EMERGENCE OF SARS Figure 1. Triage algorithm for febrile patients, severe acute respi- ratory syndrome fever hotline, Taipei, June 2003. SARS were defined as those with fever plus any recent his- tory of quarantine, travel to SARS-affected areas, or con- tact with SARS cases. Physicians also received a form to document all calls. Data fields on the form were caller or patient name, sex, district of residence, telephone number, a section for comments, a checklist of topics discussed, and diagnosis. The diagnosis field was narrative; therefore, data were classified into broad categories based on the body part or system affected. The hotline data collection forms did not include anatomic site of temperature meas- urement, therefore, for our evaluation, fever was defined as a recorded body temperature of >38°C.2 Cross-Sectional Telephone Survey of Taipei Residents A telephone survey of Taipei city residents was per- formed to assess knowledge of the body-temperature mon- itoring campaign and use of the fever hotline. Households in Taipei were selected for participation in the survey on June 13 to 14, 2003, using a simple random sample of home telephone numbers. Interviewers explained the sur- vey to potential respondents and obtained verbal consent before administering a brief questionnaire. The Yates corrected chi-square test and the Fisher exact test were used for comparison of groups. Results Taiwan SARS Fever Hotline Data During June 1 to 10, a total of 11,228 calls were made to Taiwan’s population-wide fever hotline (Figure 2). Persons were advised to seek further medical evaluation (through family physician, fever clinic, or by ambulance) in 28% (n = 3,100) of calls, and persons were advised to remain at their residence and monitor symptoms in 21% (n = 2,385) of calls. Neither of these recommendations was given in 51% (n = 5,743) of calls. Taipei SARS Fever Hotline Data During June 1 to 10, a total of 1,966 calls were made to the fever hotline in Taipei. Body temperature was recorded for 51% (n = 1,012) of calls. A temperature of >38°C (range 34.0°C–41.0°C, median 37.6°C) was recorded in 37% (n = 378) of calls in which body temperature was recorded. Of the 453 calls with diagnoses, the most common were respiratory and gastrointestinal syndromes (Table 1) for persons with or without fevers. Among calls for which the recommendation given was documented, callers with fever were more likely than callers without fever to be advised to see a physician for further medical evaluation (p < 0.001) or go to a fever clinic (p < 0.001) (Table 2). Eighteen (0.9%) persons were identified as being at high risk for SARS. Of these, 5 (28%) had fever, 2 (11%) had no fever, and temperature was unrecorded for 11 (61%). One person with unrecorded temperature was advised to stay home and monitor symptoms, and one per- son with a fever was advised to visit a physician. The advice given to the remaining 16 persons was not recorded. Cross-Sectional Telephone Survey of Taipei Residents Of the 4,000 telephone numbers dialed, 2,999 numbers were invalid, unanswered, or refusals. Of the 1,111 survey participants, 58% (n = 643) were female, the median age was 47 years (range 20–91), and the median number of people per household was 4 (range 1–17). Ninety-five Figure 2. Advice given to callers to severe acute respiratory syn- drome fever hotline, Taiwan, June 2003. 374 Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 10, No. 2, February 2004