Do you think that SARS will come back?
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
SARS is an atypical kind of pneumonia caused by the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) that was first identified in Guangdong Province, China in November 2002. The disease spread rapidly, and at first China suppressed information about it, not telling the World Health Organisation (WHO) about it until February 2003. This meant people continued to catch it and to travel with it. It soon spread abroad, reaching Hong Kong and Vietnam in late February 2003, and before long Canada, Colombia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and USA (for pictures showing how it spread see this BBC page. By the time the last case was identified, 8,069 people had caught the disease and 775 died. On average around 10% of people who catch SARS die, with older people being more susceptible.
The People's Republic of China later apologized for the delay, which caused some to suspect it might also be suppressing information about the recent outbreak of pig disease. A number of people were sacked and health reporting systems overhauled in China.
In February 2003 a passenger on a flight from China to Singapore, an American businessman, was taken ill. The plane made a stop in Hanoi, Vietnam, and the man was treated in hospital but died. Several doctors and nurses there soon sickened, and some died. The WHO issued a global alert on March 12, 2003. A Chinese doctor checked into a hotel in Hong Kong on 21 February 2003. He had treated patients who later turned out to have had SARS, and infected several people at the hotel, who then travelled to Canada, Ireland, Singapore, Vietnam and the USA, as well as some who stayed in Hong Kong.
Researchers following the spread of the disease came to the conclusion that it was spread by coughing and sneezing, and that there was nobody who was contagious without showing signs of illness themselves (an "asymptomatic carrier"). Most people became ill with fever and other flu-like symptoms within 2-3 days of infection, though in some cases it took up to 10 or even 13 days.
There are diagnostic tests available, but none is both accurate and speedy. As can be seen from the stories listed below, a variety of treatments and vaccines are still being researched or tested; antibiotics are not effective. The cause of the disease is still not fully understood, although the new coronavirus is involved. It has been found in civet cats in China, so perhaps it jumped the species barrier from them (or vice versa).
Thousands of people were quarantined in Canada, Hong Kong and elsewhere and schools were closed in Singapore and Hong Kong in attempt to stop the spread of the disease. Airline passengers and hospital staff were screened for symptoms such as fever, and hospital visits were severely restricted in hospitals treating SARS. In Singapore one hospital treated all the patients there, and anyone who had been in contact with SARS including those who were discharged from hospital on recovery were ordered to be quarantined at home. When some people ignored their quarantine orders, the law was changed to deal with them and those who lied about any contact they may have had with the disease.
On 23 April 2003 the WHO advised people not to travel to Toronto unless they really had to, because the disease seemed to be spreading from there, but the advisory was withdrawn on April 30. The Toronto economy suffered, as did that of other affected countries.
Scary though it was, the SARS epidemic was contained. An expected recurrence of SARS in the winter of 2004 did not happen. The WHO warns that a bird flu pandemic would be a great deal worse.
Genetic Material May Aid SARS Treatment
Severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, first appeared in 2002 and killed 774 people before it was brought under control only by aggressive quarantining and restrictions. New research using small genetic material fragments called interfering RNA, or siRNA, can reduce symptoms and help protect against infection.
Recent news stories involving SARS include:
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