http://www.miami.com/herald/special/news/terrorism/digdocs/047269.htm
Published Wednesday,
In recent days,
state public health offices have been flooded with hundreds of calls from
fearful Floridians, authorities say.
``From where the disease is
at this point, probably the panic is more dangerous than the actual disease,''
said David Roach, administrator of the Broward County Health Department.
``We are reaching a point
where the fear is becoming an epidemic in itself,'' said Dr. Jim James,
director of the Miami-Dade Health Department. ``People are scared, and we have
to come to grips with that fear.''
Doctors also have been
bombarded with calls, some from people demanding access to the anthrax vaccine;
others are asking for antibiotic prescriptions, even though they are not sick.
Some have visited doctors and emergency rooms certain that their raspy cough
and runny nose are telltale signs of anthrax.
To quell the panic, the
Florida Department of Health on Monday opened a toll-free hot line. On Tuesday,
12 health department staffers were fielding nonstop calls to the line, said
April Crowley, a health department spokeswoman.
WEST NILE VIRUS
In recent
weeks, administrators with the Department of Health -- a relatively quiet state
agency more accustomed to handling rabies infections than bioterrorist threats
-- already were working overtime alerting Floridians to the dangers of the West
Nile Virus, a potentially deadly mosquito-borne disease.
A medical alert for the
disease is in place for 49 of Florida's 67 counties, and the health deparment
has confirmed eight cases of human infection.
``This makes West Nile
virus look pretty calm,'' Crowley said.
Crowley was in Boca Raton
on Monday with other health officials investigating the anthrax infection at a
supermarket tabloid office.
``The minute I stepped off
the plane, my cellphone rang. A consumer in Palm Beach was demanding the
[anthrax] vaccine, then the vaccine for smallpox.''
Linda Cox, a Fort Lauderdale
allergist, said a handful of patients have visited her office this week seeking
the antibiotic drug Ciprofloxin -- which can be used to treat a patient
infected with anthrax -- even though the drug is not indicated for their
symptoms.
``I said this is not
something normally prescribed for sinusitis,'' Cox said. The patients ask for
the drug anyway, suggesting they may not ``tolerate'' the more traditional
drugs.
``I've heard that some
colleagues are stockpiling antibiotics,'' Cox added. ``Some of us are not
necessarily acting rationally. And I'm seeing this in the physician community,
which is supposed to be the group that analyzes the data and looks at the real
risk.''
The Florida
Medical Association went so far as to issue a press release Tuesday urging
physicians to ``exercise caution'' before prescribing antibiotics to prevent
anthrax infection.
``We are concerned that the
indiscriminate use of antibiotics for such purpose might cause adverse effects
and can contribute to the emergence of resistant strains of common infectious
diseases,'' said Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger, chairman of the medical association's
Emergency Preparedness Task Force.
Fears about the disease,
though largely unfounded, are still understandable, said John Carnes, a
psychologist and director of medical education at Bayfront Medical Center in
St. Petersburg. Fear, and even panic, can fill the void when people feel they
aren't getting enough information about possible threats to their well-being,
he said.
``I think panic arises when
people perceive themselves to be under great threat -- and they feel powerless
to influence the situation,'' Carnes said.
``It's the uncertainty,''
Carnes added. ``People are becoming very, very afraid. And the thing that
drives that is a lack of information.''
Or misinformation, some
health experts say. The last few days, talk radio shows have been flooded with
calls from listeners who say health officials are covering up greater numbers
of anthrax victims, or repeating stories about other diseases that allegedly
have been spread.
Roach, the Broward health
administrator, said he received word that a ``new disease,'' called the
Klingerman Virus, was circulating and had infected 23 people -- killing seven.
``If you read [the e-mail], it looks very official,'' Roach said. ``But it's a
total hoax. There is no Klingerman virus.''
And many
Floridians appear unwilling to listen when authorities explain that most rumors
are false, and there is no anthrax epidemic. ``Some will not take no for an
answer, Roach said. ``They get very upset.''
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INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR
GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE
KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED
AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO
VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU
ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.