The virus is spread by close contact from person to person and it is thought to be transmitted most by being within 3 feet of respiratory droplets produced when an infected person sneezes and/or by touching a surface or object contaminated with infectious droplets. Close contact is defined as having cared for or lived with a person known to have SARS or having direct contact with secretions or body fluids of a patient known to have the virus. Most of the exposures to the viruses occur in healthcare facilities and households. In addition, claimed that the virus is transmitted not only by air, but by other means as well. Just like any other type of respiratory system virus, the incubation period is typically two to seven days, although in some cases it may be as long as ten days, depending on the resistance of the immune system.

Even if the virus has calmed down, so to speak, Americans are convinced that they dodged a biological bullet. They should think again. As the truth about SARS comes out slowly, due in large part to government cover ups, it is becoming clear that what is taking place in Asia continues to threat the entire world. Epidemiologists have long worried about a highly contagious, fatal disease that could quickly spread around the globe and this virus might confirm their worst fears. Even if the Americans and Chinese have a modern medical system, the outbreak has lost ground and the virus has spread in North American and Asia. Even if the outbreak of this type of virus does not take such a great toll as HIV or AIDS, it is very dangerous and life-threatening.

The fact that SARS can be easily spread caused a severe outbreak in 2002 and 2003, which nearly became a pandemic. The outbreak started in Hong Kong and quickly spread to 37 countries. 8,422 cases and 916 deaths worldwide have been registered during the outbreak. However, the World Health Organization has stated that the spread of SARS has been fully contained as of June 2003, when the last case was seen. This does not mean that SARS has been fully eradicated, though. This means that people should still be aware of the SARS symptoms, in order to know when should they see a doctor. The condition usually develops with a sudden fever (of about 100.4 F degrees or above), which is associated with other flu-like symptoms such as chills, headache, body aches and a general feeling of discomfort.

When SARS is triggered, some people experience mild respiratory symptoms, as well. Diarrhea is also considered to be a symptom, but it is experienced by less people, about 10-20%. After 2 to 7 days after the development of the disease, infected individuals may develop a dry, nonproductive cough. Shortness of breath is also a common SARS symptom. More severe symptoms and complications may also develop, such as hypoxia (a condition in which the oxygen levels in the blood are too low) and pneumonia. Since the SARS symptoms resemble the symptoms of a seasonal flu and of influenza, seeing a doctor as soon as they develop is very important.

Having a strong immune system is also useful, but the virus which causes SARS  is difficult to get rid of, nevertheless. Even so, having a rich in nutrients diet and going at the doctor soon, will help you recover sooner, easier and stay safe. Nowadays, there are less chances to suffer from SARS, but is always better to find out in time and to prevent than to treat or to happen a tragedy. The older people and the kids are the most exposed to risks, so they have to be carefully monitored to make sure they are safe and will soon recover.

It is true that SARS symptoms are very confusing, but it is better to find the truth, no matter if it is good or bad news, than to wait in vain and see how things get worse. There are many medical associations who have to ensure there is no SARS danger anymore, but we never can be absolutely sure. SARS  started in China in 2002, so if you travel in this country or are from here, make sure you are safe and in case you experience any symptoms that may be SARS , go as soon as possible to the doctor. You will find out if it is just a flu or something else. Health depends on you as well, so do not play with it.

Since SARS is a viral disease, antibiotics are totally ineffective for this condition. However, a type of treatment can be recommended to SARS patients, most commonly being based on antipyretics, supplemental oxygen, but also ventilation support. A very important part of SARS treatment is isolating the patient. So, SARS is a disease that can spread rapidly through simple contact. The patient has to be isolated in a negative pressure room, while all contact with this individual has to be controlled and made while taking numerous precaution measures. The only necessary contact will be with the medical staff offering support to the SARS patient. Initial treatment administrated for SARS was found to be ineffective. Corticosteroid and ribavirin are now the medicines that are most commonly used to cure the disease. However, since there is no single treatment scheme that can cure SARS, patients are not given great prognosis. In fact, this is considered to be a rare disease, although more than 8000 people were diagnosed with this condition.

A recommended type of SARS therapy that doctors used when the disease first outbroke is the anecdotal support for steroids and the antiviral drug ribavirin. However, there are still no proofs that this type of treatment was able to cure patients diagnosed with the condition. Specialists also believe that the human’s body immune system is able to fight against the condition. And to sustain this process, Chinese researchers have created a vaccine which can produce antibodies against the virus and so strengthen the body’s capacity to battle it.

Hospitals and health organisations managed to help people get over this difficult moment in their lives and recover. There were many campaigns to help people recognize easier SARS symptoms and get at the doctor very soon. If the patient will go too late, SARS will be worse and symptoms will be more severe. Washing hands as soon as people get home is an efficient method that will help them stay safe and prevent SARS. Although the virus causing SARS was eradicated, a few still believe it can emerge anytime. Although it seems the danger is gone, people still should pay attention in case they experience flu-like symptoms and go at the doctor as soon as possible. If they live in one of the countries that were very affected by SARS, then they have to pay even more attention.

Going soon at the doctor will prevent many severe symptoms from happening. Moreover, patients will  recover sooner and will not need ventilatory support and oxygen. Wondering if it is flu or not is useless, so consulting a doctor is the best thing that people should do. Kids and the older people are more sensitive as their immune system is fragile and cannot fight with such a strong virus. Only the doctor will know what to prescribe  them to recover sooner and get over this difficult moment in their lives.

