I guess I knew this would happen sooner or later...but I'm very nervous now.
From the evening news in Detroit (Channel 7, WXYZ TV):
Local Woman Hospitalized With SARS Symptoms
Reported by Kimberly Craig
Web produced by Kelly Reynolds
Doctors at Henry Ford Hospital are treating a woman who may be infected with the respiratory disease known as SARS. She is from St. Clair County. She recently traveled to Toronto, where several people have died from SARS. The county is warning people who are close to her to take precautions.
Action News has learned that on April 19, this woman went to a city 50 miles outside Toronto, but the next day she went to Toronto for dinner. She is from a rural part of southern St. Clair County and is now in isolation at Henry Ford Hospital.
The St. Clair County woman first went to Henry Ford's clinic in Troy with symptoms of SARS, and then her doctors moved her to the Detroit hospital for further evaluation.
Her symptoms include a cough, fever, and shortness of breath. There is also evidence of an infection in her chest x-ray, and she is also nauseous and vomiting.
Health Department officials in St. Clair County are now trying to locate people she may have come into contact with.
"We'll be asking them to isolate themselves for 10 days to watch out for symptoms of the infection, that is a cough, shortness of breath, fever, low-grade fever of up to 101.1 F or 39.1 C. Most of the people who have developed infection from contact have been health care workers. The chance of getting the infection from casual contact are not that high," said Dr. David Hislop, St. Clair County Health Department.
Hospital officials at Henry Ford say all provisions have been taken to transfer and isolate this woman as outlined by the CDC. They say everyone should keep their appointments at all of their facilities because everyone has been protected.