...The SARS Outbreak of 2003 Western Governors University January 15, 2013 The SARS Outbreak of 2003 Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory caused by a coronavirus. Coronavirus is in the same virus family as the common cold. Most commonly spread through person to person contact and droplets when a person coughs or sneezes. It can also be spread when a person touches a surface or object contaminated with the virus then touch their nose, mouth or eyes. Characterized by high fevers, headaches, feeling of discomfort, some may have diarrhea and body aches most will present with a mild respiratory infections, which may lead to pneumonia (CDC, 2012). People that are exposed to the virus may not show symptoms until 2 to 7 days after exposure, this is the viruses average incubation period. SARS first appeared in southern China in 2002 in the Guangdong Province. The Chinese government did not make the outbreak known at this time. It wasn’t until March 2003 that SARS started gaining attention. The patients were presenting with an atypical pneumonia. It was believed that a businessman carrying the virus stayed in a Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong, at the same time a doctor from the Guangdong Providence was staying. The doctor had treated infected patients in Guangdong before going to visit Hong Kong. Shortly after the visit at the hotel, other quests and staff members started becoming ill. “ Of those were a tourist from Toronto, a flight attendant...
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...Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Severe acute respiratory syndrome, also known as SARS, is a respiratory illness caused by a virus called a coronavirus. Six coronaviruses can infect people. These viruses were first identified in the 1960’s. Specific to SARS is the coronavirus known as SARS-CoV. SARS was first reported in Asia in February 2003. In just a few short months, the virus spread to more than twenty-four countries, which included North America, S. America, Europe, and Asia. This became known as the SARS global outbreak of 2003. During the 2003 outbreak, 8,098 people worldwide contracted the virus. Of those 8,098 people 774 died and only eight people tested positive for the virus in the United States. Luckily, the SARS outbreak did not spread more widely in the United States. Initially the epidemic of SARS was associated with an outbreak of atypical pneumonia that originated in Guangdong Province, located in Southeast China. After virus isolation, serum testing, and molecular testing, scientists were able to discover that SARS had been circulating in Guangdong Province for a couple of months before causing a major outbreak. With further testing, specific to the SARS coronavius (CoV), it was found that the SARS CoV was the infectious agent that caused the outbreak in Guangdong. Further findings proved, through genetic analysis, that the SARS CoV found in patients in Guangdong shared the same origin with other countries and identified a genetic pathway that...
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...Communicable disease outbreak - HAT Task 3 Analyze the selected communicable disease outbreak: SARS Disease overview Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus, called SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the illness begins with a high fever (greater than 100.4 degrees F). The fever is sometimes associated with chills or other symptoms, including headache, general feeling of discomfort, and body aches. Some individuals experience mild respiratory symptoms at the outset. Diarrhea is seen in approximately 10 to 20 percent of patients. After 2 to 7 days, SARS patient may develop a dry, nonproductive cough that might be accompanied by hypoxia. In 10 to 20 percent of cases, patients require mechanical ventilation. Most patients develop pneumonia. The disease is spread by close person-to-person contact through direct contact with respiratory secretions and/or body fluids of an infected individual. The incubation period is typically 2 to 7 days, but there are reported cases of up to 14 days. An individual is considered infectious only when they have symptoms, and are considered most contagious during the second week of illness. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005) According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in November 2002 a SARS outbreak emerged in South China. An infected medical doctor who had treated infected patients...
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...disease outbreak Severe acute respiratory syndrome or commonly referred to as SARS is advanced form of Pneumonia. This viral respiratory ailment originates from a coronavirus. SARS is highly infectious and lethal type of of Pneumonia. On November 2002, the first case of SARS was diagnosed in a towns in China. The disease is easily spread throughout the world via mass transit hubs such as airports. The illness has spread to various parts of the world. Over two dozen countries in North America, South America, Europe and Asia have reported cases. The numbers of cases related to SARS were increasing at exponential rates. In March 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued global alerts. (CDC-SARS-Infection Control) Infection of SARS viral causes acute respiratory distress, severe difficulty in breathing, and death. Initial symptom with SARS are flu-like symptoms may includes myalgia, cough, lethargy, cough and sore throat. The commom symptom in all patients was a fever above 38 degree Celsius. The patient may show symptoms initially similar to a cold in the 1st stage but later mimic influenza symptoms. (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) SARS occurrences increase in people who have had sexual or casual (including tattoos) contact with an infected person or if they traveled to highly infected regions were SARS was diagnosed in a 10-day period. As of May 2003, these areas included China, Singapore and Canada (Ontario). Route of transmission for SARS is infected...
