Friday, November 14, 2003

SARS: What happened, anyway?

SARS: Epidemiology, Clinical Presentation, Management, and Infection Control Measures. Priya Sampathkumar, Zelalem Temesgen, Thomas F. Smith, and Rodney L. Thompson. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, July 2003
A reasonable overview, and rather nicely available on the public web. It didn't answer my questions though. The entire SARS story puzzles the heck out of me. Why did so many nurses die, even in locations that should have had strong infection control? Why did the disease seem so contagious in some places, and not at all contagious in others? Did the virus attenuate? Was the epidemiologic behavior due to an unidentified cofactor infection that was common in some places and not in others? (eg. a second virus was needed to develop full fledged SARS).

I can't believe that the infection control measures were so effective. The disease was loose in China for months. Why did it not spread in India at all?

No comments: