The SARS Hoopla

Gopusa.com ^ | April 14, 2003 | Carol Devine-Molin

[politicalpal]

The SARS Hoopla By Carol Devine-Molin April 14, 2003

This entire SARS scare is reminiscent of the plagues and pestilences noted in the Bible's book of Revelation. In almost apocalyptic terms, the worldwide news media is ablaze with stories that SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is poised to become a pandemic that will ravage the world. And, truly, everyone is abuzz with talk of SARS. Is this just the outcome of media sensationalism or an accurate reflection of reality? Is SARS among the worst illnesses out there? Or, are other disease outbreaks creating even greater problems for society? Let's step back and take the larger view.

The 1999-2000 influenza season was among the most dreadful in recent years, culminating in approximately 60,000 flu deaths, with many linked to pneumonia complications. According to the CDC, at the heart of the 1999-2000 influenza was a strain of the virulent A (H3N2) Sydney-like virus, which had been prevalent throughout the late 1990s. My neighbor, who is a nurse, later advised me that the elderly were "dropping like flies" in the nursing homes throughout the region (NYC and surrounding suburbs) during that particular winter.

Ah, I remember it well! I was one of the unfortunate who suffered a significant bout of the flu in early February 2000 that knocked me out of commission for about ten days, and continued to sicken me for the entire month. I've never been that ill in my adult life - For three days, I coughed my head off and endured the debilitating chills and fever that are the ubiquitous symptoms of influenza. Mind you, I had the flu in prior times, but nothing that ever approached this severity.

But the worst part was my breathing difficulties and the concomitant sleep deprivation brought about by extreme physical discomfort and a constant dry cough. It just felt that my lungs were filled with an insidious paste. By night three I said to myself "Well, is this where I begin to actively hallucinate or do I just die?" My chest was throbbing--It was too painful to even breathe, let alone cough. And, yes, I was kicking myself for not getting that flu vaccination. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, some needed relief set in. During the middle of the third night, I was able to sleep for two hours straight. And when I awoke, I was almost euphoric - I had endured the most ghastly symptoms and I was on the road to recovery. Yes, of course I was praying throughout this personal calamity and I said to myself as I rallied, "Praise be to God"!

Family members had offered to travel down from upstate New York to assist me, but I would have none of it. I wouldn't dare expose them to this real-life nightmare, and I just stayed holed-up in my Westchester condo for more than a week. My family tells me that in the midst of everything, I was doing my best Capt. Kirk staccato imitation over the phone, as I exhorted them: "Must-get-flu-shot!", "Must-not-get-flu!" Moreover, I always try to look on the bright side, and thought, "Hey, I ought to lose at least ten pounds from all of this", and I certainly did.

Now why would I evoke the memory of such an awful episode? I'm just underscoring that seasonal influenza has been a substantive problem for years and our nation has managed to deal with it. And I have no doubt that we'll properly address this new-found SARS disease as it develops. To date, there have been an estimated 3000 SARS cases worldwide resulting in over 120 deaths, located in seventeen nations and on three continents. It doesn't sound like that many cases, but SARS has the capacity to spread rapidly. Canada (especially Toronto), China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam are considered hotbeds of SARS activity. And it goes without saying that Toronto is right across the US border and presents notable concerns.

Therefore, if, (and this is the really big "if") SARS cannot be adequately contained and becomes rampant, we must adequately prepare ourselves. The World Health Organization indicates that the development of proper diagnostic testing, a suitable vaccination, and effective medications for SARS are staunchly underway. It may take years, but we have to begin now. And President Bush has already signed an executive order permitting the quarantine of SARS infected individuals and those possibly exposed to the illness. In Canada, authorities are reportedly keeping people under house quarantine with electronic monitoring devices.

Where did SARS come from? SARS is a pneumonia-like illness that emerged from the "viral stew" in the countryside of Guangdong province in China, where people, pigs and poultry live in close proximity under filthy conditions. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? Reportedly, this region generates unusual viral outbreaks triggered by mutant strains of human and animal viruses. To reiterate, SARS is not an ersatz, biologically engineered virus that's a product of germ warfare, as had been previously speculated upon, but a naturally occurring phenomenon. Recent discoveries suggest that SARS is caused by a newly emergent form of the coronavirus. But there's more -- Apparently, this SARS virus is unusual since it's combined with bacterial pathogens. That said, bacterial Chlamydia has been found in the lungs of some SARS patients in China. Very Interesting!

