The Sars Outbreak of 2003
The SARS Outbreak of 2003
Western Governors University
January 15, 2013
The SARS Outbreak of 2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory caused by a coronavirus. Coronavirus is in the same virus family as the common cold. Most commonly spread through person to person contact and droplets when a person coughs or sneezes. It can also be spread when a person touches a surface or object contaminated with the virus then touch their nose, mouth or eyes. Characterized by high fevers, headaches, feeling of discomfort, some may have diarrhea and body aches most will present with a mild respiratory infections, which may lead to pneumonia (CDC, 2012). People that are exposed to the virus may not show symptoms until 2 to 7 days after exposure, this is the viruses average incubation period.
SARS first appeared in southern China in 2002 in the Guangdong Province. The Chinese government did not make the outbreak known at this time. It wasn’t until March 2003 that SARS started gaining attention. The patients were presenting with an atypical pneumonia. It was believed that a businessman carrying the virus stayed in a Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong, at the same time a doctor from the Guangdong Providence was staying. The doctor had treated infected patients in Guangdong before going to visit Hong Kong. Shortly after the visit at the hotel, other quests and staff members started becoming ill. “ Of those were a tourist from Toronto, a flight attendant from Singapore, the businessman who subsequently traveled to Vietnam, and a local Hong Kong resident, who was visiting an acquaintance at the hotel” (Mendoza Monica, 2003). Guests of the hotel did not realize they were carrying the virus due to the long incubation period and traveled into Canada, Vietnam, and Singapore. These people presented with flu-like symptoms and therefore were not diagnosed right away exposing their families and healthcare workers. Once the diagnoses of SARS were
Western Governors University
January 15, 2013
The SARS Outbreak of 2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory caused by a coronavirus. Coronavirus is in the same virus family as the common cold. Most commonly spread through person to person contact and droplets when a person coughs or sneezes. It can also be spread when a person touches a surface or object contaminated with the virus then touch their nose, mouth or eyes. Characterized by high fevers, headaches, feeling of discomfort, some may have diarrhea and body aches most will present with a mild respiratory infections, which may lead to pneumonia (CDC, 2012). People that are exposed to the virus may not show symptoms until 2 to 7 days after exposure, this is the viruses average incubation period.
SARS first appeared in southern China in 2002 in the Guangdong Province. The Chinese government did not make the outbreak known at this time. It wasn’t until March 2003 that SARS started gaining attention. The patients were presenting with an atypical pneumonia. It was believed that a businessman carrying the virus stayed in a Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong, at the same time a doctor from the Guangdong Providence was staying. The doctor had treated infected patients in Guangdong before going to visit Hong Kong. Shortly after the visit at the hotel, other quests and staff members started becoming ill. “ Of those were a tourist from Toronto, a flight attendant from Singapore, the businessman who subsequently traveled to Vietnam, and a local Hong Kong resident, who was visiting an acquaintance at the hotel” (Mendoza Monica, 2003). Guests of the hotel did not realize they were carrying the virus due to the long incubation period and traveled into Canada, Vietnam, and Singapore. These people presented with flu-like symptoms and therefore were not diagnosed right away exposing their families and healthcare workers. Once the diagnoses of SARS were
References: Areas with recent local transmission of sars. (03, 20 20). Retrieved 27 January 2013 from http://www.who.int/csr/sars/areas/en/ Center for Disease Control. (2012). Center for disease control. Retrieved 15 January, 2013 from http://www.cdc.gov/sars/about/fs-SARS.html Dugdale III, D. (2011, February 19). U.s.national library of medicine. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004460/ Environmental and Occupational Health. (2003). Severe acute respiratory syndrome. Retrieved from http://enhs.umn.edu/current/5103/SARS/transmission.htm Mendoza Monica, M. (2003, march).learn.genetics.utah.edu. Retrieved 27 January 2013 from http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/archive/sars/index.html Rules of Department of Health and Senior Services, Chapter20. (“n.d.”). Retrieved 27 January 2013 from http://www.sos.mo.gov/adrules/csr/current/19csr/19c20-20.pdf United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2009). A Guide to Air Quality and Your Health Retrieved 23 January 2013 from http://www.epa.gov/airnow/aqi_brochure_08-09.pdf