SARS Transmission, Risk Factors, and Prevention in Hong Kong

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Lau, Joseph T.F. ; Tsui, Hiyi ; Lau, Mason ; Yang, Xilin
• Description:
  We analyzed information obtained from 1,192 patients with probable severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) reported in Hong Kong. Among them, 26.6% were hospital workers, 16.1% were members of the same household as SARS patients and had probable secondary infections, 14.3% were Amoy Gardens residents, 4.9% were inpatients, and 9.9% were contacts of SARS patients who were not family members. The remaining 347 case-patients (29.1%) had undefined sources of infection. Excluding those <16 years of age, 330 patients with cases from "undefined" sources were used in a 1:2 matched case-control study. Multivariate analysis of this case-control study showed that having visited mainland China, hospitals, or the Amoy Gardens were risk factors (odds ratio [OR] 1.95 to 7.63). In addition, frequent mask use in public venues, frequent hand washing, and disinfecting the living quarters were significant protective factors (OR 0.36 to 0.58). In Hong Kong, therefore, community-acquired infection did not make up most transmissions, and public health measures have contributed substantially to the control of the SARS epidemic.
• Subjects:
  Case-Control Studies Chinese Hong Kong Humans Multivariate Analysis Research Risk Factors SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Source Transmission

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• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 10(4):587-592.
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  10
• Issue:
  4
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:e30143aa1b98d3f8e055cb9c687350c2bd73228bf6bfaf65d9d6b43eb728b23b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/14458/cdc_14458_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 67.62 KB ]