Lessons
learned from the 2003 experience will help local, state, and national
communications specialists refine their communications planning to
facilitate appropriate and decisive actions in response to a re-emergence.
The foundation for effective communication is a set of key messages that
can be used consistently to highlight and reinforce the lessons learned
and generate an appropriate response to SARS that minimizes risk while
ensuring a strong and rapid response. These messages should be developed
with the input of all decision-makers in the SARS response, and all communication
messages should emanate from these central points. The following are
examples for consideration:
- We
have learned a great deal about SARS-CoV disease that is helping us
prepare for the possibility that it will return.
- A
SARS diagnosis is guided by a history of exposure to SARS-CoV or to
a setting in which transmission is occurring.
- Most
exposures to SARS-CoV occur in healthcare facilities and households.
Community exposures outside of these settings have been reported, but
these occurred rarely, under special circumstances, and, with few exceptions,
after close contact with ill persons. Persons at risk in healthcare
facilities include healthcare workers, patients, and visitors. In households,
the greatest risk is to family members of SARS patients.
- In
most instances, SARS outbreaks were localized to specific communities
and often to specific locations or facilities in a community. For
example, in Canada, most SARS cases occurred in Toronto, and in
Toronto, most cases occurred in hospitals.
- SARS
can be controlled by rapid, appropriate public health action that includes
surveillance, identification and isolation of SARS cases, infection
control, intense contact tracing, and quarantine of persons who may
have been exposed to SARS-CoV. These measures can be a temporary inconvenience
to those involved but are essential for containing SARS outbreaks.
- The
United States is preparing for a possible reappearance of SARS-CoV
by: 1) educating healthcare workers about SARS-CoV disease diagnosis,
2) developing SARS surveillance systems to determine if and where SARS-CoV
has re-emerged, 3) developing guidelines for preventing transmission
in different settings, 4) improving laboratory tests for SARS-CoV,
and 5) developing better guidance for treating SARS patients.
- At
this time, there is no evidence of ongoing transmission of SARS-CoV
anywhere in the world. In the absence of SARS-CoV transmission, there
is no need for concern about travel or other activities. Up-to-date
information on SARS is available on CDC's
SARS website (www.cdc.gov/sars) .
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