Singapore Health Minister Lim Hng Kiang said on Thursday that it is
necessary to maintain the "isolate and contain" strategy in dealing
with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
He
told a press conference that five of the seven cases detected
Thursday are linked to the cluster infection in the Singapore
General Hospital (SGH).
Cluster infection in the SGH broke out last Saturday when a total
of 21 SGH staff members from Wards 57 and 58 developed fever.
Epidemiological investigations have traced the source of this
cluster of infections to a man who had suffered from chronic kidney
disease and diabetes and had been admitted to the Tan Tock Seng
Hospital (TTSH), which is designated for treating SARS.
The old man was later admitted to SGH Ward 57 and transferred to
Ward 58 afterwards.
But doctors noted that the clinical picture of the old man is not
typical of SARS and it is likely that the typical symptoms of SARS
were masked by his other underlying medical conditions.
The minister said that the SGH cluster of infections bears the
implications that one key thrust is to identify symptomatic cases
as early as possible, paving the way for timely treatment and
isolation.
He
indicated that the precautionary measure to trace and ring-fence
close contacts with SARS patients significantly helps reduce any
further transmission of SARS, especially to the community at
large.
Lim also called for lifting infection control requirements in all
hospitals.
The types of cases that hospitals need to identify early and
isolate have been widened to include all cases of atypical
pneumonia and fever without a known cause, as well as health care
workers who show fever and/or respiratory symptoms of undetermined
cause, he said.
(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2003)