title: Atypical SARS and Escherichia coli bacteremia.
abstract: We describe a patient with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) whose clinical symptoms were masked by Escherichia coli bacteremia. SARS developed in a cluster of healthcare workers who had contact with this patient. SARS was diagnosed when a chest infiltrate developed and when the patient's brother was hospitalized with acute respiratory failure. We highlight problems in atypical cases and offer infection control suggestions.
authors.affiliation: Singapore General Hospital, Singapore. gimttt@sgh.com.sg
authors.forename: Thuan Tong
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Ban Hock
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Asok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kurup
authors.forename: Lynette Lin Ean
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Oon
authors.forename: Derrick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heng
authors.forename: Su Yun Se
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Thoe
authors.forename: Xin Lai
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Kwai Peng
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Ai Ee
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Ling
mesh_terms: D016470:Bacteremia / Q000150:complications*; D001483:Base Sequence; D016358:Contact Tracing; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D017758:Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010564:Personnel, Hospital; D011482:Protective Devices; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral