Nerves of Steel
The week I was working in the hospital I ran into our Infectious Disease specialist on one of the wards. Overhearing his telephone conversation, I realized he'd recently seen a SARS patient in his office. When he hung up I asked for the details. He'd known about the patient in advance, so he arranged to see the patient early (at 7:30 in the morning); everyone wore masks. The history had been suspicious - the right symptoms, recent travel to Southeast Asia - so he was prepared. The tests came back positive for the SARS virus, and the patient made a good recovery. He said, cheerfully, that he'd made it past the incubation period without symptoms.
Guess he dodged a bullet on that one. Sometimes I think that Infectious Disease specialists have become the plague doctors of our time; first HIV, now this. If I were asked to examine a patient with a history suspicious for SARS, I would do so, but I think I'd be pretty nervous about it. His
sang-froid was impressive.
posted by Dr. Alice at #
