...The SARS virus outbreak occurred back in 2002-2003. SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is a virus of the family coronaviridae. Coronaviridae is given the name because of the crown like projections of the peplomers as shown below in the following illustration 1.1. As shown below, the peplomers surround the virus all the way around just like a crown does from the top. When SARS first broke out in 2002, it was a newly discovered virus of the coronaviridae never before seen or heard of. The SARS-CoV (SARS-associated coronavirus) is what it was named. Previous known human coronaviruses are known to be the cause of common colds and other upper respiratory tract infections (just mild diseases) [2]. SARS-CoV is different due to the fact that...
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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. 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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...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, Taiwan, and Vietnam via international flights, the disease became global. (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, 2013). INDICATORS There are two types of epidemiological indicators: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative indicators include the quality of healthcare services obtained by victims of an outbreak. Quantitative indicators...
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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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...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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...proposal: SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome Finding new drug targets Part I: Disease History and outbreak details: SARS is a viral respiratory disease caused by a particular coronavirus first emerged on November 16 2002 in China. The coronavirus can cause a common cold in humans. The investigation of these viruses is hard, because culture in the lab is very difficult. There are a lot of various coronaviruses that affect poultry and animals, the economic effect of coronaviruses is big. A coronavirus consists of a viral spike (S) made of peplomers (grouping of glycoproteins), an envelope (E), an membrane (M) and a nucleocapsid (N). Source: Hilgenfeld, R., Peiris, J.S.M. From SARS to MERS: 10 years of research on highly pathogenic human coronaviruses. Antiviral Res. (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2013.08.015. Virus discovery: It took the WHO 6 months to discover the causative agent of the disease. A quick identification of a new virus is important for prevention and control of a disease outbreak and can be accomplished by new strategys in virus discovery: New strategy for virus discovery: viruses identified in human feces in the last decades Part II: Possible procedures Receptor binding domain: The unique virus of SARS involves a receptor-binding domain on the spike (S) that play a role in the attachment of the virus to the cell receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). Vaccines with proteins from the specific spikes are effective against SARS. The...
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...Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a contagious and fatal respiratory illness. In 2003, SARS (Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome, an atypical pneumonia) could have become the next global epidemic of a respiratory disease. It appeared in 29 countries, causing illness in over 8000 people and killing nearly 800 of them during an 8-month period (Maurer & Smith, 2013, p. 129). The virus is transmitted in respiratory droplets through the air, by coughing, sneezing or through close person to person contact. The spread of the disease was wide spread from China, France, and Germany to the USA. SARS, the first severe and contagious new disease to emerge in the twenty first century was a crude and widely heard wake –up call for societies and authorities worldwide on the threat of infectious diseases in an era of global trade and travel (Brower, 2003, p. 649). Health care facilities can use communication resources to limit the spread of disease as soon as infectious diseases are discovered. It’s important that the public across the globe are aware of diseases and what to look for so we are well informed. Especially stricter flying measures to other countries and states when infectious diseases are discovered. Collaboration between domestic and global experts is the link to ensure healthy environments in order to achieve continued health and promote the well being of people in the world. Brower V. Health is a global issue. EMBO Reports. 2003;4(7):649-651. doi:10.1038/sj...
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...of health problems”. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is contagious and potentially life threatening form of pneumonia which was first detected in February 2003 in Asia and it spread to various countries in Europe, North America and South America before it was declared as SARS 2003 global outbreak (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2004). SARS is an acute respiratory tract illness caused by an infectious virus transmitted from person to person. Various pathogens that cause acute respiratory diseases are respiratory syncytical virus, parainfluenza virus, influenza virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV) (WHO, 2007). In 2003, various scientists across the world started investigating the virus with the help of electron microscopy and virus discovery microarrays. The new coronavirus was inoculated in monkeys which caused interstitial pneumonia similar to SARS (Holmes, 2003). This newly identified acute viral respiratory syndrome caused by a novel coronavirus is a positive-stranded RNA virus with genome containing nucleocapsid protein, membrane proteins and spike protein which forms the typical “coronavirus” structure (Lashley & Durham, 2007). Spreading of the SARS virus is due to close human-to-human contact such as direct contact with respiratory secretions or body fluids of a patient infected with SARS and eating or drinking with them from the same utensil. The virus that causes SARS is thought to be transmitted most...
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...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 people...
