The Centers for disease Control & Prevention on Sat. started distributing cards at airports receiving flights returning at once from hong kong warning travelers returning to the US from HK & Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China & Hanoi, Vietnam that they might have been exposed to cases of serious acute respiratory syndrome .
The cards are being handed out by quarantine officials at Chicago, O’Hare international airport ; L. A. ; old York city, JFK international airport ; Newark ; & San Francisco. These airports are the only U.S. Airports receiving direct flights from HK. No U.S. Airfields receive direct flights from Hanoi or the Guangdong Province. CDC officials expect to grow the distribution of cards to anchorage, Alaska & the territory of Guam later today.
The cards also offer guidance engineered to aid physicians in making a diagnosis by advising travelers to inform their doctors about fresh travel to the influenced regions, & whether they have been in contact with individuals who displayed signs of SARS.
The travel cards warn those returning from the three areas that they should monitor their health for no less than 3 days. They’re also suggested to contact their physicians if they get ill with a fever accompanied by a cough or problem in breathing.
The CDC recommends doctors & other clinicians to be alert for travelers who:
As of March fifteen, 2003, the CDC had received reports of SARS cases in HK & Guangdong Province, People’s Republic of China ; Hanoi, Vietnam & Canada, Singapore & Thailand. For that reason the World Health Organization has issued emergency steering for travelers & airlines so that persons displaying symptoms of the sickness can receive immediate health care & can be brought to the eye of public health authorities. These people are also advised against travelling while ill.
Have a fever of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher ;
one or more signs of respiratory sickness including cough, shortness of breath, problem in breathing, hypoxia ( deficiency in the quantity of oxygen reaching tissues of the body ), X-rays indicating the presence of pneumonia, or respiratory trouble ; &
one or more of the following:
History of travel to HK or Guangdong Province, people’s republic of China, or Hanoi, Vietnam within a few days of symptom onset ;
Close contact with people with breathing illness having the described travel history. Close contact includes having cared for, lived with, or had direct contact with breathing secretions & body fluids of someone with SARS.
Additionally, airlines should:
Alert the destination airport of any passengers meeting the case definition criteria ;
Arriving passengers who are symptomatic should be referred to health authorities for assessment & care ;
The passengers & crew should provide all contact information for how passengers can be reached for the successive 14 days to airfield health authorities.
Aircraft passengers & crew should be informed of the person’s standing as a suspect case of SARS [*SCO].
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