SARS, caused by the coronavirus, spread to 24 countries and infected over 8,000 people in 2003. Symptoms included fever, body aches, and difficulty breathing. Treatment involved relieving symptoms, and containment efforts were successful by the fall of 2003.
The SARS epidemic occurred in Asia in 2003. Severe acute respiratory syndrome, also known as SARS, is caused by the coronavirus. The disease often led to pneumonia and in some cases developed into acute respiratory distress. The 2003 SARS outbreak spread to 24 countries and infected more than 8,000 people in just a few months. The United States has seen just eight confirmed cases of SARS during the outbreak.
Symptoms of SARS were similar to the flu and included fever, body aches, chest congestion, and cough. The most serious symptom was difficulty breathing. When this became severe, respiratory distress syndrome developed, leading to death in some cases.
The disease was spread through contact with respiratory droplets from others who had been infected with SARS. For example, breathing in respiratory particles when someone with SARS sneezed transmitted the disease. During the 2003 outbreak, it spread easily to places where people were in close contact, such as schools and workplaces.
Because SARS was caused by a virus, patients could not be treated with antibiotics. Treatment involved relieving symptoms. Painkillers and fever-lowering drugs were administered. Some people have developed diarrhea and needed fluid replacement. In cases where severe respiratory distress syndrome developed, a ventilator was needed to assist with breathing.
Due to the SARS outbreak in 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) developed a plan to contain the spread of the disease. The chronology of the epidemic begins at the end of February 2003, with the diagnosis of an atypical pneumonia in Hong Kong. This disease later became known as SARS.
To understand how quickly the disease appeared, spread and was contained, it is important to understand the chronology of the epidemic. In March 2003, WHO issued a global advisory on the SARS epidemic, which has spread to 13 countries. A warning was issued in April to avoid all unnecessary travel to Hong Kong due to the SARS outbreak. In May of the same year, health officials made further attempts to prevent the spread of the virus by closing schools in Beijing for a few weeks.
It appeared that containment efforts were working in the early summer of 2003. The number of SARS cases dropped significantly. In June of 2003, WHO lifted the travel warning and announced that the rapid spread of the disease had abated and the epidemic appeared contained. The last confirmed case of SARS was reported in the fall of 2003. Researchers aren’t sure what caused the disease to appear or why it stopped.
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