CDC downplays severity of SARS

Hi Everyone,
Just got done talking with a gentleman who said the had contracted SARS. This surprised me because where he lives, there were no reported cases (if I remember correctly), yet he said he contracted it. The way he found out was that he had all of the symptoms that survivors described such as a Temp of 100.5 and over and a dry hacking cough. This continued for weeks, and got pretty serious. This was in SoCal. He said he went to exercise at a gym with a friend, and as soon as he stepped into the sauna, he felt it come on. Imediately he started coughing, and hacking. He called the CDC, and they asked him if he had been to Hong Kong, Toronto, or any other of the hot-spots, and he said "no." They then promptly told him that he did not have the disease.

To me it seems like until someone dies of it in any particular area, the CDC will be able to deny it is an issue just to avoid panic. What do you folks think? Anyone hear of any stories such as this?

-P

[Edited on 14-12-2003 by postings]

Sounds exactly how I have been feeling for about the last two weeks. Maybe I have sars. Or not.....

Maybe I just have a cold and I'm not getting paranoid. Maybe I have a more serious illness. The Flu as its commonly called (even though that term is used way too lightly). As I understand it, the flu itself might have as high of a death rate as sars does.

I would also like to say that the first thing I would do if I was sick, is go to the doctor or hospital. Not call the CDC.

That doesn't suprise me.

I work in Public Safety & Security/Special Projects and was personally involved in the SARS crisis in Toronto.

After the first week the news paper was told to tell the general public that everything is a.o.k. & you can all play in the streets again basically.Not until more confirmed deaths & many more people becoming sick a warning was announced once again.
Durning that time never were you allowed into govenment area's OR high risk area's without at least wearing an approved mask or cleared by an on site nurse or doctor.
As always we never hear the complete story but like they say,"If ya can't beat'em,join'em"
I'd rather be in the loop then not,word to the wise.
If your worried,get yourself checked out !

Indeed, and he did too. I just left that part out because there was a whole story about that. The doctor he saw was pretty beligerant. The doctor told him that he had the common cold or something, and when he tried to press the doctor on that diagnosis, the doctor became all defensive, and said "are you here for antibiotics? I will prescribe that for you if that is what you really want." That to me (I am not a lawyer or anything) seems like malpractice waiting to happen. That doctor made the whole profession look bad, if the story was true. I can see that happening. My wife got sick just a bit ago, and the doctor we took her to treated the illness as a virus first, then bacteria second. It seemed like the thought was, we will try this, and if it doesn't work, we will try something else. I guess there is a reason why they call it "practicing" medicine. I was talking to another doctor several months back too, and mentioned that it seems like medicine is sometimes trial-and-error (because of the above experiences) I could tell imediately that I struck a cord with that one. He scoffed, and laughed it off, but I could tell he didn't agree. I dunno, lately I have been more sure than ever of it.

I am sure there are REALLY decent doctors out there who do a better job, so I don't mean to sound like I condemn all of them, but only the ones that act like that. Needless to say, I told my wife to make an appt. with an ear-nose-and throat doctor. That payed off big-time. She got the proper diagnosis the first time, and a treatment that took care of the problem right away. That is probably the route we will take from now on.

-P

Originally posted by Seapeople
Sounds exactly how I have been feeling for about the last two weeks. Maybe I have sars. Or not.....

Maybe I just have a cold and I'm not getting paranoid. Maybe I have a more serious illness. The Flu as its commonly called (even though that term is used way too lightly). As I understand it, the flu itself might have as high of a death rate as sars does.

I would also like to say that the first thing I would do if I was sick, is go to the doctor or hospital. Not call the CDC.

Sars may have been much more prevelant than believe due to its much more potent effect on the elderly and already ill and ailing.

It is possible that younger people of good health could have SARS and only appear to have a bad case of the flu. Now we are being bombarded with threats of the flu this year and how it is expected to be so serious. This all out of the blue, no reason to believe it would be worse than any other time in the immediate past is there? On top of that there is the big push to have most people take the flu shot. Maybe that is where the flu will come from?

Well the govt of H.K told us to brace for another outbreak during winter, but nothing yet.not that i want another outbreak of the disease.