There is a confirmed case of SARS in Pinellas County.
Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2003 1:04 pm
This is in my home county...
The victim is a 41-year-old male. He is in isolation at Helen Ellis Hospital in Tarpon Springs.
The case means Florida now has two confirmed cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, in addition to 12 other suspected cases. The other confirmed case involves a 1-year-old female in Collier County.
The Pinellas patient checked into the hospital with flu-like symptoms – fever, coughing and shortness of breath. Also, he traveled to China recently, where the spread of the disease began.
As a precaution, health workers at Helen Ellis have been wearing protective masks and keeping the patient away from the general patient population.
The Florida Department of Health is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify potential cases of SARS in citizens and visitors to Florida. The state asked local health officials and clinicians to watch for patients who became sick after Feb. 1 and have symptoms of the respiratory illness.
As of April 14, the CDC had reported 193 suspected SARS cases in 32 states. The most recent travel advisory calls for deferring non-essential travel to all of mainland China, Hong Kong, Hanoi, Vietnam and Singapore.