Anyone concerned about SARS? (1 Viewer)

[Grant B]

What about Earthquakes? Why do people live in areas that have such a high percentage of major earthquake activity?

How about Hurricanes? What causes people the day before the thing hits to run out and buy Plywood at outrageous prices?
We have had 2 major earthquakes in 100 years and my house is still standing (knock on redwood). Hurricanes hit the east coast almost yearly? Why do they live there.
And why do people live next to rivers that flood every few years?
And why do blah blah blah blah

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

I thought this thread was about this kind of SAR:
:b

 

[MarkHastings]

and isn't SARC Symantecs way of killing computer viruses?

 

[Todd Hochard]

I just flew in from Munich yesterday, and there's nothing [cough] wrong with me [wheeze].

Actually, I was moderately concerned about it, since they tracked a couple of cases through Germany (the Frankfurt airport, IIRC), but mainly only because of my daughter (22 months old). She seems to be a magnet for respiratory infections.

Todd

 

[Devin U]

If it's cause is bacterial it *should* respond to antibiotics but if it's viral then it won't. There may be ways to treat it if it's viral but it can't be cured.

It really depends on the exact organism causing it. Most likely it is a mutated bacteria or virus. There are some broad spectrum anti biotics and antivirals out there. As soon as they can pinpoint what it is exacty they will be able to medicate for it. Im so glad I work in a specialty hospital now, though. No nasty ER patients bringing something like this in.

 

[Devin U]

Im so glad I work in a specialty hospital now, though. No nasty ER patients bringing something like this in.

Its funny I said this last night and tonight, what do I get, a patient with the exact same symtoms who just got back from a trip to Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and the Phillipines. Now, As the only RT on duty, she is pretty much my responsibility. If you see me, stay away:frowning:

 

[Tommy Ceez]

Although you moight not agree with his point of view Mike Savage is a PHD who has written 18 books on disease, herbal medicine, and nutricion.

Anyway, Savage claims that SARS is simply another outbreak of that old standard, the Hong Kong Flu. Political Correctedness forces us to now re-name it the ominous SARS!

 

[andrew markworthy]

I can't help feeling that if China had been less obsessive about 'losing face' (how? nobody would blame them for the virus originating there) then health authorities would have a lot less work on their hands at the moment. In spite of some of the more alarmist media headlines (like there's nothing else in the world to worry about at the moment :frowning: ) things do appear to be under control. A lot of the measures look alarmist but they are a good example of 'better safe than sorry'. You don't put on a seat belt in a car in the expectation that you'll definitely crash, do you?

Just to put things into perspective - I feel it highly probable that more people will die as a result of comfort eating, drinking and/or smoking in response to health scare stories than will die from a lot of these well-publicised new diseases.

 

[Steve_Tk]

I heard the other day that they found it's very similiar to a known virus, and should have it solved soon.

 

[Joseph Young]

I have an interesting perspective on 'SARS' since I developed a severe and dehabilitating respiratory infection around (and a little before) the time that the virus was being discovered. I was extremely ill with this mystery infection for about 7 weeks. In fact I'm still not at 100%. They tested me for a lot of the standard 'big bads' and came up empty. As a result of this constant nausea, lung infection, and everything else that went with it, I couldn't help but get caught up in the media coverage of SARS and get a little fearful. However, I didn't have a huge fever and I wasn't coughing, so it was most likely something else.

But what timing eh? I catch a nagging, mystery upper respiratory illness that won't go away at the same exact time all this stuff is going on? I haven't traveled outside of CA recently, but I do intercept a lot of mail from China at my work.

By the way, excellent posts, Andrew M. and Cees.

~joseph

 

[Steve Schaffer]

I live in a city with a very large Southeast Asian community, most of whom seem to own the brand of car I work on for a living so I'm in constant contact with folks who may have recently been exposed to this disease.

I am concerned about it, even more so since I am a Kaiser member, and Kaiser refuses to provide any care whatsoever.

If I were to call Kaiser and report I had the exact symptoms of this disease, I would be told by an "advice nurse" over the phone to eat chicken soup and would be refused any medical care whatsoever. Remember, this is the outfit that killed that postal worker back east who had anthrax.

 

[Max Leung]

Steve, have you considered buying additional medical insurance? That's just terrible!

 

[Carlo_M]

Just to update this thread, there have been many good posts (on the previous page) about how new diseases crop up all the time and that we shouldn't necessarily act like Chicken Little over SARS just because it's a new and unknown condition.

