Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
The statistics are frightening: there have been 5,000 cases and 300 deaths in the past two months. In just two days, the disease had spread from the Chinese province of Guan Dong to Hong Kong, Hanoi and Toronto. Since then, it has been identified in over 20 countries. It spreads via the air, direct contact and through human sewage. Health centres around the world have collapsed due to their workers contracting the deadly disease. We are of course, talking about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or "SARS".
Caused by a "corona virus", SARS is a new form of pneumonia. Scientists believe the virus has infected animals before, but this is the first time it has spread to humans. The SARS virus attacks and kills cells in its hosts’ lungs. The first symptoms are similar to ‘flu, with a dry cough and fever. After this, it becomes increasingly difficult for sufferers to breathe and their lungs fill with fluid. Patients usually die from lack of oxygen. Unlike influenza, the young and fit are also succumbing to the effects of the disease. Many of the deaths have been apparently healthy, middle-aged people, including many doctors and scientists that were working on the disease.
One of the most worrying aspects of the disease is the speed at which it travels. Two months ago it was unheard of, now it is rampaging across the globe. So why is SARS spreading so fast? Scientists believe it may be that some people are "super spreaders". A professor travelling from Guan Dong where he was investigating a new, mystery pneumonia is thought to be the ultimate super spreader. He directly infected over 190 people and caused the epidemic in Hong Kong. It only took one businessman travelling from Hong Kong to Vietnam to infect Hanoi and one woman visiting her son in Canada to bring Toronto to its knees. Not everyone who is infected is a "super spreader" but everyone who has the disease is infectious. The speed and distance at which this disease spreads means authorities across the globe cannot afford to take any chances.
The effects of SARS have been huge. In Hong Kong, people are so terrified of contracting the virus they no longer shake hands, talk on public phones or travel in lifts. The basic forms of social communication are breaking down. In Toronto, the policy of enforced quarantine for infected persons is having huge psychological effects as people are prevented from any contact with their friends and family. At present, no drugs have been found to treat SARS effectively. Trials on all available drugs are being carried out in the hope that one can be found and distributed quickly. It is not only individuals that are affected. The worldwide economy, already battered by the war in Iraq, is now facing a new problem. China has become a no-go zone and tourism all over the world is plummeting. If the spread of the disease is not curbed soon, it will result in many more lives and livelihoods being lost.
However, this "killerbug" must be put into perspective. It is potentially fatal but so are all diseases. The difference with SARS is that it is new to us and we don’t know how to deal with it. There are worse diseases threatening people in the world today. For example, many parts of India and Africa are too busy battling against millions of deaths from diseases such as AIDS, hepatitis and cholera to worry about a new disease that has killed a few hundred people. Compared to cholera’s 80 percent mortality rate, SARS has only a six percent chance of killing a person. Compared to influenza, SARS is not very contagious. Britain has seen a handful of cases of SARS and so far, no deaths from the disease. So why are we concerned about SARS when there are millions of deaths due to diseases such as pneumonia and influenza every year? With a population of 7 million, Hong Kong has only had 2,000 cases of SARS (less than 0.03% of the population) and 130 deaths. In fact, in contrast to outbreaks such as the huge pandemic of "Spanish ‘flu" in 1918, this is just a drop in the ocean.
So are we worrying over nothing? As far as outbreaks are concerned, mankind has seen far worse than SARS. The main problem seems to be that this is a new disease that is threatening the safety of the Western World. There have only been a few hundred deaths so far and with a 6% mortality rate, most people survive the disease. However, it is a life-threatening disease that has spread at lightening speed and so far, there are no effective treatments to curb its increase. There is also evidence that the virus may be mutating. If this is the case, it will be even more difficult to control. SARS is definitely a threat, but it seems unlikely that it will become the world wide epidemic that was at first feared.
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