Current Understanding of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

Abstract

In Brief Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly described infectious disease due to a new strain of coronavirus. Patients usually present with fever, chills/rigors, myalgias, malaise, dry cough, headache, and dyspnea. This infection results in significant morbidity and mortality, especially in the elderly with comorbidity. About one fifth of adult patients develop progressive respiratory distress syndrome, requiring invasive mechanical ventilatory support. Infected young children usually develop very mild disease. None of the treatments used have been subjected to proper clinical trials, and the treatment used in the 2003 epidemic was largely empirical. Other antiviral treatment, RNA interference, monoclonal antibody, synthetic peptides, and vaccines are being developed. This review describes the current understanding of the epidemiology, clinical features, and therapeutic options for this infection. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly described infectious disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus. This highly contagious infection results in significant morbidity and mortality, especially in the elderly with comorbidity. Many adult patients develop progressive respiratory distress syndrome, requiring invasive mechanical ventilatory support. There is currently no proven specific treatment of this infection. Rapid identification of the infected individuals and prompt isolation of the infected cases are the key to controlling this devastating disease.