During the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratorysyndrome (SARS) in Taiwan, >150,000 persons were quar-antined, 24 of whom were later found to have laboratory-confirmed SARS-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) infection. Sinceno evidence exists that SARS-CoV is infective before theonset of symptoms and the quarantined persons wereexposed but not symptomatic, we thought the quarantine'seffectiveness should be investigated. Using the Taiwanquarantine data, we found that the onset-to-diagnosis timeof previously quarantined confirmed case-patients was sig-nificantly shortened compared to that for those who had notbeen quarantined. Thus, quarantine for SARS in Taiwanscreened potentially infective persons for swift diagnosisand hospitalization after onset, thereby indirectly reducinginfections. Full-scale quarantine measures implemented onApril 28 led to a significant improvement in onset-to-diagno-sis time of all SARS patients, regardless of previous quar-antine status. We discuss the temporal effects of quarantinemeasures and other interventions on detection and isolationas well as the potential usefulness of quarantine in fasteridentification of persons with SARS and in improving isola-tion measures
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