3
January 22
ARRIVING AT THE CLINIC the next morning, Marissa was surprised to see a number of TV trucks pulled up to the hospital entrance, with their transmission antennae raised against the morning sky. When she tried to enter through the parking garage, she was stopped by a policeman and had to show her CDC identification.
“Quarantine,” the policeman explained, and told her to enter the clinic through the main hospital entrance where the TV trucks were located.
Marissa obeyed, wondering what had been happening during the six-plus hours she’d been away. TV cables snaked their way along the floor to the conference room, and she was amazed at the level of activity in the main corridor. Spotting Dr. Navarre, she asked him what was going on.
“Your people have scheduled a news conference,” he explained. His face was haggard and unshaven, and it seemed obvious he had not been to bed. He took a newspaper from under his arm and showed it to Marissa: A NEW AIDS EPIDEMIC, shouted the headline. The article was illustrated with a photo of Marissa talking with Clarence Hems.
“Dr. Dubchek felt that such a misconception could not be allowed to continue,” said Dr. Navarre.
Marissa groaned. “The reporter approached me right after I’d arrived. I really didn’t tell him anything.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Dr. Navarre, patting her gently on the shoulder. “Dr. Richter died during the night, and with the four new cases, there was no way this could have been kept from the media.”
“When did Dr. Dubehek arrive?” asked Marissa, getting out of the way of a camera crew headed into the conference room.
“A little after midnight,” said Dr. Navarre.
“Why the police?” asked Marissa, noticing a second uniformed officer standing by the doors leading to the hospital.
“After Dr. Richter died, patients started signing themselves out of the hospital, until the State Commissioner of Health issued an order placing the whole building under quarantine.”
Marissa excused herself and made her way through a throng of press and TV people outside the conference room. She was glad Dubchek had arrived to take charge but wondered why he hadn’t gotten in touch with her. When she entered the room, Dubchek was just about to start speaking.
He handled himself well. His calm no-nonsense manner quieted the room immediately. He began by introducing himself and the other doctors from the CDC. There was Dr. Mark Vreeland, Chief of Medical Epidemiology; Dr. Pierce Abbott, Director of the Department of Virology; Dr. Clark Layne, Director of the Hospital Infectious Disease Program; and Dr. Paul Eckenstein, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease.
Dubchek then went on to downplay the incident, saying that the problem was not “A New AIDS Epidemic” by any stretch of the imagination. He said that the California State Epidemiologist had requested help from the CDC to look into a few cases of unexplained illness thought to be of viral origin.
Looking at reporters eager for copy, Marissa could tell they were not buying Dubchek’s calm assessment. The idea of a new, unknown and frightening viral illness made for exciting news.
Dubchek continued by saying that there had only been a total of sixteen cases and that he thought the problem was under control. He pointed to Dr. Layne and announced that he would be overseeing the quarantine efforts and added that experience proved this kind of illness could be controlled by strict hospital isolation.
At this, Clarence Hems jumped up, asking, “Did Dr. Richter bring this virus back from his African conference?”
“We don’t know,” said Dubchek. “It is a possibility, but doubtful. The incubation period would be too long, since Dr. Richter returned from Africa over a month ago. The incubation period for this kind of illness is usually about a week.”
Another reporter got to her feet: “If the incubation period for AIDS can be five years, how can you limit it here to less than a month?”
“That’s exactly the point,” said Dubchek, his patience wearing thin. “The AIDS virus is totally different from our current problem. It is essential that the media understand this point and communicate it to the public.”
“Have you isolated the new virus?” asked another reporter.