SARS

If you are concerned about exposure to SARS and your symptoms and circumstances fit the following criteria, it is important that you stay at home and contact your physician's office or emergency room (if symptoms are severe and/or life threatening) by telephone. Clinical staff will advise you as to the course of treatment.

Symptoms

Respiratory symptoms (dry cough, shortness of breath, etc)

AND

Fever of 100.5°F or higher

AND

Travel within 10 days of the onset of symptoms to areas with documented or suspected community transmission of SARS.

OR

Close contact (cared for, lived with, or had direct contact with body fluids) with someone who may have been exposed or who is a suspected SARS case.

In most cases, the symptoms are not life threatening and can be treated at home. Our nursing staff will call you regularly to check on your progress and to ensure that you are improving. Should you need to go to the emergency room, you should advise the clinical staff there of the situation so they can be prepared for your arrival and limit the exposure to others. We do not have an isolation room at South Shore Medical Center.

You can use the following web sites to obtain the most recent information from the Center for Disease Control.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars

http://www.mass.gov/dph/cdc/epii/sars/sars.htm