Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - Essay Example

It was in the late 2002, researchers found in the clinics of southern China, a febrile upper respiratory illness, which was progressing into a life threatening pneumonia in some persons. It later turned out to be an explosive outbreak in Hong Kong, which The World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2003 defined as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The WHO has formed guidelines for the global surveillance of severe acute reparatory syndrome, for the purpose of detecting cases rapidly and to prevent the further national or international spreading of the disease.

Characteristics of SARS –spread and severity of SARS Through droplets The major mode of spreading the disease is considered to be by droplet spread by close person-to-person contact. The most cases reported that people who lived with the patient or had direct contact had affected the disease. In a research study it was found that, SARS-CoV would affect the persons in close vicinity of an infected person. Through contact with fomites Studies have proven that virus can remain viable on a dry surface for a period up to 24hours.

By touching the objects or surfaces contaminated with the virus can affect in the sensitive parts like membranes of the eye, nose, or mouth. Virus spread through the fomites has higher risk of causing the disease. Through the faeces Studies have proven that the SARS-CoV can sustain in faeces. It can remain unharmed at room temperature for 1to 2 days and stays up to 4days in stools from patients with diarrhea. Through airborne spread The community outbreak in the March 2003, which affected more than 300 patients, points a finger at the possibility of transmitting the virus airborne.

A diarrhea patient had been affected by the virus-laden aerosols that traveled from the sewer of the other flats. Some of the aerosols that assist the disease transmission are created by some medical procedures such as endotracheal intubation, open tracheal suction, and nasopharyngeal aspiration. The situations prevailed in the hospital is under the study that whether inadequate ventilation in the packed atmosphere has contributed anything to the hospital outbreak. The epidemic SARS was started as a hospital outbreak in many countries highly affecting the health care workers.

Failure to implement adequate personal protective equipment or proper infection control procedures were said to be the reasons for such hospital outbreaks. Some cases reported had no history of infection and were sporadically occurring. The scientists found it difficulty in preventing the virus as there was rapid dissemination in the major cities. In the same way, it was found that the herd immunity was very low in the affected countries. Only in places where effective public health measures were in practice, people could put off the virus.

Most feared characteristic The factor that makes people nervous about traveling and cancels their travel plans is that the SARS can transmit through contact with fomites. The WHO has officially declared cases about the patients affected by the virus through fecal-oral contact. So they fear in going to other places where they may have to get in contact with other people or even need to go to a hotel. If an affected person had been in the hotel before them, the virus can still remain unharmed in the surface and can transmit the disease into them.

It is proven that the virus can remain in the dry surface for 24hours. Such fear and anxiety about the disease causes people to cancel their trips to other countries, in fact it helps in preventing the disease to some extent. Bibliography Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. SARS Case 1, Autospy Singapore. Retrieved from http://www.afip.org/hot-topics/SARS/case1.html Trends and directions for global public health