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SARS Contained

Posted by michael on from the black-death-avoided dept.

The World Health Organization has declared that SARS is contained, for now. Toronto has engaged in extensive analysis of the outbreak there, leading to a number of interesting and in-depth stories about the progression of the disease.

12 of 323 comments (clear)

  1. it's about time... by double_plus_ungod · · Score: 5, Interesting

    this flu season should be frightening. everyone will think they have the sars when it's just the flu.

    counting down to the next outbreak of some other nasty bug like hantavirus, westnile, or ebola

    --

    ----
    http://www.hellection.com
    1. Re:it's about time... by b-baggins · · Score: 5, Informative

      You should be more terrified of the flu, since the flu kills about a thousand times more people in a year than this stupid SARS virus did. For crying out loud, you had a greater chance of dying by slipping in your bathtub. Even in China.

      --
      You can tell a great deal about the character of a man by observing those who hate him.
    2. Re:it's about time... by jsse · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This SARS is not a stupid virus as you might think. Here are the facts about the virus that really worried the experts:

      1) Regardless of what the press said, the method of spreading is still UNKNOWN
      2) Different regions revealed different format of the virus itself. Its true(or original) form is still UNKNOWN
      3) Some believed that the original infestion started by the contact of wild animal with human like it did for AIDS. However, experts later found that multiple generations of SARS were found in one region and even one host at the same time! It's rather different from AIDS. Thus, the origin of the virus is UNKNOWN

      Disclaimer: I live in Hong Kong - the city which has the major outbreak of SARS.

    3. Re:it's about time... by dtake · · Score: 5, Insightful

      True, but it's the death rate you should be concerned with, not how many people died. The flu kills a thousands more people in a year then SARS because hundreds of millions of people (Billions?) get the flu in a year.

      The death rate for people infected with SARS is much , much higher then the death rate for people infected with the flue.

      True, but compared with something like yellow fever, which afflicts 200,000 every year and kills 30,000, SARS affects many fewer people AND has a lower mortality rate. But I don't see any headlines about yellow fever and no mad rush to find a cure.

      And I wouldn't rule out a disease as a problem just because of a lower mortality rate. The very fact that 1.9 million children die of diarrheal diseases every year, 1 million people die of malaria every year, and 2 million die of tuberculosis every year means that they are more serious health problems than SARS. The fact that the mortality rate can be low for these diseases with proper care is irrelevant. In the real world these are the killers, not SARS.

      For more information on the diseases we still really need to worry about, check out the WHO Infectious diseases site

    4. Re:it's about time... by grolschie · · Score: 5, Informative

      I spent one day in Hong Kong recently. What I noticed was that the only people wearing masks, seemed to be shop assistants and some airport security. I guess that is to make the partrons feel better. I guess the every people in Hong Kong are not so worried these days. Would that be fair to say?

    5. Re:it's about time... by jsse · · Score: 5, Informative

      I guess the every people in Hong Kong are not so worried these days. Would that be fair to say?

      Very true. Although there are lots of uncertainty about SARS but after the disaster we've confidence in facing it again.

      The high casualty is due to the infficiency of our local Government and their lack of risk awareness(which anger a lot of people and triggered a mass protest of the centaury). Fortunately for us we've a lot of brave people who are willingly to risk their live to take the most dangerous and dirty job and nobody(but the governer) retreat. We're really proud of them.

  2. One down... by craenor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A million more to go. Until people, health officials and governments take outbreaks of this nature more seriously. We'll always be in danger from them. In a time when people couldn't just span the globe in a matter of hours, diseases like the flu still managed to kill 25 million people.

    Nowadays we are tied together by a lattice work of airlines and freedom of worldwide travel that make us so much more at risk. Of course, where do you draw the line? We need some serious concern, not worldwide paranoia.

    I'm not saying SARS was badly handled everywhere. I'm just saying that there may very well come a time in the future where another event starts just like one...but the ending will be much worse.

  3. But is it too late, now that ... by Professor+D · · Score: 5, Funny

    The civet's out of the bag?

  4. Contained? by Mostly+Harmless · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How can they say they have the disease contained if they say, in their next breath, that they expect it to come back again?

    --
    "`Ford, you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.'" -Douglas Adams, THHGTTG
  5. Some perspective on SARS. by Christopher+Thomas · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This cartoon nicely sums up my opinion of the whole SARS thing:

    http://www.vgcats.com/vgc_comics/?strip_id=62

    Practical effect here in Toronto:

    First outbreak: People were edgy for about two weeks, and a few wore masks. Anyone with a cold got nervous looks when they coughed. Then the novelty wore off and it was business as usual.

    Second outbreak: Nil.

    The number of people quarantined was about 1% of the city's population. The number of people who were actually sick was far lower. The number of people _dead_ was lower than the number of people murdered here in an average year, and we're a city not known for its violence.

    Take is seriously? Sure. Panic? Not justified.

    The real harm is that the attention on SARS has drawn attention away from things like West Nile Virus.

  6. Re:Shouldn't nerds cheer SARS? by RodgerDodger · · Score: 5, Funny

    I take it you're volunteering to be a candidate for herd-thinning?

    --
    "Software is too expensive to build cheaply"
  7. Are you people idiots? by VPN3000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Oh dear God, the people posting messages stating that SARS was over-hyped and nothing serious are really, really looking like twits.

    First off, if the 'media hype' had not taken place, countries would have not been pressured to take measures (by scared civilians) to control it. Thus, SARS would have spread to a MUCH larger percentage of the population. 10% deathrate doesn't sound like revelations or anything, but think of your elderly parents and grand parents. They would likely have a very tough time. Remember, the 10% if overall. That can mean 19-35 year olds have a 3% chance of death, but elderly could have something like 85-90% since their immune systems can't cope.

    Secondly, scientists still don't understand the virus. Wouldn't you like to give them a little extra time to come to grips with how it works and what gets rid of it before you talk out of your ass about how it's not serious?

    Third, this is a virus. Not a bacterial infection. It's quite likely this will become a recurring disease. You take drugs to help fight it, most gets killed off, some mutates, goes to sleep for a few months, then re-infects with the mutated virus; then is likely harder to battle.

    Finally, did you people who think it's not serious bother to read about the condition of SARS patients who have recovered? Didn't think so. They may have survived, but most have permanent scarring in their lungs. You want that to happen to you and your family? Want to have to wait and wonder, dreading the next 'season'? What if it comes back? You might not be able to survive a second infection since your lungs are still damaged from the first one.

    I don't mean to sound offensive, but what sort of idiot wants to take chances? It really bothers me that 'geeks' would feel this way, considering we are supposed to be some of the smarter ones. Guess I was wrong...