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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: AJPH.2005.082115v1 97/Supplement_1/S98    most recent Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Wang, T.-H. Articles by Kuo, H.-S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Wang, T.-H. Articles by Kuo, H.-S.

Tsung-Hsi Wang, MD, MPH, Kuo-Chen Wei, MD, Chao Agnes Hsiung, PhD, Susan A. Maloney, MD, MHSc, Rachel Barwick Eidex, PhD, Drew L. Posey, MD, MPH, Wei-Hui Chou, MPH, Wen-Yi Shih, DDS, MPH and Hsu-Sung Kuo, MD, MPH, PhD

Tsung-Hsi Wang, Wei-Hui Chou, Wen-Yi Shih, and Hsu-Sung Kuo are with the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, Taipei, Taiwan. Chao Agnes Hsiung is with Taiwan National Health Research Institute, Miaoli, Taiwan. Kuo-Chen Wei is with Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan. Susan A. Maloney, Rachel Barwick Eidex, and Drew L. Posey are with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga.

Correspondence: Correspondence should be sent to Hsu-Sung Kuo, Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, Department of Health, No. 6, Linshen South Rd, Taipei, Taiwan (e-mail: kuohsusung{at}yahoo.com).

Taiwan used quarantine as 1 of numerous interventions implemented to control the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003. From March 18 to July 31, 2003, 147 526 persons were placed under quarantine. Quarantining only persons with known exposure to people infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome could have reduced the number of persons quarantined by approximately 64%. Focusing quarantine efforts on persons with known or suspected exposure can greatly decrease the number of persons placed under quarantine, without substantially compromising its yield and effectiveness.