by Max C

Created on: May 16, 2009

SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome is one of the most recent diseases to have pandemic potential. There have only been a grand total of 8096 Reported cases of SARS affecting people from 37 different countries. Originating in the Guangdong province of China, had it not been for quick action by the World Health Organization, or WHO, the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003 may have become a severe pandemic. SARS was responsible for 774 deaths, and spread with incredible speed, branching out into 37 countries between November 2002, and July 2003. SARS had a mortality rate of 9.6% and was a great success of modern means to stifle the spread of highly contagious disease's like it, however, SARS, unlike smallpox, has merely been contained and not eradicated, so a danger of it re-emerging, perhaps even more deadly than before is possible.

SARS death rate of 9.6% is somewhat misleading, and a breakdown or mortality rates among different age groups is necessary to understand this highly transmittable respiratory disease. Victims under the age of 24 had only a 1% mortality rate (still higher than the average flu, at 0.6%). Victims between the ages of 25 and 44 have a much higher 6% mortality rate. Those between 45 and 64 had a 15%, and the population over 65 had a stunningly high 50% mortality rate. One of the aspects of SARS that lead it to distribute itself across a large area so quickly was that is often hides in the body for several days, generally between 2-10, but possibly more, in which time the virus could easily infect others before the original carrier was even conscious that he/she carried the deadly virus. This, however, was not the only cause for SARS rapid increase. The People's Republic of China at first attempted to restrain the disease by itself, and received enormous criticism for not notifying the WHO of the outbreak until February of 2003.

The symptoms of SARS are fairly similar to those of flu, or other respiratory diseases. The only common factor between all patients was a fever of 38 degrees centigrade, or 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Other common symptoms are myalgia (muscle pain), exhaustion, gastrointestinal symptoms, sore throat, and coughing, largely non-definite symptoms, which do not point solely to SARS. Shortness of breath is one final aspect of SARS, but this develops later than the other symptoms in most cases. Finally SARS causes pneumonia, generally the cause of death among patients. The WHO developed a diagnostic test which definitively

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