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CNN Live Today

SARS Fix Still Far in the Future

Aired April 21, 2003 - 11:41   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the SARS outbreak is dominating health news today. China has canceled a national holiday over the epidemic, and public transit commuters in Toronto are now being urged to get checked after an infected person took a train last week there. Our medical news correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to bring us up to date on SARS in today's "Daily Dose" -- good to see you in the flesh. Actually, we shouldn't be calling this "Daily Dose," it should be "While You Were Out," because while you were out covering the war, all of a sudden this SARS epidemic turns into the big story here. Did you even hear anything about it...
(CROSSTALK)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. It was a big health story there, as well. We certainly were hearing about it, but a lot of the war coverage, obviously, superseding that to some extent for good or for bad. But we were hearing the numbers out there, and it was like one of these things we're doing a mental check list in our head, and these numbers kept growing everyday, and we looked at each other, and said, Boy, this is going to be big.

HARRIS: So what do you put things at right now? At least, for the States right now as we look at it here?

GUPTA: OK. Well, you look at the states first, and you look at the numbers, and they talk about 220 possible cases out there. There have been no deaths in the United States. Of course, that's a contrast to the rest of the world. Over 3,500 cases now around the world, 182 deaths. That will probably change by this afternoon, Leon. These numbers really growing. Take a look at a map of the United States as well, 35 states possibly affected, possibly affected.

Leon, this is a very hard thing to sort of nail down. This is where it gets confusing, because the symptoms are so much like the cold or the flu. Take a look at the symptoms: high fever, cough, tiredness, things like that, also asking for a chest X-ray as well, but still it could be garden variety pneumonia. It gets kind of confusing.

HARRIS: Well, you talk about the numbers changing -- we just saw the numbers change this morning. China came out and said that no, there weren't 37 deaths in this, there were 339. Now, did that give you extra pause as a professional knowing that all of a sudden now, the number of people that actually had this and died has exploded tenfold, just because of revelation of some real numbers that have been there all long? Wouldn't that make you more concerned about more people having being exposed to those extra people, and being transmitted elsewhere?

GUPTA: I think you're absolutely right. This is sort of an epidemiological disaster, in fact, compounded by the fact that these numbers increase ten times. When it comes to health care, this can be a really serious problem. What was happening to those other 300 people that weren't accounted for, at least weren't being listed in the books? Were they out possibly exposing other people, or were they actually being cared for in a proper way and not exposing other people. These are important questions, Leon, because this is a person-to-person transmissible virus. We get this by talking to each other like this, and that's what's scary for a lot of people.

HARRIS: Talk about a cure real quickly. How close are they to getting one? They've sequenced the genes, right?

GUPTA: Yes. It is interesting -- this is sort of the positive side about SARS, as well, if there is a positive side. Over the last two months, a disease has been identified. The infectious agent, a virus which causes the disease has been identified. Four tests have now come up to actually test for this virus, and the sequence of the genome has been completed. As far as a treatment, or even a vaccine, something like that is still probably months off, but actually getting from the step of having the sequence of the genome sequenced -- performed, to actually getting to a treatment, that actually takes care of a lot of steps in there.

Probably not going to see it for a while. It is still going to be really good hygiene, really good thinking about quarantine, isolation in certain countries. Those are still going to be the tricks of the trade. That is the way it was for smallpox before they came up with a good treatment. That is they way it was for the plague back in the 1700s. That's where the word "quarantine" comes from, by the way. Quarantine 40. They used to isolate people for 40 days.

HARRIS: OK.

GUPTA: So there you go. But that's still going to be the name of the game until the treatment, but look for it in several months, probably.

HARRIS: OK. Good deal. We will look for it right here. Thanks. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, appreciate that. Nice to see you a tie and suit...

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: I kind of liked the desert look. You didn't like that?

HARRIS: It looked good on you.

GUPTA: Good seeing you, Leon.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired April 21, 2003 - 11:41   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the SARS outbreak is dominating health news today. China has canceled a national holiday over the epidemic, and public transit commuters in Toronto are now being urged to get checked after an infected person took a train last week there. Our medical news correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to bring us up to date on SARS in today's "Daily Dose" -- good to see you in the flesh. Actually, we shouldn't be calling this "Daily Dose," it should be "While You Were Out," because while you were out covering the war, all of a sudden this SARS epidemic turns into the big story here. Did you even hear anything about it...
(CROSSTALK)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. It was a big health story there, as well. We certainly were hearing about it, but a lot of the war coverage, obviously, superseding that to some extent for good or for bad. But we were hearing the numbers out there, and it was like one of these things we're doing a mental check list in our head, and these numbers kept growing everyday, and we looked at each other, and said, Boy, this is going to be big.

HARRIS: So what do you put things at right now? At least, for the States right now as we look at it here?

GUPTA: OK. Well, you look at the states first, and you look at the numbers, and they talk about 220 possible cases out there. There have been no deaths in the United States. Of course, that's a contrast to the rest of the world. Over 3,500 cases now around the world, 182 deaths. That will probably change by this afternoon, Leon. These numbers really growing. Take a look at a map of the United States as well, 35 states possibly affected, possibly affected.

Leon, this is a very hard thing to sort of nail down. This is where it gets confusing, because the symptoms are so much like the cold or the flu. Take a look at the symptoms: high fever, cough, tiredness, things like that, also asking for a chest X-ray as well, but still it could be garden variety pneumonia. It gets kind of confusing.

HARRIS: Well, you talk about the numbers changing -- we just saw the numbers change this morning. China came out and said that no, there weren't 37 deaths in this, there were 339. Now, did that give you extra pause as a professional knowing that all of a sudden now, the number of people that actually had this and died has exploded tenfold, just because of revelation of some real numbers that have been there all long? Wouldn't that make you more concerned about more people having being exposed to those extra people, and being transmitted elsewhere?

GUPTA: I think you're absolutely right. This is sort of an epidemiological disaster, in fact, compounded by the fact that these numbers increase ten times. When it comes to health care, this can be a really serious problem. What was happening to those other 300 people that weren't accounted for, at least weren't being listed in the books? Were they out possibly exposing other people, or were they actually being cared for in a proper way and not exposing other people. These are important questions, Leon, because this is a person-to-person transmissible virus. We get this by talking to each other like this, and that's what's scary for a lot of people.

HARRIS: Talk about a cure real quickly. How close are they to getting one? They've sequenced the genes, right?

GUPTA: Yes. It is interesting -- this is sort of the positive side about SARS, as well, if there is a positive side. Over the last two months, a disease has been identified. The infectious agent, a virus which causes the disease has been identified. Four tests have now come up to actually test for this virus, and the sequence of the genome has been completed. As far as a treatment, or even a vaccine, something like that is still probably months off, but actually getting from the step of having the sequence of the genome sequenced -- performed, to actually getting to a treatment, that actually takes care of a lot of steps in there.

Probably not going to see it for a while. It is still going to be really good hygiene, really good thinking about quarantine, isolation in certain countries. Those are still going to be the tricks of the trade. That is the way it was for smallpox before they came up with a good treatment. That is they way it was for the plague back in the 1700s. That's where the word "quarantine" comes from, by the way. Quarantine 40. They used to isolate people for 40 days.

HARRIS: OK.

GUPTA: So there you go. But that's still going to be the name of the game until the treatment, but look for it in several months, probably.

HARRIS: OK. Good deal. We will look for it right here. Thanks. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, appreciate that. Nice to see you a tie and suit...

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: I kind of liked the desert look. You didn't like that?

HARRIS: It looked good on you.

GUPTA: Good seeing you, Leon.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com