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Top physicians warn congress { May 22 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Panel of top physicians warns Congress about SARS
Rob Hotakainen
Published May 22, 2003 SARS22
Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Offering a dire warning to Congress, a panel of top doctors said Wednesday that the nation should plan for a possible multi-city outbreak of SARS by next winter and that the United States is not ready to handle such an epidemic.
"I am convinced that like the early days of the HIV epidemic, the worst of SARS is yet to come," said Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
"I hope he's wrong, but I fear that he's correct," said Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Maryland, said a vaccine is still years away. He urged Congress to invest in "a robust research agenda" to fight the disease.
"SARS is an epidemic that is still in its evolutionary phase," he said. "It has extraordinary potential. The death rate is alarmingly high."
Fauci said that the United States should "be prepared for any eventuality" but that the disease is unlikely to go away: "It would be distinctly unusual for a respiratory disease that has spread the way this has spread to all of a sudden just disappear.
"We must never forget that what happened in Toronto could just as easily have happened in Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit or Minneapolis-St. Paul," he said. Toronto was hit hard by the epidemic.
More than 7,700 cases of SARS -- severe acute respiratory syndrome -- have been reported across the globe, with 67 probable cases identified in the United States, Gerberding said. Two of the probable cases have been in Minnesota, according to the CDC.
But the doctors told the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that the United States was lucky to avoid any deaths this year because winter ended just in time. They said respiratory diseases are typically more serious in the winter.
"We need more than luck," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the subcommittee's ranking member and former chairman. "We need resources and planning."
Osterholm said he expects a resurgence of SARS in a number of cities in the northern hemisphere when winter returns.
'Sobering'
Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., the subcommittee's chairman, said: "In Minnesota, we know about those winter months." After listening to the doctors, he offered a one-word summary of their testimony: "Sobering."
Convening his first hearing of the subcommittee in Washington, Coleman said the United States must develop a national response against SARS. But he said that the battle will be fought mainly by local units of government, adding that the public should regard investments in local responders as "prudent insurance" against threats to health.
"SARS is not yet done," he said. "It may mutate. It may become worse. It is not yet done killing."
Coleman said that states, cities and hospitals have begun preparing for an outbreak of infectious disease, but he cited a recent report by the Government Accounting Office that found a gap in disease surveillance systems and laboratory facilities.
"When future outbreaks happen, our ability to contain it and survive it will largely depend on the local responders who treat the first cases," he said.
Being prepared
Vicki Grunseth, chair of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, said CDC officials were contacted when an infant showed symptoms of SARS during a recent flight from Beijing to Minneapolis. An ambulance was waiting at the airport for the child, who actually had a common respiratory virus.
But Grunseth said the SARS threat has reminded airport police and firefighters to have gloves, masks and goggles on hand at all times.
"We don't know what's going to flow into the airport artery, but, whenever possible, we want to stop harmful things from flowing out of it," she said.
Osterholm said the United States is not spending enough on public health and faces a shortage of qualified and trained medical personnel. He said budget cuts in state and local government are making the situation worse.
State officials said they're feeling the hit of limited resources as health problems mount.
"Summer is fast approaching, and West Nile virus is already on our radar screen," said Mary Selecky, secretary of the Washington State Department of Health. "Can we handle SARS, West Nile virus and the usual food-borne outbreaks at the same time? We hope so."
Rob Hotakainen is at rhotakainen@mcclatchydc.com.
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