SARS is triggered by coronaviruses, which represent a group of viruses that are responsible for causing enteric or respiratory track infections in animals and humans. The Guangzhou Centre for Disease Control and Prevention linked these coronaviruses to SARS, but it is still not known how can human contract them. The worst thing about SARS as that its symptoms are very confusing. They resemble the symptoms or a regular flu, which are high fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, lethargy signs, mylagia, and other nonspecific signs. High fever, over 100.4 Fahrenheit degrees, is the only symptom that all the patients suffering from SARS have in common. Initial SARS symptoms may be ignored or not regarded as threatening, since they are just like the symptoms of a cold. This however is just the first stage, but later on they resemble the symptoms of influenza.

Shortness of breath is also a common SARS symptom, but it is usually experienced later. This is why, whenever you experience some of these SARS symptoms, a visit to the doctor is a great idea. SARS can be transmitted from an infected person to other people very easily. Moreover, if you had contact with an infected person within the last 10 days, you should go to a hospital on an immediate basis. Also, if you have traveled to one of the regions where SARS cases have been identified, do not hesitate in going to the doctor as soon as possible. S/he will know what course of treatment to prescribe you. Chances are that you are not suffering from SARS, but it is better to be safe than sorry, right?

The latest occurrences of SARS were placed in China, Japan, Singapore and Ontario, Canada. In order to keep the rest of the population safe in these regions, the first preventive measure taken was quarantine. In all the countries, hospitals opened quarantine areas for people suffering from SARS infections. As an extreme prevention method, all the schools in Hong Kong were closed, for 10 days. Since numerous outbreaks were noted and the hospitals closed to aid only the patients placed in quarantine, the medical staff was very much placed in a difficult situation. Those that handled the patients with SARS were monitored carefully and had regular daily check-ups. The outbreak in Singapore was so devastating that the Ministry of Health decide to impose a 10-day home quarantine for all residents through the Disease Act. In addition to all these measures, most countries with a SARS outbreak instated scans and check-ups in all the airports. This decision was made on the basis that the disease might have spread in the world through the passengers that left their countries. In schools, all students and teachers were given thermometers to check their temperature levels, which was one of the first indicators of the infection.

Outbreaks of all kinds of diseases are monitored and lead to quarantines and national Health Care Acts. Through the measures taken, the perpetuation of the SARS disease in other countries was prevented and kept under control. Hospitals and other major institutions of this kind can help you if you are experiencing the symptoms of this disease. Any virus occurrence must be monitored and regular check-ups are mandatory for people in these regions. 

First of all, its symptoms can be easily misinterpreted with the Flu symptoms. The initial SARS symptoms are flu-like and may include fever, lethargy, gastrointestinal symptoms, cough, sore throat and other non specific symptoms. The most common symptom to all patients is high fever. Doctors have not yet found a cure that will completely eradicate the SARS virus from the organism. Antibiotics are ineffective as SARS is a viral disease. Some of the remedies used in cases of SARS infection are antipyretics, that reduce the fever, supplemental oxygen and ventilatory support as needed. Research still continues, as there is some evidence that some of the more serious damage in SARS is due to the body’s own immune system overreacting to the virus.

Doctors and specialists are now trying to develop a vaccine that would somehow reverse the effects of SARS. Currently, there is limited information available on the correlates of protection against SARS and other severe respiratory tract human coronavirus infections. There have been studies regarding the passive immunisation of the organism, in the sense that a protection from SARS has been established and the SARS antibodies neutralised. In the near future, specialists will come up with stable vaccine platforms that allow a rapid intervention strategy against any emergence of SARS.

Even though we may rest assured that SARS is no longer causing any problems, we should also be aware that this disease still exists. The fact is that SARS has not been fully eradicated, unlike other similar diseases like smallpox, so this problem should not be ignored by anyone. This is why we should learn more about the SARS symptoms. Unfortunately, SARS may be hard to diagnose, because its signs and symptoms are very similar to the ones of the flu. SARS usually begins with high fever, lethargy, cough, sore throat, gastrointestinal symptoms and other non-specific signs. While these SARS symptoms may differ from one person to another, there is one common symptom for all individuals: a fever above 38 Celsius degrees. Later in the development of the disease, shortness of breath is another common SARS symptom.

At first, SARS may be easily mistaken with a cold. As the time goes by, SARS will begin to resemble influenza more and more. No matter the case, once you experience any kind of SARS symptoms, going to the doctor is mandatory. SARS cannot be treated with antibiotics, because it is a viral disease, so it usually requires isolation. This is also because SARS is highly contagious, so suspected cases are isolated in negative pressure rooms, so that the patient does not have any kind of contact with other people. By the end of 2004, Chinese researchers had come up with a SARS vaccine, which has been tested. Hopefully, this vaccine will prevent another SARS epidemic to appear in the future.

SARS spread from Hong Kong all over the whole world, and specialists still recommend visitors who arrive in this part of the world to be extra careful. So, if you are planning a trip to Hong Kong, get properly informed about the disease, but you should know that there are no major reasons for you to worry that the risks of developing SARS are high, as the condition, although not completely eradicated, is known to not be a threat any longer. The most common symptoms of SARS are similar to the ones of simple flue. So, SARS symptoms are going to include fever, sore throat and cough, but various gastrointestinal symptoms can also be experienced by patients. Although symptoms can vary from one case to another, meaning that if some individuals are going to experience all of them, others may only have one or two, the one symptom common to all patients is fever.

SARS will be diagnosed by doctors, basing on both the symptoms experienced by a patient and its history linked to a contact with an infested person or a trip to the area in which SARS pandemic was first caused, back in 2002, including here parts of China, Singapore, but also Canada. Well, to make sure that you will be able to avoid the development of this condition, even if you travel to these regions, try to avoid contact with potential SARS patients and keep a healthy diet, with a proper personal hygiene.