycare.

My work put me on Short Term Disability. When they sent the paperwork registered mail to my house, Christine opened the door and immediately informed the postie that she was quarantined - he handed her the letter anyway - she signed using her own pen and gave him back the sheet. The next day, she received a letter from Canada Post saying they were discontinuing our mail service temporarily while they figured out if Christine had intentionally [!] exposed their carrier to SARS. When I heard about this, I sicked Public Health on them - our mail was delivered normally that afternoon - but by a different postie. Still waiting to hear back from Public Health on that one.

The nurses were great- St. Joe's hasn't actually had a SARS case yet - just suspected cases - they seem to want to know what SARS isn't just as much as what it is. My case was so similar it was, I suppose, irresistible to them. Most of the nurses had a sense of humour and appreciated the opportunity for overtime pay. Some treated me like a leper when they had to check my temperature, blood pressure, blood sugar and pulse (every 4 hours), turning away when my mask was off for the temp-check. Others were much more relaxed - but still followed the protocol to the letter.

It was a little odd being the center of attention during a media crisis like this. Each day something would happen in the news and I would see the immediate effects of that news happen in my own room, or outside my windows. I couldn't leave my room - which was equipped with negative pressure (air is constantly drawn into the room and cleaned and vented to the outside, creating a slight vacuum when a door is opened). Upon my return home, I still have two days of quarantine to follow before I can return to work. Masks and gloves while handling Ethan, and I have to sleep apart from Christine for 24 hours. Sigh. It's almost over.

Just my luck for getting pneumonia in 2003!

[MoFo]

We were almost quarantined last week because someone at work was sent home but I didn't want to say anything.

Whoops, I guess I just did.

[kerouacdude]

what to say after a post like that...
prison almost sounds more appealing than that
hope you're feeling better

[Bass-Invader]

[echootje]

Aha, but the sex will be worth it

[madnezz]

yikes dude, that is a tough situation to be in. Must feel soooo weird to be totally secluded from everyone like that!

anyway, glad to hear you don't have sars after all, cause then we'd have to quarantine the board (ha ha) *S*

- Laura

[acheron]

Seriously there were times when it felt like an episode out of the original version of The Twilight Zone. I expected Rod Serling to walk into my room at any moment and talk to a camera.

"What Mr. Grant doesn't know is that he is part of a grand experiment designed to distract him from the unbelievable truth."

...I wake up in the hospital room and discover all the nurses have gone - I walk outside and discover that everyone who wasn't in a negative pressure room has disappeared off the face of the earth. No one left but us SARS cases.

oooooooOOOOOOOooooooo

After the initial shock (I spent 16 hours in a 6 x 10 room in the ER before I was transferred - with very little human contact) and the removal of my dignity, I adopted the idea that I was at summer camp. Just that I couldn't go anywhere. My family was nice enough to send me fruit and magazines and soft drinks, and later a laptop so I could email people... I set up my own email address for the purpose- sarsdalediet@yahoo.ca. I lost about 7 lbs. while inside, too. Hospital food sucks! I only ever ate about half of what they gave me. Everything they gave me was disposable, too - the cups, the tray, the cutlery, everything. Nothing went into my room that wasn't either disposable or disinfectable.

[Jeffsus]

-jM
A&D

[fear_of_fours]

I think this is part of the reason that some people arent telling anyone about their symptoms because they are scared of being put into a room.

[smilez]

at least you came out of it healthy though. I can't imagine being locked up in a room like that, I would go insane wondering if it was SARS (or any other potentially like threatening disease).

Melissa

[janiecakes]

i would have a difficult time getting through that, it'd be cabin fever central.

glad to hear you're out and well.

[Reflex]

well that's a story to tell your grandkids.

"back in 2003..during the great SARS epidemic..."

[PosTMOd]

See, what I don't understand is that combined influenza and pneumonia death rate is 8%, while that of SARS is 4%.

Why are they only worried about the so-called SARS? By hyping this up, common colds and normal respiratory illnesses are being made into this SARS by patient and doctor expectations. It's called the nocebo effect.


A study done on the nocebo effect a few years ago showed something interesting:

Non-asthmatics were sprayed with what they were told was droplets of asthma-inducing chemicals. It was actually salt water, yet 47.5% of the people responded with asthma symptoms (12 of them had full blown asthma attacks).

Now, that's kind of interesting, but just to make it even more so, they were sprayed with another bottle of stuff that they were told would get rid of the asthma symptoms. Well, it cured them. It was the same salt solution as was used to induce the symptoms!

[Shuga_Shane]

Originally posted by PosTMOd
See, what I don't understand is that combined influenza and pneumonia death rate is 8%, while that of SARS is 4%.

Why are they only worried about the so-called SARS? By hyping this up, common colds and normal respiratory illnesses are being made into this SARS by patient and doctor expectations. It's called the nocebo effect.

Yes, but the number of influenza and pneumonia cases remains roughly constant year after year. I guess the worry about SARS is that it will become an epidemic. 20-30 million people died of the Spanish flu, while about 1 billion contracted it. That's a 3% death rate. Perhaps they shouldn't of worried about that either then.

Shug

[PosTMOd]

Originally posted by Shuga_Shane
Yes, but the number of influenza and pneumonia cases remains roughly constant year after year. I guess the worry about SARS is that it will become an epidemic. 20-30 million people died of the Spanish flu, while about 1 billion contracted it. That's a 3% death rate. Perhaps they shouldn't of worried about that either then.

SARS was around last year, the year before, the year before, etc.

It wasn't called SARS, however. It was called respiratory illness of unknown etiology, or pneumonia of unknown etiology.

25% or so of people last year who went to their doctor tested positive for influenza. The other 75% had other respiratory illnesses. Out of those, 1/3 were of unknown etiology (i.e. THIS YEAR, these are SARS cases...last year...no name).


Influenza-like reporting rates, comparing 1996-97 to 2002-03





50% of people "suspected" of having SARS right now are merely under the influence of a worldwide nocebo effect, and are not ill at all. Give them a magic bean, and tell them they are cured.

[sohaness]

sars in da house!!!

steve.

[ian]

PosTMOd,

I am digging your stats. . . what are your sources?

-ian g.

[dlerium88]

Yeah. Thats exactly what my prof in my study of infectious diseases class told us.

Once the media gets bored with the potential-"epidemic", all the SARS outbreaks will diminish as well.

[SlipperyPete]

Originally posted by ian
PosTMOd,

I am digging your stats. . . what are your sources?

-ian g.

i would guess here:

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/pphb-dgspsp/f...s/1003fg5e.gif

[acheron]

A large number of people in the medical community seem to be calling for the media to stop reporting on "suspected" cases and only list the "probable" ones in their daily stories.

If they did that then it wouldn't be nearly so exciting, of course.

[Booty Bits]

acheron, glad to hear you're okay.

sounds like a really surreal experience!

[ev]

2 people from my work have been in quarantine since April 1st.

[ChrisD]

acheron glad your feeling better bro, sounds awful to be away from your family like that.

[luvslife]

Originally posted by ev
2 people from my work have been in quarantine since April 1st.

What am I missing? I thought the incubation period was 10 days.
Sounds like they're enjoying a nice vacation to me.

Acheron, tha't crazy. I hope you feel better.

[ev]

Originally posted by luvslife
What am I missing? I thought the incubation period was 10 days.
Sounds like they're enjoying a nice vacation to me.

Acheron, tha't crazy. I hope you feel better.

damned if I know..... I haven't been following this in the news at all. But They had a big meeting about it a week after they went into quarantine.