SARS..are YOU scared?

[Animal]

Originally posted by WillowIX: quote: Originally posted by Animal: I was simply stating that the mainstream media is not a good source for relaying information of this type due to its penchant for over exaggerating the facts. Most people are more likely to read a story entitled "SARS kills ten more last night" versus a Q&A about it. Since the media is interested in selling copies the facts give way to sensationalism. What is it that we are disagreeing about again? I forget.

Ehh I believe we are in agreement. When I talk about "information" I mean relaying where it has spread. For instance the article Ziroc posted. That´s it. When it comes to relaying facts I never agree with the media. Why? Because the people writing the stories are laymen and nothing more. And were I to write an article about SARS less than 1 % would understand it. What I´m saying is that if you want facts you will have to go look for them yourself and I am used to tat already. [/QUOTE]Agreed, but I would think that if you were to write an informative article on SARS in laymens terms so that the majority of non medical personnel could understand it, and distribute via mass mailing or some such it would be far more effective than a front page news story.

EDIT: Obviously I've spent too much time in the war forum. I'm not used to this agreement philosophy.

[ 05-03-2003, 06:59 PM: Message edited by: Animal ]

[WillowIX]

I´m going to post this here for those who hasn´t found it yet.

From the CDC website about SARS: GENERAL INFORMATION The Illness What is SARS? Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a respiratory illness that has recently been reported in Asia, North America, and Europe. For additional information, check the World Health Organization's (WHO) SARS Web site or visit other pages on CDC’s SARS Web site. What are the symptoms and signs of SARS? The illness usually begins with a fever (measured temperature greater than 100.4°F [>38.0°C]). The fever is sometimes associated with chills or other symptoms, including headache, general feeling of discomfort and body aches. Some people also experience mild respiratory symptoms at the outset. After 2 to 7 days, SARS patients may develop a dry, nonproductive cough that might be accompanied by or progress to the point where insufficient oxygen is getting to the blood. In 10 percent to 20 percent of cases, patients will require mechanical ventilation. For more information, see the MMWR dispatch. If I were exposed to SARS, how long would it take for me to become sick? The incubation period for SARS is typically 2 to 7 days; however, isolated reports have suggested an incubation period as long as 10 days. The illness usually begins with a fever (>100.4°F [>38.0°C]) (see signs and symptoms, above). What medical treatment is recommended for patients with SARS? CDC currently recommends that patients with SARS receive the same treatment that would be used for any patient with serious community-acquired atypical pneumonia. Is the use of ribavirin (or other antiviral drugs) effective in the treatment of patients with SARS? At present, the most efficacious treatment regimen, if any, is unknown. In several locations, therapy has included antivirals such as oseltamivir or ribavirin. Steroids also have been given orally or intravenously to patients in combination with ribavirin and other antimicrobials. In the absence of controlled clinical trials, however, the efficacy of these regimens remains unknown. Early information from laboratory experiments suggests that ribavirin does not inhibit virus growth or cell-to-cell spread of one isolate of the new coronavirus that was tested. Additional laboratory testing of ribavirin and other antiviral drugs is being done to see if an effective treatment can be found. Spread of SARS How is SARS spread? The primary way that SARS appears to spread is by close person-to-person contact. Potential ways in which SARS can be spread include touching the skin of other people or objects that are contaminated with infectious droplets and then touching your eye(s), nose, or mouth. This can happen when someone who is sick with SARS coughs or sneezes droplets onto themselves, other people, or nearby surfaces. It also is possible that SARS can be spread more broadly through the air or by other ways that are currently not known. How long is a person with SARS infectious to others? Information to date suggests that people are most likely to be infectious when they have symptoms, such as fever or cough. However, it is not known how long before or after their symptoms begin that patients with SARS might be able to transmit the disease to others. Who is most at risk of contracting SARS? Most of the U.S. cases of SARS have occurred among travelers returning to the United States from other parts of the world affected by SARS. There have been very few cases as a result of spread to close contacts such as family members and health care workers. Currently, there is no evidence that SARS is spreading more widely in the community in the United States. Cause of SARS What is the cause of SARS? Scientists at CDC and other laboratories have detected a previously unrecognized coronavirus in patients with SARS. This new coronavirus is the leading hypothesis for the cause of SARS. What are coronaviruses? Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that have a halo or crown-like (corona) appearance when viewed under a microscope. These viruses are a common cause of mild to moderate upper-respiratory illness in humans and are associated with respiratory, gastrointestinal, liver and neurologic disease in animals. How long do coronaviruses survive in the environment? NEW! In general, enveloped viruses such as coronaviruses do not last a long time in the environment. In earlier studies, a different coronavirus was shown to survive for up to 3 hours on surfaces. At this time, it is uncertain how long the newly discovered coronavirus associated with SARS can survive in the environment. In one preliminary study, researchers in Hong Kong found that both dried and liquid samples of the new coronavirus survived as long as 24 hours in the environment. Additional studies are under way to examine this important question. If coronaviruses usually cause mild illness in humans, how could this new coronavirus be responsible for a potentially life-threatening disease such as SARS? There is not enough information about the new virus to determine the full range of illness that it might cause. Coronaviruses have occasionally been linked to pneumonia in humans, especially people with weakened immune systems. The viruses also can cause severe disease in animals, including cats, dogs, pigs, mice, and birds. Has new information about coronavirus changed the recommendations for medical treatment for patients with SARS? The possibility that coronavirus is the cause of SARS has not changed treatment recommendations. The new coronavirus is being tested against various antiviral drugs to see if an effective treatment can be found. Is there a test for SARS? Several new laboratory tests can be used to detect the SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). Serologic testing for coronavirus can be performed by using indirect fluorescent antibody or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays that are specific for antibody produced after infection. A reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test also can detect SARS-CoV in clinical specimens, including serum, stool and nasal secretions. Finally, viral culture and isolation have both been used to detect SARS-CoV

