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The SARS outbreak in a general hospital in Tianjin, China – the case of super-spreader

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2005

SH. X. WANG ,
Y. M. LI ,
B. C. SUN ,
S. W. ZHANG ,
W. H. ZHAO ,
M. T. WEI ,
K. X. CHEN ,
X. L. ZHAO ,
Z. L. ZHANG  and
M. KRAHN
...Show all authors
SH. X. WANG
Affiliation:
The Affiliated Hospital of CPAPF Medical College, Tianjin, China
Y. M. LI
Affiliation:
The Affiliated Hospital of CPAPF Medical College, Tianjin, China
B. C. SUN
Affiliation:
Tianjin Cancer Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
S. W. ZHANG
Affiliation:
The Affiliated Hospital of CPAPF Medical College, Tianjin, China
W. H. ZHAO
Affiliation:
Tianjin Cancer Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
M. T. WEI
Affiliation:
The Affiliated Hospital of CPAPF Medical College, Tianjin, China
K. X. CHEN
Affiliation:
Tianjin Cancer Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
X. L. ZHAO
Affiliation:
Tianjin Cancer Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
Z. L. ZHANG
Affiliation:
Tianjin Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Tianjin, China
M. KRAHN
Affiliation:
University Health Network, University of Toronto, Canada
A. C. CHEUNG
Affiliation:
University Health Network, University of Toronto, Canada
P. P. WANG
Affiliation:
Tianjin Cancer Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
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Abstract

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly emerged infectious disease with a high case-fatality rate and devastating socio-economic impact. In this report we summarized the results from an epidemiological investigation of a SARS outbreak in a hospital in Tianjin, between April and May 2003. We collected epidemiological and clinical data on 111 suspect and probable cases of SARS associated with the outbreak. Transmission chain and outbreak clusters were investigated. The outbreak was single sourced and had eight clusters. All SARS cases in the hospital were traced to a single patient who directly infected 33 people. The patients ranged from 16 to 82 years of age (mean age 38·5 years); 38·7% were men. The overall case fatality in the SARS outbreak was 11·7% (13/111). The outbreak lasted around 4 weeks after the index case was identified. SARS is a highly contagious condition associated with substantial case fatality; an outbreak can result from one patient in a relatively short period. However, stringent public health measures seemed to be effective in breaking the disease transmission chain.

Type
Research Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 134 , Issue 4 , August 2006 , pp. 786 - 791
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press