"Killer Flu" Emerging On Both Sides of the Pacific

mallorean writes "The spread of SARS ( Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ) worldwide is just about making the headlines. The WHO has issued an advisory. American Scientist had two very timely articles relevant to SARS in the current issue. The first is about the rapidly growing antibiotic resistance in bacterial diseases and the origin and possible sources of this resistance. The second article talks about Type A Influenza and the possibility of a world pandemic similar to the 1918 Global Flu Pandemic. The transmittable nature of SARS, the lack of epidemological information and its severe resistance to antibiotics seems tailor made to fit the scenario outlined in the second article ( it even originated in the far east and is a strain of avian flu )." Read below for a related link.

jake-in-a-box points to a New York Times article which says that the illness "has affected hundreds in China and Southeast Asia, and now spread to Vancouver, BC. It does not respond to antibiotics or antivirals and apparently nobody has fully recovered yet. Transmission appears to be via aerosol droplets - coughs, sneezes etc."

Comments

Re:Difference between this and other diseases?

[barakn]

What's the difference between this latest outbreak and any other outbreak?

So how is this new disease different?

The new illness is probably not influenza. The flu does not present as a pneumonia, although it can weaken the respiratory tract and allow secondary infection by opportunistic bacteria or viruses. Furthermore, there are rapid tests available for the diagnosis of the flu virus. I presume these have been performed and came back negative. So this is a new, dangerous, highly-infectious disease.