>>SARS
>>Be Cautious About the New Disease!!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Q. What is SARS ?
>>
>>
>>A. SARS stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome. It’s a new
>>disease
>>that doctors still don’t know much about.
>>
>>
>>Q. What are the symptoms of SARS?
>>
>>
>>A. They are a lot like pneumonia or the flu. People get a very high
>>fever —
>>at least 104 degrees. They also usually have shortness of breath or
>>other
>>problems breathing and a dry cough. Some people get other symptoms,
>>including a headache, stiff or achy muscles, a loss of appetite,
>>fatigue, a
>>rash and diarrhea.
>>
>>
>>Q. How do you get SARS?
>>
>>
>>A. It seems that you have to have very close contact with someone
>>who has
>>it. Almost all the people who have gotten SARS have either been
>>hospital
>>workers who cared for sick people or members of a victim’s family.
>>Doctors
>>believe that it is spread by tiny droplets that get airborne when
>>someone
>>sneezes or coughs, or by contact with other bodily fluids such as
>>blood. The
>>people who have gotten SARS outside of Asia have all either
>>recently
>>traveled to Asian countries where it is spreading or had
>>close contact with someone who recently returned from there.
>>Experts don’t
>>think it’s easy to catch SARS from sitting next to a sick person on
>>a plane,
>>but they are investigating one incident in which Chinese tourists
>>may have
>>gotten infected by flying on a plane with an infected man.
>>
>>
>>Q. Where is it spreading the most?
>>
>>
>>A. The disease has hit hardest in China, especially in Hong Kong
>>and the
>>southern province of Guangdong. But there has also been a number of
>>cases in
>>Hanoi and in Singapore. The outbreak nearest to the United States
>>has been
>>in Toronto.
>>
>>
>>Q. Are people in this area at risk?
>>
>>
>>A. No one can yet predict how the epidemic will unfold in the
>>future, but at
>>this point there seems to be little risk unless you are in contact
>>with
>>people who have traveled to affected areas or have been there
>>yourself. Four
>>possible cases have,however, been reported in Virginia.
>>
>>
>>Q. How can I protect myself?
>>
>>
>>A. The best way is to avoid traveling to places where the disease
>>is most
>>common and avoid close contact with someone who appears to have the
>>disease.
>>Hospital workers who have started wearing masks and gloves have not
>>gotten
>>sick.
>>
>>
>>Q. Can SARS be treated?
>>
>>
>>A. Antibiotics don’t seem to work, which is usually the case with
>>virus-caused diseases. One antiviral drug known as ribavirin may
>>help, but
>>doctors aren’t sure yet.
>>
>>
>>Q. How dangerous is the disease?
>>
>>
>>A. Between 80 percent and 90 percent of patients get better on
>>their own in
>>about a week. The other 10 percent to 20 percent get worse, with
>>many ending
>>up in intensive care and requiring mechanical ventilators to help
>>them
>>breathe. About half of those people die.
>>
>>
>>Q. Who is most at risk?
>>
>>
>>A. People over age 40 and those who have other medical problems,
>>such as
>>heart or liver disease, seem to do the worst.
>>
>>
>>Q. What causes SARS?
>>
>>
>>A. Scientists are not sure, but they have found two previously
>>unknown
>>viruses in patients. One is from the coronavirus family of viruses,
>>the
>>other from a different family called paramyxoviruses.
>>Paramyxoviruses cause
>>many different diseases, including mumps, measles and respiratory
>>illnesses.
>>Coronaviruses usually just cause the common cold.
>>
>>
>>Q. Where did SARS come from?
>>
>>
>>
>>A. The disease is believed to have first emerged in Guangdong
>>province in
>>China in November and then spread to Hong Kong and elsewhere.
>>
>>
>>
>>Q. Could this be bioterrorism?
>>
>>
>>A. Health officials aren’t ruling anything out, but they think this
>>is
>>something that occurred naturally, perhaps when a virus that
>>usually only
>>makes animals sick changed somehow and became able to make people
>>sick.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>Forward this mail to everyone , so they can protect themselves from
>>this
>>dangerous disease.
>>