Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

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SARS EPIDEMIC2

SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME (SARS)

Introduction

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a pulmonary disease. It primarily affects the lungs and a virus that was initially discovered in 2003 causes it. Infection with the SARS virus results in symptoms of respiratory distress characterised by severe breathing difficulty that sometimes leads to death (Ramen, 2005). It is an infectious disease spread from human to human. There have not been any known cases of SARS anywhere in the world since 2004 (Acton, 2012). This paper will discuss the history, aetiology, mode of transmission and prognosis of SARS.

History

Dr. Carlo Cubani, a physician who was working for the world Health Organisation, first identified SARS as a new disease on the February of 2003. The discovery was made in Asia. He first diagnosed it in a 48- year old businessman who had travelled through Hong-Kong to Hanoi, Vietnam from Guangdong province of China. Both the businessman and the DR. Carlo Cubani who made the first diagnosis, died from the illness. By that time, the illness was spreading fast and was infecting thousands of people across the globe from Asia, Europe, Australia and Africa, South and North American countries. Most schools in Hong Kong and Singapore were closed. The economies were affected. The outbreak continued to grow with nearly 6000 cases reported in 30 different countries (Woodhead, 2004). About 90% of the cases occurred in mainland china or Hong Kong. During that time, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared SARS as a global threat and issued travel advisories to countries that were reported to have cases of the infection. WHO updates followed tracked closely the spread of the SARS virus. By that time, it was

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Olsen, S., Chang, H.-L., Cheung, T. Y.-Y., Tang, A. F.-Y., Lando, J., & Chen, T.-J. (2003). Transmission of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome on Aircraft. the New England Journal of Medicine , 2416-2422.

Ramen, F. (2005). SARS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Epidemics Series. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). (2007, February 10). Retrieved May 5, 2014, from Infectious Diseases Epideomology and Surveillance: http://ideas.health.vic.gov.au/bluebook/sars.asp#mode

Tang, K.-L., Lo, V. I., & Wong, C.-k. (2006). China's Urban Health Care Reform: From State Protection to Individual Responsibility. California: Lexington Books.

Trivedi, M. (2013, September 30).Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Retrieved may 5, 2014, from Medscape: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/237755-overview#aw2a

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