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...communicable disease. For instance, SARS is a respiratory illness that could potentially lead to many health issues for an individual but can also be transmitted to others. If this illness is identified in a particular community the health care professionals to include the community nurse should be able to analyze the epidemiology, cause and manifestations of the disease, as well as the mode of transmission. The educated community nurse should have the knowledge base to deal with the outbreak of SARS. In order to meet the community needs as it relates to a communicable disease, the community nurse must take on specific measures. They must identify the disease along with its manifestations of symptoms and effective interventions to stop the spread. The causative agent for SARS is usually the Corona Virus, which is known for attacking a person’s respiratory system. The most common symptoms of SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, are headache, body aches, muscle aches, and a fever greater than 104 degrees. It is possible for a person too have diarrhea, coughing, and shortness of breath. It is usually spread through bodily secretions, such as coughing and sneezing. Unfortunately some locations were affected by this respiratory illness prior to its identification and precautions could be put in place. In February 2003 in Hanoi an enormous amount of unconventional pneumonia, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, also known as SARS, emerged. There were certain...
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...SZT3 SARS Joy Ross Western Governors University Community and Population Health SZT1 January 21, 2014 SZT3 SARS In November of 2002, an outbreak of what was later determined to be SARS was first reported in Guangdong Province in Southern China.("SARS" 2012) By the time it was contained and over, a mere 8 months had passed. It was July of 2003 and over 8,000 people had been infected. Out of those infected, 776 people died. During that time, SARS was all over the news. Panic from the epidemic was everywhere. Fortunately, the World Health Organization’s response (Knobler, Mahmoud, & Lemon,), led by the Global Outbreak and Alert Response Network (GOARN), contained the disease quickly and so effectively that, to this day, the virus is considered obsolete outside of laboratories. (Adams,) SARS generally starts with symptoms of a high fever, body aches, and all over malaise. About a fifth of patients develop diarrhea. After about a week, coughing and other respiratory symptoms such as hypoxia develop. A large majority of patients develop pneumonia.("SARS," ) According to NIH, the SARS epidemic had five phases. The first phase (Intra-epidemic/sporadic cases) happened in March 2003 and followed the reports of “atypical pneumonia” in Guangdong Province from November 16th, 2002. ("SARS: Timeline of an Outbreak" 2014) A teaching hospital was host to a massive outbreak among staff, medical students, and patients in March 2003. (Hung, 2003) In phase one, the index patient...
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...STZ1 Task 3 Washington Western Governor’s University A1. Description SARS is a viral disease caused by a coronavirus, a viral subgroup that causes of many instances of the common cold. Although SARS’ precise origin isn’t definitively known, all current data points to small mammals know as civets as the most plausible source of human transmission. The outbreak of SARs started in November of 2002 in the Mainland Chinese Province known as Guangdong, where the civets were viewed as a delicacy. In a misguided attempt prevent panic, the Chinese government failed to inform the World Health Organization of the initial outbreak for nearly four months. Subsequently the virus was contracted by 8098 people between November 2002 and June 2003. 774 of these cases proved fatal worldwide. (Trivedi, 2013) The 3 primary factors that enabled SARS to spread so far and so fast were a lack of early reporting by Chinese officials, lack its high virulence, and international flight paths. Early awareness of SARS was severely by attempts at secrecy within the Chinese government in an attempt to prevent panic. This secrecy delayed awareness reaching both the WHO and healthcare staff, who were unaware of SARS virulence and potency. As mentioned, the SARS outbreak originated in the Guangdong Province in China. SARS was easily spread to healthcare staff who in-turn infected their friends, family, colleagues, and other patients. Also, family members would sick patients, and then transport...
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...contact with oral or nasal secretions or airborne (Queensland, 2013). Measles occurs worldwide, but the incidence has decreased significantly in regions with high vaccination rates. Barinaga and Skolnik (2013) wrote an article regarding the epidemiology of measles. They found that in the year 2000, approximately 31 to 40 million people contracted measles, and 733,000-777,000 deaths were reported (Barinaga & Skolnik, 2013). There were 47 countries that accounted for about 98% of deaths, and the World Health Assembly worked to provide vaccination, surveillance, and clinical management of affected individuals (Barinaga & Skolnik, 2013). According to the World Health Organization (2011), in the year 2011 there were several large outbreaks in European and African regions, as well as several cases in the Americas which were linked to Europe and Africa. In January of 2011, there were 26,025 reported measles cases in Europe. France alone reported 14,025 of these...