I hope this helps some of you in here. Here can be found a map of the number of current cases of SARS in the world. This map is updated daily. http://www.who.int/csr/sars/map2003_05_03.gif

[Charlie]

SARS..are YOU scared?

Yep. Not crapping myself but concerned.

[Animal]

Thanks Willow. I hope everyone takes the time to read your post.

[Ladyzekke]

We've had a few cases of it here too, but nobody has died from it. I figure I'll wash my hands whenever I visit a store (door handles and knobs carry so many germs, imagine how many hands touch said handles, after coughing into their hands, etc.). So nothing else I can do besidess that, I cannot control me breathing in an infected person's breath while standing next to them, especially if said infected person shows no symptoms. So you can either be a paranoid recluse (which may be socially *weird* but in some ways safe) or just continue with your daily life's activities, again, washing hands frequently,, never touching your face (many viruses get "in" your system through mucus membranes, such as mouth, ears, nose, eyes. So if , say, you touched a door nob, or anything, that many people have touched, if a person who touch said door nob, or anything, had SARS or the flu, the virus would live on said doorknob or anything,,, and transfer itself to anyone else's hands and fingers taht touched it. And if said "toucher" later also touched their face, i.e, their eyes, nose, mouth, or ears, the virus finds its way "in" that way. So it is best off if you wash your hands when you return from a store or touch an object that a lot of other people touch daily.

Take care everyone, knowledge is safety, spread it around. You may still be able to get SARS from being near a person, and breathing in their virus in the air, like if they sneeze or cough, but otherwise, handwashing is at least your best bet overall I think. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Yorick]

What I'm afraid of is this:

I have chronic pharyngitis. My nose is constantly blocked in one side or the other. Sometimes it's bad, others just inconvenient. I also get a wet cough just after eating.

So I'm worried people are going to freak out if I'm sniffing or coughing (even though SARS is a dry cough). New York City has had 18 cases, no deaths yet though... I believe. Let's hope it doesn't get spread by rats though, or then like the plague, New York (with more rats than people) will be in biiig trouble.

Long live Dick Wittington.

[Yorick]

Originally posted by ladyzekke: So it is best off if you wash your hands when you return from a store or touch an object that a lot of other people touch daily.

Oh shyte. I've been out all day, tavelling subways, hands on rails, in and out of buildings and a couple of cafes. I didn't even think about that.

Ah well, thank you Jesus for the good and the bad... if I'm in trouble, I'm in trouble. I'm living in each moment anyway.

[Horatio]

Yorick, be careful. With chronic pharyngitis, would you be able to notice if you had SARS? [img]graemlins/uhoh1.gif[/img]

I really hope it doesn't become widespread here in Britain. Poor Blair's lost enough hair over Iraq

[LordKathen]

No, I'm worried about whats next. And then after that, and after that, and so on. These bacteria and virus's are getting to be smarter than us. They are mutating at a rate that we are having a very hard time keeping up with them them. Evolution at its worst, or best, depending on how you look at it. If we don't kill our selfs off, via the destruction of our environment, microbiology will, then it will start all over.


[img]graemlins/hidesbehindsofa.gif[/img] If you disagree with my view on this philosophy, please leave it out of here. I don't want to derail the thread. Thank you.

[ 05-04-2003, 05:06 AM: Message edited by: LordKathen ]

[Stormymystic]

I honestly am worried about it, not only do I have a weak imunne system, no nothing to do with any disease, but i also have to worry aboutmy kids, exspeacily my son who is also affected with a weak immune system. if my son or I get it chances are we will be in critical condition if not dying from it, the reason i have a weak immune system goes back to when i hadmy son, i had a sever infection that the doctor ignored, and now my body is weak and easily infected, i get the flu every year