Risk Of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Research Articles

Climate Change and Respiratory Diseases: Relationship between SARS and Climatic Parameters and Impact of Climate Change on the Geographical Distribution of SARS in Iran.

Climate change affects human health, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) incidence is one of the health impacts of climate change. This study is a retrospective cohort study. Data have been collected from the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education between 17 February 2016 and17 February 2018. The Neural Network Model has been used to predict SARS infection. Based on the results of the multivariate Poisson regression and the analysis of the coexistence of the variables, the minimum daily temperature was positively associated with the risk of SARS in men and women. The risk of SARS has increased in women and men with increasing daily rainfall. According to the result, by changes in bioclimatic parameters, the number of SARS patients will be increased in cities of Iran. Our study has shown a significant relationship between SARS and the climatic variables by the type of climate and gender. The estimates suggest that hospital admissions for climate-related respiratory diseases in Iran will increase by 36% from 2020 to 2050. This study demonstrates one of the health impacts of climate change. Policymakers can control the risks of climate change by mitigation and adaptation strategists.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs of Pediatric Health Care Workers: Understanding the Response to COVID-19.

IntroductionThis research aims to assess knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of PHCW regarding COVID-19.MethodData collected using an electronic survey sent to pediatric health care workers.ResultsAge was not likely to influence willingness to care for patients with COVID-19. Males were more likely to be willing to care for patients than female. Nurse practitioners were more likely to be willing to care for patients with COVID-19 than physicians. Availability of proper personal protective equipment, COVID-19 knowledge, and training did not influence willingness to care for COVID-19 patients. Healthcare workers with a higher risk of COVID-19-related sickness, and who received most of their COVID-19 information from social media, were less likely to be willing to care for COVID positive patients. As perception of hospital preparedness increased, reluctance to care for COVID-19 positive patients decreased.DiscussionHospital preparedness and social media exposure play a significant role in willingness to care for patients with COVID-19.

Effect of environmental, economic and health factors on CoVid-19 transmission

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is affected by meteorological parameters such as temperature and humidity. It is also observed that people having asthma are at risk for SARS. Therefore, it is of interest to report the effect of environmental, economic, and health factors on the spread of CoVid-19. We used data reporting CoVid-19 cases from 24 cities in eight different countries for this analysis. Data was analyzed using multiple linear regressions between these parameters. Data shows that temperature has effects on CoVid-19. A one-degree rise in temperature causes a -0.19 decrease in CoVid-19 cases per million people (log natural value per million populations). The effect of humidity is not significant at a p value of 0.26. Moreover, one-unit increase in asthma and GDP cases per million people show 0.06 and 0.46 increases in CoVid-19 cases, respectively.

Geographical spread of SARS in mainland China

Summary Objectives To describe the spatiotemporal diffusion of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in mainland China, and to analyse the spatial pattern of SARS transmission from the Beijing epicentre to its neighbouring areas. Methods Probable SARS cases occurring between November 2002 and May 2003 in mainland China were compiled from different sources and geo‐coded into a geographical information database based on onset location. Spatial analyses including kernel density estimation, and spatial statistical and tracking analyses were performed to characterise the spatiotemporal distribution of SARS cases based on onset location/date. SARS cases that got infected in Beijing but were reported in three provinces surrounding Beijing were mapped, and logistic regression using a ‘case–control’ design at the county level was performed to analyse the impact of travel‐related risk factors in the diffusion pattern. Results The SARS epidemic in mainland China spanned a large geographical extent but clustered in two areas: first in Guangdong Province, and about 3 months later in Beijing with its surrounding areas in Shanxi Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomic Region, Hebei Province and Tianjin. Counties in the neighbourhood of Beijing that were crossed by a national highway or inter‐provincial freeway showed the highest risk of acquiring SARS infections, even after correction for population density and medical staff density. Being intersected by a railway did not significantly associate with risk of SARS. Conclusions This study provides the first complete documentation of the spatial and temporal characteristics of the SARS epidemic in mainland China. Our analyses confirmed that SARS had benefited from national highways and inter‐provincial freeways for its spread from epicentres to neighbouring areas, whereas trains showed no significant association. This knowledge may be important for the control of re‐emerging SARS, or other future emerging human‐to‐human transmittable infections.

Has SARS infected the property market? Evidence from Hong Kong

This paper uses the 2003 Hong Kong Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic as a natural experiment to investigate how housing markets react to extreme events. A panel data set of large-scale housing complexes (estates) is used to exploit the cross-sectional variation in the spread of SARS to estimate the effect of the disease on real estate prices and sales. SARS risk is measured by: (1) the estate-level SARS infection rate, (2) news reports, and (3) government announcements of infections. The average price declines by 1–3 percent if an estate is directly affected by SARS, and by 1.6 percent for all estates as a result of the outbreak of the disease. A back-of-the-envelope calculation of the expected price fall under the rational asset-pricing model implies that the economic value of life consistent with the SARS-related price movement was less than $1 million. This low figure contrasts with the predictions of overreaction from psychological and behavioral economics theories. An analysis of transaction volume suggests that the absence of price overreaction is likely to be related to housing market characteristics, including transaction costs, credit constraints and loss aversion.

The War on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome: United States Forces Korea’s Campaign Plan

ABSTRACTA mysterious new respiratory illness known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has become the most perplexing infectious disease to emerge in the 21st century. From March to May 2003, it competed daily with the war in Iraq as the most sensational media event of the moment. U.S. personnel serving in the Republic of Korea represented the largest U.S. military population at risk for SARS. With tensions growing between Pyongyang and Washington, the United States/Republic of Korea alliance could not afford to be rendered combat ineffective by SARS. To remain mission ready, the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) commander declared a “War on SARS” and directed his medical staff to develop a plan to prevent a SARS outbreak among USFK personnel. This article outlines the USFK campaign plan for the SARS epidemic and documents lessons learned for future outbreaks of highly infectious diseases.

SARS risk perceptions in healthcare workers, Japan.

In coping with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), infection control measures are a key aspect of protecting healthcare workers. We conducted a survey concerning perception of risk and countermeasures for SARS in 7 tertiary hospitals in Japan from July through September 2003, immediately after the SARS epidemic in neighboring countries. Based on 7,282 respondents out of 9,978 questionnaires administered, we found the perception of risk to be relatively high and the perception of countermeasures at the institutional level to be relatively low. Knowledge of preventive measures, concept of (opinions regarding) institutional measures, and perception of risk differed substantially among the 3 job categories, notably between physicians and nurses. The concept of institutional measures was the most important predictor of individual perception of risk. In view of the potential for future epidemics, planning and implementing institutional measures should be given a high priority.

A Clinical Prediction Rule for the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

Letters1 February 2005A Clinical Prediction Rule for the Severe Acute Respiratory SyndromeFREEMatthew H.M. Ma, MD, PhD, Shey-Ying Chen, MD, Wen-Chu Chiang, MD, Chan-Ping Su, MD, and Wen-Jone Chen, MD, PhDMatthew H.M. Ma, MD, PhDFrom National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.Search for more papers by this author, Shey-Ying Chen, MDFrom National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.Search for more papers by this author, Wen-Chu Chiang, MDFrom National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.Search for more papers by this author, Chan-Ping Su, MDFrom National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.Search for more papers by this author, and Wen-Jone Chen, MD, PhDFrom National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-142-3-200502010-00019 SectionsAboutVisual AbstractPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:We read with great interest the article by Leung and colleagues (1) on their clinical prediction rule for emergency department diagnosis of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). During the early period of the 2003 SARS epidemics in Taiwan, we prospectively developed a clinical decision rule from a cohort of febrile patients (2, 3), consisting of a 4-item symptom score and a 6-item clinical score (2). The prediction rule was adopted in our institution and became part of an integrated decision-making process for sorting incoming febrile patients during the epidemic. When validated by a second cohort, our rule showed a sensitivity of 90.2%, a specificity of 80.1%, and an area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve of 0.89 (3). We applied Leung and colleagues' rule to our cohort of 299 febrile patients, including 79 with laboratory-confirmed SARS and 220 without SARS. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 98.8%, 52.0%, 43.6%, and 99.1%, respectively.The authors should be congratulated for a well-conducted study. However, some aspects of their prediction rule warrant further elaboration.First, the study cohort had a higher proportion of nonfebrile patients with SARS than has been reported elsewhere (4, 5). Because of the study's retrospective design, it is possible that some of these patients might not have had SARS to begin with but were instead cross-infected in hospital settings. This might introduce some misclassification bias and threaten the study's validity. Second, the clinical utility of the rule, if applied as suggested, may be limited in a large outbreak. More than 80% of patients still need hospitalization after triage by the rule. Housing patients with a 21% risk for SARS, quartile 1 in the high-risk group, in a communal isolation ward can be a dangerous practice.Triage of SARS during epidemics depends on the prevalence of the disease in the community and on local policies. Three pieces of information—contact history, fever, and pulmonary infiltrate—need to be considered. Patients with contact history and pulmonary infiltrates should be admitted regardless of body temperature. Afebrile patients without pulmonary infiltrates could be discharged home and receive daily follow-up of body temperature. Clinical decision rules are not needed for these patients. Febrile patients without pulmonary infiltrates are the most challenging for emergency department staff and should be the focus of a prediction rule. Whether to admit patients with pulmonary infiltrates but no contact history, however, is a policy issue. Well-thought-out clinical prediction rules, along with sound policies, would help communities tackle future SARS epidemics or similar outbreaks.Matthew H.M. Ma, MD, PhDShey-Ying Chen, MDWen-Chu Chiang, MDChan-Ping Su, MDWen-Jone Chen, MD, PhDNational Taiwan University Hospital; Taipei, Taiwan

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a newly emerged infection that is caused by a previously unrecognized virus–a novel coronavirus designated as SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). From November 2002 to July 2003 the cumulative number of worldwide cases was >8000, with a mortality rate of close to 10%. The mortality has been higher in older patients and those with co-morbidities. SARS has been defined using clinical and epidemiological criteria and cases are considered laboratory-confirmed if SARS coronavirus is isolated, if antibody to SARS coronavirus is detected, or a polymerase chain reaction test by appropriate criteria is positive. At the time of writing (24 May 2004), no specific therapy has been recommended. A variety of treatments have been attempted, but there are no controlled data. Most patients have been treated throughout the illness with broad-spectrum antimicrobials, supplemental oxygen, intravenous fluids, and other supportive measures. Transmission of SARS is facilitated by close contact with patients with symptomatic infection. The majority of cases have been reported among healthcare providers and family members of SARS patients. Since SARS-CoV is contagious, measures for prevention center on avoidance of exposure, and infection control strategies for suspected cases and contacts. This includes standard precautions (hand hygiene), contact precautions (gowns, goggles, gloves) and airborne precautions (negative pressure rooms and high efficiency masks). In light of reports of new cases identified during the winter of 2003–4 in China, it seems possible that SARS will be an important cause of pneumonia in the future, and the screening of outpatients at risk for SARS may become part of the pneumonia evaluation.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the GDP. Part I : Epidemiology, virology, pathology and general health issues.

The health profession faces a new challenge with the emergence of a novel viral disease Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a form of atypical pneumonia caused by a coronavirus termed SARS-CoV. This highly infectious disease has spread through 32 countries, infecting more than 8,400 patients with over 790 deaths in just over 6 months. Over one quarter of those infected were unsuspecting healthcare workers. The major transmission mode of SARS-coronavirus appears to be through droplet spread with other minor subsidiary modes of transmission such as close contact and fomites although air borne transmission has not been ruled out. There is as yet no definitive treatment protocol. Although the peak period of the outbreak is likely to have passed and the risk of SARS in the UK is therefore assessed to be low, the World Health Organisation has asked all countries to remain vigilant lest SARS re-emerges. Recent laboratory acquired cases of SARS reported from Taiwan and Beijing, China are a testimony to this risk. Until reliable diagnostic tests, vaccine and medications are available, control of SARS outbreaks depends on close surveillance, early identification of index cases, quick isolation of carriers and effective infection control and public health measures.

The public's response to severe acute respiratory syndrome in Toronto and the United States.

Using data from 13 surveys of the public, this article compares the public's response to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Ontario (specifically, Toronto), the other Canadian provinces, and the United States, which had substantial differences in the number of SARS cases. Findings suggest that, even at a relatively low level of spread among the population, the SARS outbreak had a significant psychological and economic impact. They also suggest that the success of efforts to educate the public about the risk of SARS and appropriate precautions was mixed. Some of the community-wide problems with SARS might have been avoided with better communication by public health officials and clinicians.