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...Mawer HAT1 Task 3 A1. Outbreak SARS stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome. This syndrome is a viral respiratory infection caused by a member of the coronavirus family (PubMed Health.gov, 2011). This virus belongs to the same family of viruses that cause the common cold. Linked to being a serious form of pneumonia, it presents symptoms like difficulty breathing, fevers, cough, chills and shaking, and muscle aches. The outbreak of SARS originated in the Guangdong Province, in southern China, in November 2002. It is suspected that SARS started in small mammals in China and spread to humans who handled these mammals (PubMed Health.gov, 2011). Another source states contaminated sewage was found to be responsible for the outbreak in a housing estate in Hong Kong affecting over 300 residents (Chan-Yeung, M., 2003). On February 21, Liu Jianlun, a 64-year-old Chinese physician from traveled to Hong Kong to attend a family wedding despite the fact that he had a fever. Epidemiologists determined that Mr. Jianlun passed on the SARS virus to other guests at the Metropole Hotel where he stayed—including an American businessman en route to Hanoi, Vietnam by the name of Jonny Chen (SARS, 2012). Mr. Chen grew ill in a Vietnam Hospital. Dr. Carlo Urbani, who was a member of the World Health Organization, contracted the SARS virus after caring for Mr. Chen. Dr. Urbani was the first to formally identify SARS as a unique disease. Unfortunately, both Mr. Chen and Dr...
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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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...SARS: Task 3 Community Health Tasheema P Bullock Western Governors University SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, according to the cdc.gov website, is “a viral respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus, called SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV)”. ("Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome", 2014) The outbreak occurred in Southern China that quickly spread to North America in 2003. The people that were found to have the disease, had recently traveled to southern China. People that are expected to have the disease have traveled to the region where the disease is present, come in contact with a person with the disease, and a positive chest x-ray. Signs and symptoms of the disease include flu like symptoms such as a fever over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, malaise, a sore throat, cough, and body aches. Later on in the disease process, the person can develop shortness of breath and can develop pneumonia. Some people even develop diarrhea. Epidemiology * In mid November2002, the first official outbreak of pneumonia was reported in China * 305 people were infected and 5 people reported dying from the disease in Guangdong, China * 30% of those reported were healthcare workers * As of 2003. 8422 cases were reported. Of those cases 916 people died. This happened in 29 countries all together. The most prevalent countries were Canada, Vietnam, United Kingdom, Singapore, and different parts of China Mode of Transmission Mode of transmission is person...
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...Health Practice SZT1 Western Governors University August 29, 2014 Environmental & Global Health Issues SARS The first pandemic of the 21st century began in February of 2003. The people of Asia were the first to be infected but the disease quickly spread world-wide. By the end of this pandemic over 8,000 people had become ill and 774 had died. The illness associated with this pandemic is known as Severe Acute Reparatory Syndrome, or SARS. The infectious agent associated with SARS is a virus that appears to have crown-like spikes on its surface. This virus is known as the coronavirus. This virus has four sub-groups and was commonly known to infect animals. In the 1960’s there were six strains of the coronavirus that were discovered to have the ability to infect humans. The particular strain of this virus responsible for SARS was the SARS-CoV. This particular strain of the virus has the ability to infect humans and animals (CDC, 2012). SARS is a contagious virus that is spread through droplets from person to person. This occurs as the infected person coughs or sneezes on or near a non-infected person. The droplets travel through the air as they land on the non-infected person the virus begins to invade their body. Shortly after the SARS-CoV virus has invaded and multiplied in the human body the individual may begin to experience upper respiratory symptoms such as high fever, headache, body aches, weakness or fatigue, loss of appetite, and a runny or stuffy...
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...chemical spills or exposure. The public health nurse can provide first aid treatment within their scope of practice, assess vital signs and communicate the need for other health related resources. They can manage of pre-existing conditions by assisting with transportation to shelters for those in need of electricity for nebulizers, oxygen or other necessary medical equipment. Coordinating with others to meet the needs for those on life sustaining medications, such as blood pressure or chemotherapy medications or people receiving dialysis treatment can be initiated and carried out by the public health nurse. The public health nurse can be perform door to door interviews and assessments of households to identify needs, provide assistance for acute distress or urgent medical conditions. During the assessment process the nurse must prioritize the needs and communicate with the proper departments so individual needs of the...
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