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...3 September 1, 2014 SARS, communicable disease outbreak SARS (Severe acute respiratory syndrome) as described by the CDC is “is a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013). It was first reported in February 2003 in Asia and has noted to spread through international travel to 29 countries worldwideto North America, South America, and Europe (CDC, 2013). According to the World Health Organization website, SARS was responsible for a large worldwide outbreak that affected 8,098 people and killed 774 between November 2002 and July 2003 worldwide and noted to be “the first severe infectious disease to emerge in the twenty-first century”( World Health Organization [WHO], 2014). The CDC lists the signs and symptoms if SARS are as follows: having a high fever (temperature greater than 100.4°F [>38.0°C]), headache, an overall feeling of discomfort, and body aches (CDC, 2013). It also states “some people also have mild respiratory symptoms at the outset. About 10 percent to 20 percent of patients have diarrhea. After 2 to 7 days, SARS patients may develop a dry cough. Most patients develop pneumonia“(CDC, 2013). Epidemiological indicators/data of SARS SARS first appeared and was detected in the Guangdong province in November 2002 as an atypical pneumonia. In late February 2003, similar cases began appearing among staff at a hospital in Hanoi and within two weeks, outbreaks occurred in various hospitals in...
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...HAT1 COMMUNITY HEALTH NURSING TASK 3 Western Governors University OUTBREAK The issue of global health concerns is relevant and viable in today’s society. People travel easily from one country to another. Illnesses contracted in one country can easily be introduced to a new environment due to the freedom of movement of people from region to region. In 2003, the World Health Organization became aware of a flu-like outbreak occurring in China, specifically the Guangdong Province. In March of 2003 the WHO issued a global alert and named this flu-like illness Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, aka SARS. SARS spread from China to another 37 countries around the world and is considered to be highly transmittable. The illness became publicly better known when an American businessman was traveling from China to Singapore. He became so severely ill on the flight that it landed in Hanoi, Viet Nam. The businessman succumbed to the disease, as did his treating physician. Several other staff from the hospital also became ill with the same symptoms despite delivering care to the businessman using standard protocol. This incident prompted the WHO alert. A physician from mainland China who had treated patients in Guangdong Province stayed in a hotel in Hong Kong. He had been infected with the SARS virus. Sixteen guests in the hotel were exposed to the virus and eventually became infected as well. As exposed patrons from the hotel returned to their respective home countries of Canada, Singapore...
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...Community Outbreak Community Outbreak The outbreak of measles is at an all time high in 2011 with a confirmed 223 cases, up from 2008 with only a 140 confirmed cases (Iannelli, 2011). In 1989 with the last big measles out break the introduction of the MMR , measles outbreaks were scarce in the United States (Iannelli, 2011). The rise in outbreaks were linked back to foreign travel in the 2008 outbreaks (Iannelli, 2011). Another link in the rise in measles outbreak is the choice not to vaccinate. Many parents now opt not to have their children vaccinated for personal reasons. This makes the child more susceptible to the outbreak and thus passes it on to others. * Epidemiology- although the incidence of measles has risen in recent years efforts to control the outbreaks globally have altered the virus transmission. In developed countries measles has been contained by vaccinations during childhood. Worldwide measles is the cause of morbidity and mortality. Measles was estimated to cause about 31 to 39.9 million illnesses with about 777,000 deaths worldwide (Barinaga & Skolnik). Measles is the fifth most common cause of death in children less than fives years old. The World Health Organization (WHO) put a strategy in place to vaccinate greater than 90 percent of the people with two doses of the MMR vaccine and to monitor that population very carefully. This would include case investigations of anyone suspected of contracting the virus (Barinaga & Skolnik)...
