SARS - severe acute respiratory syndrome should we be worried? cdc issued a warning. whats up with hong kong anyway? is flu their primary export?
Be afraid, be very afraid... Naw, unless you live in a heavy international traffic city then it not a big deal. It is probably the worst thing in the first world in decades though, and a mutation/adaptation could that imporves it's virulency and transmission could quickly screw us over.
since most people live in big cities nowadays i guess this shit could get serious. "The mysterious illness has infected more than 1,600 people in 15 countries worldwide and killed at least 55, including many doctors and nurses who battled the outbreak. Airlines have said they will slash flight schedules to Hong Kong while the United States this weekend advised Americans to suspend any nonessential travel to the disease hot spots of China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Hanoi." "Prime Minister Yu Shyi-kun of Taiwan said Sunday that his government was weighing a proposal for the temporary shutdown of its limited direct links with China in order to reduce chances for the respiratory illness to spread, Agence France-Press reported from Taipei. " "The World Health Organisation mulled global travel restrictions as the incidence of a deadly respiratory disease escalated in Hong Kong and Singapore quarantined more than 700 people to contain its spread. Scientists in 11 laboratories worldwide meanwhile continued to toil feverishly to discover a cure for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), as several SARS patients were discharged from hospitals in Hanoi, Singapore and Taiwan after recovering. The mystery virus, spread through direct close contact with an infected person, has caused at least 17 deaths and 456 "suspected or probable" cases around the world, WHO officials said. "
Any one remember the forgotten* plague of 1918? We are almost a vulnerable to another Virus based plague today as we were back then. *I say forgotten for both comedic and ironic reasons.
lordy lordy! shit is getting close! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! 04-01) 11:29 PST SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- An American Airlines flight from Tokyo has been quarantined on the tarmac at San Jose's airport after four people on board complained of symptoms like those reported from the mysterious new illness spreading through Asia, airline and city health officials said. Two passengers and two crew members complained of symptoms similar to those found in Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, according to city health officials. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/04/01/state1429EST0075.DTL
I bet the people on the plane might have thought this was one mean April fools joke. Just another link to confirm this as true... the plague is here people! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/04/01/sars.plane/index.html
It'll be a good test of our quarenteen and containment abilities anyway. One hole in the net is all it takes for a community wide infection.
Out of all the people China, 1600 infections may seem a lot, and be classified as an outbreak, but overall not much huge severity. (remember the Bubonic Plague?). and 55 deaths out of that is rather 'interesting', at least for an epidemiologist, but if it gets to the U.S., I wouldn't worry, just take normal precautions, like washing. Duh. :m:
Wow its got a fatality rate of 4% what a disease! Hey I mean Hunta Virus may have a rate of 90% but still that’s one wicked illness Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Maybe the scare about SARs is that it causes pneumonia and requires critical medical attention?
if the fatality rate is lower, but the contagiousness higher and the spread thoughout the population also, then we can still be looking at a far more deadly virus than Hunta overall. especially if the first symptoms are not very alarming and kick in relatively late.
Re: SARS - severe acute respiratory syndrome Yeah exactly, I can't ignore the possibility that earth is telling hong kong to change its ways. Hong-kong is the earth's eco-systems biggest enemy without out a doubt and they always get suspect diseases. Also this is a RESPITORY disease, if hong-kong continued what it has been doing at the same rate for much longer every living organism on the planet would suffocate. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!
Never thought I would say this: Dam Tree-Huger troll Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Infection in my town Chesapeake, VA USA There was a infection here in town. I have a very sore throat and went to the doctor today and was a bit worried I must say. He said that I would be okay and gave me a bottle of numbing agent to gargle. I hope it was just high pollen count. Washington Post "RICHMOND, March 20 -- A woman who may be Virginia's first case of SARS, the mysterious illness being monitored around the world, has been quarantined and is being treated in a Chesapeake hospital, health officials said today. Her family and doctors are being closely watched for any signs of the respiratory disease." Full Article Peace
Why are people so worried about this? Doesn't it have something like a 4% fatality rate and a low communicability? If you want to worry about something, how about malaria? It still kills millions every year.