Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

By - 2006-01-10 - Viewed 1150 times. Find more articles like this in our Asthma and Bronchial category.

Small - Big

Email article       Print

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) a contagious and sometimes fatal respiratory illness first appeared in China in November 2002.

Since then, the disease has spread worldwide, infecting thousands of people and resulting in more than 800 deaths.

The rapid and unexpected spread of SARS alarmed both health officials and the public.

SARS the first newly emerged, serious and contagious illness of the 21st century illustrates just how quickly infection can proliferate in a highly mobile and interconnected world.

It's likely the disease began with a single infected person, and then spread around the globe through unsuspecting travelers.

SARS is particularly troubling because health experts know so little about it. Scientists do know that the cause is a new type of coronavirus one of a family of viruses that in humans usually cause mild upper respiratory infections, including common colds. How the new coronavirus evolved or why it turned deadly isn't known. Nor is it clear why some people succumb to the disease and others recover. Although many who died were older adults with other health problems, SARS has also proved fatal in healthy, young adults. Adding to the uncertainty is that the symptoms are similar to those of other respiratory illnesses.

Because of the high amount of uncertainty about SARS, health officials quickly put into place an intensive global campaign to control the disease. That campaign, spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO), proved so successful that by July 2003 SARS had been effectively contained worldwide, and all SARS-related travel restrictions had been lifted.

That doesn't mean the disease has been eradicated, however. In 2004, some SARS cases surfaced in China.

Doctors and health officials worry that an outbreak of the disease may occur again. The sense of concern surrounding SARS remains because as yet there's no known treatment.

You can print this article by clicking the printer icon at the top this of page.

Ask, answer questions or add more facts concerning "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)" below.
Your comment will NOT show up right away, it will be sent for approval before it will appear here. Please bookmark this page so you can check back for possible replies and answers to your questions.