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...Implications a. Every market in today’s economy was impacted either directly or indirectly by the SARS epidemic. i. Most saw measurable decreases in GDP b. Global cost of lost economic activity due to SARS was approximately $54 billion Conclusion a. Economic damage caused by SARS can be attributed to the behavioral finance emotional biases of loss aversion and regret aversion affecting investors globally. Global Health Issues, Behavioral Finance and the Markets: The Role of Behavioral Finance in how Global Health Issues Impact the Economy Jonathan Davis David A Kennedy Lee V Smith Tayler T Young Syed Zain T Zaidi November 10, 2015 University of Houston- Downtown Global Health Issues, Behavioral Finance and the Markets: The Role of Behavioral Finance in how Global Health Issues Impact the Economy With globalization on the rise, infectious diseases that appear in one country have the opportunity to spread rapidly to others. Recent examples include the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the 2014 outbreak of the Ebola virus. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 8,098 individuals became infected worldwide with SARS and 774 of those individuals ultimately died from the illness (CDC, 2005). While Ebola killed 5,160 out of the 14,098 people infected with the virus (Barber, 2014). Collectively, though tragic, the outbreaks did not lead to the global health impact many feared. However, they had a tremendous economic impact...
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...the relevant questions and make an informed decision? 1. What are the clinical criteria for SARS? 2. What are the epidemiological criteria for possible and likely outcomes? 3. What are the laboratory criteria? 4. How do we exclude patients from SARS? 5. Who will handle command and control? 6. How do the hospitals and healthcare facilities prepare and respond? 7. How do we structure surveillance of the SARS outbreak? 8. What does the community need to do to contain the SARS outbreak and provide quarantine and isolation in non-hospital settings? 9. How do we manage the travel-related transmission risk? 10. What standards are needed for laboratory issues? 11. How do we maintain consistent, timely, and open communication? 12. How do we educate the public and the healthcare professionals? 13. What SARS infection controls are necessary in healthcare; home; and community settings? 6. Where would you find this information? Information can be obtained through articles and journals, media, and from experts in the field. Information and data can be obtained from: E Medicine Health; Medline Plus-NIH; AARC SARS page; Health Canada; AMA; WHO SARS Website; CDC; and the FDA. 7. What alternatives should be considered in finding an optimal solution for this case? Alternative 1: Coordinate efforts with: WHO; CDC; FDA; EMS; Hospitals; Schools; Media and law enforcement. Establish definition of SARS symptoms; determine sites able to handle infected patients; establish control center; create...
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...issues in community health nursing will discuss and analyze the communicable disease measles. It will present epidemiological data, causes, manifestations and the route of transmission for measles. A graphic representation of the measles outbreak will be presented to discuss the international pattern and movement of the disease. A discussion of how the measles outbreak could affect the community will also be presented. Next, this paper will present the appropriate protocol that a community health nurse will follow to report a SARS outbreak in the community. The last subject this paper will discuss is how a community health nurse modifies their care of clients with respiratory diseases during a time when the air quality index is poor. A. Measles Rubeola or measles is a respiratory disease. Measles is a virus that normally grows in the throat cells that line the back of the throat and lungs. Once infected, measles causes runny nose, fever, cough and a head to toe rash that occurs 14 days after exposure (CDC, 2013). A1. Outbreak In the year 2000 measles became eliminated in the United States. Elimination means the disease is no longer native to the U.S. and cases are not reported for a twelve month period in endemic proportions. Outbreaks occur when people travel to countries where the disease is still present (Gastanaduy et al., 2014). Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific have countries where the disease has not been eliminated. International travel to these other countries...
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...SARS in the Community Spencer Larsen WGU 725.8.7 SARS in the Community There have been many communicable disease outbreaks in the history of the world. Some of these outbreaks have killed large percentages of the population, while others have caused large portions of the population to become very sick, and only killing a small number of those infected. One such communicable disease outbreak was the SARS outbreak from 2003. Analysis of SARS SARS is an acronym for severe acute respiratory syndrome. It was caused by the virus SARS-CoV and was first reported in Asia in February 2003. It then spread to over 20 countries in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. It was successfully contained in 2004, and there have not been any other cases reported since then. In 2012 the National Select Agent Registry Program declared that the SARS virus is a select agent, which means that it has potential to become a serious threat to public health and safety (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). 2013). Epidemiological Indicators There are many epidemiological indicators that are associated with SARS. It is important to understand the indicators so that the virus can be correctly identified in possible future outbreaks. The indicators that will be discussed are the incubation period, period of communicability, mode and risk factors for infectious agent transmission, and the significance of animal reservoirs. The incubation period for SARS ranged anywhere between one...
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