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CNN Live At Daybreak

Death of Kathy Nguyen Continues to Baffle Investigators

Aired November 12, 2001 - 08:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: The death of Kathy Nguyen continues to baffle investigators. The New York hospital worker died from inhalation anthrax on October 31. After an autopsy, her death was ruled a homicide. But detectives still have no clues now, or they're not sure exactly where she came into contact with the germ.

Medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta brings us up-to-date on the investigation -- good morning, Doctor.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. Yes, it's exactly as you said. Thousands of nasal swabs, just about every bacterial surface she may have come in contact with, has been tested. For a relatively private woman, who visited few places, it's been a formidable challenge investigatively.

First, they thought it was the mail, Paula. They checked the mail at her home, at her work, the places that service both her home and her work, and found nothing.

Then, they started to sort of follow the woman herself. They looked at her metro card and sort of followed her travels along the number 6 train from the Bronx, the Whitlock Station where she lived, to the 68th and 86th Stations in Manhattan. One place was where she worked, at the Manhattan Eye, Ear and Nose Institute, but also a place that she frequently visited was an Asian restaurant at the 86th stop. They really have still not found anything at either one of these places, so it has been a very formidable challenge.

One caveat to all of that is that everyone who has possibly come in contact with Kathy Nguyen has already been started on Cipro. So certainly, that stopped the infections, but also may have stopped any clues that may have helped investigators -- Paula.

ZAHN: So, Doctor, I'm sorry. Someone was talking to me as you finished there. Can you describe to us this morning what the CDC has actually learned in trying to piece together all of this information from so many different sources.

GUPTA: Right, Paula. You know, they have learned a lot, actually. You know, we hadn't seen a case of inhalational anthrax in 25 years in this country, and now 10 cases.

A couple of things that they have learned: It does tend to be a two-phased sort of illness. The first phase, usually days one to four, you have symptoms such as fatigue, fever, myalgia, which is muscle pain, and a nonproductive cough. Days five to six, which is the second phase, usually you're going to get respiratory distress, cyanosis, meaning not enough oxygen, and profound sweating. Death, if it occurs, usually occurs on day seven.

We have learned that people who are treated in the first phase, all six of the people who survived were treated with appropriate antibiotics during that first phase. All four people who died did not receive antibiotics until the second phase, so a very important distinction there.

All of them had abnormal chest x-rays. Some of those abnormalities were not recognized at the time, but certainly in retrospect, when they went back and looked at the x-rays, every one of the 10 people have had an abnormal chest x-ray.

So there have been some important things. I've talked to several to doctors about that. They say that it probably means that a lot more people will get antibiotics, especially this flu season, as the phase one symptoms are so similar to the flu -- Paula.

ZAHN: Now, I know my own personal doctor recommended to not get a flu shot, because it perhaps could mask, you know, the symptoms of exposure to anthrax. But in general, that's not a good idea. The elderly part of the population should continue to get flu shots now, right, as they always have?

GUPTA: That's right, Paula. They talk about people at high risk certainly being the first to get the flu shot -- that is health care workers, that is people who have weak immune systems, and people who work in hospitals. But if there is enough flu vaccine available, which people are working very hard to do, folks are recommending that if you can get a flu shot, go ahead and get it, no matter who you are.

ZAHN: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, we always rely on your advice -- appreciate it.

GUPTA: Thank you, Paula.

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