However here is a direct quote from the World Health Organization about why SARS could be considered more dangerous than just "another new disease that crops up all the time".

SARS: a particularly serious threat to international health
Although the last decades of the previous century witnessed the emergence of several new diseases, SARS needs to be regarded as a particularly serious threat for several reasons. If the SARS virus maintains its present pathogenicity and transmissibility, SARS could become the first severe new disease of the 21st century with global epidemic potential. As such, its clinical and epidemiological features, though poorly understood, give cause for particular alarm. With the notable exception of AIDS, most new diseases that emerged during the last two decades of the previous century or established endemicity in new geographical areas have features that limit their capacity to pose a major threat to international public health. Many (avian influenza, Nipah virus, Hendra virus, Haanta virus) failed to establish efficient human-to-human transmission. Others (Escherichia coli O157:H7, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) depend on food as a vehicle of transmission. Diseases such as West Nile Fever and Rift Valley Fever that have spread to new geographical areas require a vector as part of the transmission cycle and are associated with low mortality, often in high-risk groups, such as the elderly, the immunocompromised, or persons with co-morbidity. Still others (Neisseria meningitidis W135, and the Ebola, Marburg, and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fevers) have strong geographical foci. Although outbreaks of Ebola haemorrhagic fever have been associated with case-fatality rates in the range of 53% (Uganda) to 88% (Democratic Republic of the Congo), person-to-person transmission requires close physical exposure to infected blood and other bodily fluids. Moreover, patients suffering from this disease during the period of high infectivity are visibly very ill and too unwell to travel.

In contrast, SARS is emerging in ways that suggest great potential for rapid international spread under the favourable conditions created by a highly mobile, closely interconnected world. Anecdotal data indicate an incubation period of 2 to 10 days (average 2 to 7 days), allowing the infectious agent to be transported, unsuspected and undetected, in a symptomless air traveller from one city in the world to any other city having an international airport. Person-to-person transmission through close contact with respiratory secretions has been demonstrated. The initial symptoms are non-specific and common. The concentration of cases in previously healthy hospital staff and the proportion of patients requiring intensive care are particularly alarming. This “21st century” disease could have other consequences as well. Should SARS continue to spread, the global economic consequences – alreadyestimated at around US$ 30 billion – could be great in a closely interconnected and interdependent world.

 

[Holadem]

Well there. We can all officially freak out now.

--
Holadem

 

[Carlo_M]

Well Holadem, that's not the reaction I was aiming for with the update.

Whenever SARS first broke into the public consciousness, there were two popular initial reactions:

1. The Chicken Little Syndrome - the sky is falling! the sky is falling!, and
2. "It's Not A Big Deal, This Happens All The Time" reaction

With more information coming out, it seems like the truth is somewhere in between. SARS is something we should be concerned about because of its apparent ease of spreading (although initial reports had it at "close contact required" that is now very much in question). However the fatality rate isn't like Ebola's. I think the WHO update I posted above strikes a good balance of arming the reader with information without attempting to scare people or belittle the potential dangers of this new illness. WHO certainly is a legitimate international entity, not some rumor-mongering, sensationalist news source looking for the "next big thing" to move papers or increase viewership.

 

[Danny R]

(a) the disease, whilst serious, is relatively difficult to transmit.

This is proving not to be the case for some individuals, dubbed Super Spreaders. One early victim was found to be personally responsible for over 100 infections.

(d) SARS is not 100% lethal. From what I can understand of the figures, about 10% of *identified cases* have died.

From what I've seen the fatality rate is much less than that. However a 5% fatality rate is nothing to sneeze at of course (no war has ever claimed 5% of US lives). Likewise should it get out of hand it would cause an economic disaster.

The trick for this disease is to quarantine those found infected and limit its spread. As long as its kept from spreading beyond the capabilities of the local medical community everything should be fine, and from everything I've read it appears that the virus is being controlled. I'd only start to worry if quarantines begin to fail and the virus spreads faster than the medical community can keep up with it.

For an interesting take on how such diseases can change the world, try reading Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic

 

[andrew markworthy]

A couple of comments on recent posts:

(a) Yes, the 'super spreader' development is something for concern, but it's nothing new (a lot of diseases have this feature) and it should be noted that the spread of the disease is still pretty slow for something that is supposed to be a major killer.

(b) The WHO statement is full of 'ifs'. I think it's right for us to be alert and concerned, but one of the prime reasons we haven't had major killer epidemic in industrialised countries for nearly a hundred years is because of effective containment measures.

Sensible caution is one thing - panic is quite another.