Volume 9, Number 10—October 2003
Perspective
Syndromic Surveillance and Bioterrorism-related Epidemics
James W. Buehler*
, Ruth L. Berkelman*, David M. Hartley†, and Clarence J. Peters‡
, Ruth L. Berkelman*, David M. Hartley†, and Clarence J. Peters‡Table 1
Outcome of initial contact with health care for anthrax-related illness and timing of anthrax diagnosis, 11 patients with inhalational anthrax, 2001a
| Disposition after initial medical care | No. of patients |
|---|---|
| Admitted to hospital |
7 |
| Discharged home from ER, subsequent hospital admission |
2 |
| Discharged home from outpatient provider, subsequent hospital admission |
2 |
| Total |
11 |
| Anthrax diagnosis |
|
| Blood or CSF culture on hospital admission, presumptive diagnosis <24 h |
7 |
| Blood culture from preceding ER visit, patient recalled for admission |
1 |
| Prior antibiotic therapy; clinical suspicion of anthrax; specialized test required to establish diagnosis |
3 |
| Total | 11 |
aER, emergency room; CSF, cerebrospinal fluid.
1For interval calculations, if reported event dates were discrepant in different case reports, dates reported by Jernigan et al. (13) were used.
