Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is Caused by the SARS Coronavirus

In September of 2012, beginning in the country of Saudi Arabia, hospitals began seeing increased cases of a respiratory virus never before seen in humans. They named it Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS. MERS is a viral respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. It was originally thought to have started there in Saudi Arabia. It was not until later that they were able to trace the origin back to Jordan starting in April of 2012. All outbreaks of MERS have been traced back to originating from the Arabian Peninsula (CDC, 2015a). Unfortunately, it is not known exactly how MERS was contracted in humans, but it is believed to have come from an animal source, probably from camels. Strains of MERS

SARS is a respiratory infection caused by the coronavirus that was thought to have originated in Guangdong China but was not reported until

We are first told of this out break in China. However, the starting point of the infection is never presented to us. China try's to cover up the story by having other news articles on the news. They did not want to cause a public outbreak and chaos.

The pandemic struck the world and infected 1/3 of earth’s human population, killing over 50 million humans. The world’s top doctors have never witnessed anything of this killing magnitude besides the bubonic plague of 1348 but the transmissibility is of nothing they’ve ever seen in their lifetime or of recorded history. People abruptly became aware of the importance of health, and need of medicine and cleanliness.

The author gives an example of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in Taiwan, where 131-132 people were placed under quarantine but only 12 people were found to have cases of SARS. SARS cases continued to climb in both Taiwan and China after the use of quarantine. The quarantine must be effective at protecting the public’s health. The effectiveness of quarantines is based on social characteristics, such as whether population accepts the quarantine or not, biological characteristics (like transmissibility, duration of infectiousness, the recovery rate), and individual characteristics (like wearing mask, avoiding public gathering). For example, the use of quarantine for SARS was unnecessarily harmful if not completely ineffective (Annas, 2006). Benjamin Franklin and George Annas argue that,” Those who would give up an essential liberty to purchase temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security” (Wynia,

The 1968 Pandemic was known as the “Hong Kong Flu” and was Influenza strain A(H3N2) and caused 34,000 deaths in the U.S.

Infectious epidemics and pandemics have happened all through mankind's history. “They remain the prime cause of death worldwide and will not be conquered during our lifetimes.” The flu of 1918 was one of the deadliest epidemics in history. “It infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide–about one-third of the planet’s population at the time–and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims. More than 25 percent of the U.S. population became sick, and some 675,000 Americans died during the pandemic.” No one knew how the virus spread, there were no antibiotics to fight it, and no flu shots to prevent it. In the final year of World War I, it struck terror in the hearts of people all across Europe and left more death in its wake than the combined military actions of the combatants. “It killed more Americans in a few months than World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) causes acute respiratory tract infection in patients of all ages and is one of the most popular diseases of childhood. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection, which manifests primarily as bronchiolitis and/or viral pneumonia, is the leading cause of lower respiratory tract (LRT) infection in infants and young children. RSV is the most common cause of bronchiolitis (inflammation of the small airways in the lungs) and pneumonia in children under one year of age in the United States. During the first year of life, most infants are infected with the virus. Most RSV infected children encounter

The book The Great Influenza by John Barry takes us back to arguably one of the greatest medical disasters in human history, the book focuses on the influenza pandemic which took place in the year 1918. The world was at war in the First World War and with everyone preoccupied with happenings in Europe and winning the war, the influenza pandemic struck when the human race was least ready and most distracted by happenings all over the world. In total the influenza pandemic killed over a hundred million people on a global scale, clearly more than most of the deadliest diseases in modern times. John Barry leaves little to imagination in his book as he gives a vivid description of the influenza pandemic of 1918 and exactly how this pandemic affected the human race. The book clearly outlines the human activities that more or less handed the human race to the influenza on a silver platter. “There was a war on, a war we had to win” (Barry, p.337). An element of focus in the book is the political happenings back at the time not only in the United States of America but also all over the world and how politicians playing politics set the way for perhaps the greatest pandemic in human history to massacre millions of people. The book also takes an evaluator look at the available medical installations and technological proficiencies and how the influenza pandemic has affected medicine all over the world.

pandemics: the Spanish flu of 1918, the Asian flu, the Hong Kong flu and the terror and

They are many diseases in today’s world that causes death and theirs no cure or medication yet for that particle disease. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS is one of those diseases. Dr. Ali Mohamed Zaki reported the first case in 2012 in Saudi Arabia for MERS. The MERS said to originate from bats and has infected Camels for over 20 years but recently started to infect humans. The cause of this viral disease is Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Coronaviruses are a larger family of viruses that also causes other disease. They have different etiology and also life cycle and a unique structure that gives its pathogeneses. Also they are many methods to identify MERS-CoV. However, doctors and scientist have

Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome ARDS happens when the alveoli in the lungs builds up fluid. Consequently, the buildup of fluid in the alveolar sacs starts to deprive your body of oxygen. The less oxygen that is circulating through your body will result in your vital organs not getting an adequate amount of oxygen to function properly. Normally, individuals who develop ARDS already have some type of critical illness. The normal causes of ARDS differ subsequently, separating them into two separate categories: direct or indirect injuries to the lung. Some of the direct injuries include pneumonia, aspiration, and smoke inhalation from a house fire. Some of the indirect injuries would include sepsis, inflammation of the pancreas, and blood transfusions.

SARS appears to spread by close person-to-person contact. It is thought that transmission is most readily occurred through respiratory droplets. These can be produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes. These droplets are propelled through the air and are deposited on the mucous membranes of the mouth, nose, or eyes of a person that is nearby. It is also possible that the virus can spread when a person touches a surface or object contaminated with infectious droplets and then touches their mouth, nose, or eyes. Furthermore, it is possible that SARS-CoV might be airborne spread or by other methods that are not yet known.

Back in April of 2012, a twenty-five year old man, who had recently traveled to parts of the Middle East, became ill in Saudi Arabia (WHO). He visited the hospital once he started seeing symptoms of an flu-like illness (WHO). To figure out what this virus was, doctor and researchers collected nasal sputum from individuals who were sick with what seemed like a new strain of the flu (WHO). This is when they discovered that the infectious agent of the illness was actually a coronavirus, which they called a novel coronavirus (CDPH). However, they renamed the coronavirus Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, also known as MERS-CoV (CDC). Prior to this occasion in 2012, it had never been seen in humans before, and it continued to spread from here (WHO). Symptoms of MERS-CoV include fever, cough, shortness or breath and difficulty breathing. (CDPH). This symptoms clearly explain why this coronavirus can be mistaken for a type of flu. Some patients may experience worse symptoms like gastrointestinal problems, diarrhea and kidney failure (WHO). Also, individuals who are infected but have weak immune systems may have an atypical presentation (WHO).

Back to the past, the impact of the extensive outbreak of SAR(Severe acute respiratory syndrome) which is a contagious and sometimes fatal respiratory illness.It began to plague China in February and March 2003, is multi-faceted and is affecting the country politically, economically and socially to various extents. Therefore, the economic recession had occurred in Hong Kong, which led to the reduced industry and many people were