Possible Cases of Mystery Illness Treated

Public health officials in Ventura and Orange counties have identified three suspected cases of a mystery respiratory illness that has killed dozens worldwide.

In Ventura County, a woman showed up at a local emergency room Saturday with a high fever and respiratory problems, said Marilyn Billimek, a public health nurse in the county’s Communicable Disease Division.

The woman told doctors she had recently returned from one of the Asian countries where the disease first appeared and suspected she might have the illness, Billimek said.

The woman, identified only as being in her 60s, was hospitalized in an isolated ward for three days and released. She is at home with instructions to stay inside for a couple of weeks.

Although there is not yet a definitive diagnostic test for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, the woman’s symptoms and her recent travels led health officials to conclude it probably is SARS, Billimek said.

Tests were done to rule out other conditions, she said. Health officials announced their suspicion Tuesday.

A day later, Orange County reported its first suspected cases in two people who had recently returned from China on separate trips.

Neither is very ill, said Dr. Hildy Myers, medical director of assessment and epidemiology for the Orange County Health Care Agency, but they have been told to stay home for 10 days after their symptoms disappear.

Thirty-one cases of the mysterious pneumonia-like disease have been reported in California, including seven in Los Angeles County, the two in Orange County, one in Riverside County, one in Santa Barbara County and the one in Ventura County. No one in the U.S. has died from the disease, which has killed an estimated 78 people worldwide.

SARS is difficult to diagnose because scientists don’t know what causes it, so there is no test to positively identify a case. For that reason, all cases are considered “suspected.”

The Orange County cases involve people in their 40s and 60s.

Officials in both counties declined to further identify the individuals, citing patient confidentiality.

SARS begins with symptoms similar to a cold or flu. They include fatigue, a temperature of more than 100.5 degrees, coughing, difficulty breathing and an abnormal chest X-ray. The illness is suspected only in people who have traveled in the last 10 days to a country where SARS has been reported or who have been in close contact with someone who has.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised travelers to avoid mainland China, Hong Kong, Hanoi and Singapore, where the illness is most prevalent.

According to the World Health Organization, 2,223 cases of the disease have been reported worldwide, 85% of them in mainland China and Hong Kong. There have been 85 suspected cases in the U.S.

Doctors do not know why the disease has not been as virulent in the U.S. as it has elsewhere.

There is no specific treatment for SARS, other than treating the symptoms, as one would do with the flu. The exception is if the patient is having trouble breathing and needs to be placed on a respirator.

Someone suspected of having SARS should wear a surgical mask when around others, or visitors should wear masks. After contact with a SARS patient, people should wash their hands and disinfect items the patient has been in contact with.