SARS

SARS epidemic, 2002–03

SARS, in full severe acute respiratory syndrome, highly contagious respiratory illness characterized by a persistent fever, headache, and bodily discomfort, followed by a dry cough that may progress to great difficulty in breathing. SARS appeared in November 2002 in Guangdong province, China, where it was first diagnosed as an atypical pneumonia. From Guangdong it was brought by an infected doctor to the important business centre of Hong Kong, and from Hong Kong it was quickly spread by global travelers throughout East Asia, to North America, and to Europe and the rest of the world. The most notable affected group was health-care workers infected before SARS was officially identified as a distinct disease threat by the World Health Organization in March 2003. By the end of May more than 8,000 cases, most of them in mainland China and Hong Kong, had been reported, and some 800 people had died from the disease. Near-panic conditions gripped major Asian cities from Singapore to Beijing, with many schools and public buildings closing and citizens avoiding places where infection might spread. Health authorities around the world instituted strict control measures, including prohibitions on travel to and from affected countries as well as quarantines of hospitals and other places where persons were found to be infected. By June 2003 the contagion had been controlled to the point where restrictions were eased.

SARS is caused by a coronavirus, a type of virus usually associated with pneumonia and the common cold. The virus is named for the appearance in electron-microscope images of a halolike corona, or crown, around its surface. SARS coronavirus jumped to humans from an animal reservoir, believed to be horseshoe bats. The ability of the SARS coronavirus to jump to humans undoubtedly required genetic changes in the virus. These changes are suspected to have occurred in the palm civet since the SARS virus present in horseshoe bats is unable to infect humans directly.

Among humans the virus is transmitted from an infected person through bodily secretions, usually droplets expelled by sneezing or coughing. After the virus incubates for approximately one week, the illness appears with a fever that remains above 38 °C (100.4 °F). Aches and discomfort frequently accompany the fever, and soon a dry cough appears. In a minority of patients, respiratory distress progresses to the point where mechanical ventilation is necessary. Diagnosis of SARS is made after other illnesses such as pneumonia or influenza are ruled out and a history of the patient’s movements has established the likelihood of exposure to an infected person. Since no specific medication is available against the SARS coronavirus, treatment is usually restricted to easing the patient’s symptoms until the illness has run its course. A SARS patient is either quarantined or advised to remain isolated, and all persons such as hospital workers or family members who come into close contact with a patient must follow strict routines of cleanliness. The patient is considered to be noninfectious 10 days after the fever subsides. Researchers have yet to establish the long-term prospects of recovered patients or the potential for recurrent epidemics, and a specific vaccine has not been developed.