Border screening for SARS.
With the rapid international spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) from March through May 2003, Canada introduced various measures to screen airplane passengers at selected airports for symptoms and signs of SARS. The World Health Organization requested that all affected areas screen departing passengers for SARS symptoms. In spite of intensive screening, no SARS cases were detected. SARS has an extremely low prevalence, and the positive predictive value of screening is essentially zero. Canadian screening results raise questions about the effectiveness of available screening measures for SARS at international borders.
St John
Ronald K
RK
Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Health Canada, 100 Colonnade Road, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9, Canada. rstjohn@hc-sc.gc.ca
King
Arlene
A
de Jong
Dick
D
Bodie-Collins
Margaret
M
Squires
Susan G
SG
Tam
Theresa W S
TW
D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D015397:Program Evaluation; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014195:Travel