SARS symptoms are largely akin to those of influenza including coughing, sore throat, muscle aches, fever, and chills. However, SARS is more closely associated with respiratory problems, shortness of breath, and atypical pneumonia in about 25% of the cases, culminating in a death rate of 3-5%. Any type of pneumonia, whether SARS related or not, involves inflammation and fluid within the lungs resulting from bacterial, viral, fungal, or parasitic infections. SARS is currently being treated with a cocktail of antiviral (oseltamivir, ribavirin) and antibiotic medications, sometimes in conjunction with steroids. SARS is thought to be primarily transmitted by airborne "droplet transmissions" that can also contaminate objects. However, the spread of this illness is also linked to cockroaches, especially in highly populated urban centers such as Hong Kong.

In conclusion, here are some hopeful remarks, regarding the status of SARS research, from the speech of Dr. Mark Salter at the World Health Organization's April 11th news conference:

*"At the present moment in time, 17 laboratories around the world from 9 countries are involved in dealing with, identifying, and developing tests for the diagnosis of the causative agent of SARS".

*"And when we have definitive evidence to suggest that the coronavirus is the primary causative agent, the next step that everyone will be anticipating is the development of a vaccine. Discussions are currently ongoing within the laboratories as to how this can be taken forward."

*"The aim of the collaborating group over the coming weeks will be to bring this information together in a systematic form so that we can actually rule out those therapies that are ineffective and push forward with those therapies that are roving to be effective".

[Dog Gone]

I don't know what to make of that. If potting soil is deadly, most of us would be dead by now. Maybe that's a very isolated situation. I assume and certainly hope so.

We can't live ordinary lives while walking around in surgical masks being constantly afraid of breathing in some pathogen. If we were that fragile, we'd be extinct long before now.

But, since we're all going to die someday, it does make you wonder what it is that will finally get you.

[RAWGUY]

4% fataility is not a "hoopla."

4% fatality means that a family of 5 has a 18% chance that one of the members will die.

4% fatality means that a residential block with 70 people on it has a 94% chance that at least one person will die.

The only question is how contagious it is. I can't seem to find a straight answer to that.

5 posted on 04/14/2003 5:58 PM PDT by TheLooseThread

WRONG!...The worst pandemic of the 20th century was the 1917/18 Spanish flu. It infected about 2 Billion people world wide and took the lives of over 30 million people between the ages of 20 and 40 years.

This flu caused the worst pandemic recorded to this date and this takes into account he "Black Plague" pandemic. Just a note here if you please: The 1918 pandemic had a 1.5% fatality rate. Now you do the math and tell me how and why a 4% fatality rate is nothing to worry about if you please.

If the same number of people are exposed and contract the disease, (2 billion people), at the rate of 4% fatalities there will be 80 million deaths and this will most certainly be a record for the world as we know it so get prepared.

GOD Bless,

RAWGUY

[InShanghai]

...Dr. Plummer is still skeptical that the new coronavirus is the answer. His lab has studied over 2,000 specimens and has found the coronavirus in less than 50 per cent of specimens from SARS patients.

In our data, the association between coronavirus and this disease seems to be getting weaker, rather than stronger," he said.

Taken from: British Columbia lab first to unlock suspected SARS virus

I think there is a lot of information missing, which leads to a lot of speculation. That leaves plenty of room for us armchair doctors, and the media, to guess. IMO, this virus/pathogen could be out of control already and we are only seeing the controlled, hospitalized cases.

The symptoms could be different (milder, no fever, and without pneumonia) for each case or group of cases. There could be many more people with SARS and we would never know it.

The symptoms are used to sort the cases. Therefore the only SARS virus/pathogen carriers we'll see are the ones exhibiting the extreme distress caused by the virus/pathogen. If this is the case, then maybe the numbers rank up there with influenza instead of a killer epidemic.

Once again, it makes me question the motives of the World Health Organization (a branch of the now defunct UN).

[Doctor Stochastic]

MCCCLII

[tornado100]

Of course a 3-5% fatality rate is tragic! But media sensationalism is involved in the ongoing SARS stories, too. It can be both tragic, and given to media sensationalism.

[_Jim]

For those wishing to decode the good Doctor's semi-cryptic answer:

PDF]Roman Numeral Translation Table 1 to 2,105 (PDF file)

or

Conversion from arabic numerals to roman 1 - 1449

[Ditter]

You may be onto something with the cayenne pepper. My father had the idea that a tablespoon of hot sauce taken at the beginning of a cold would knock it out. He talked me into trying it once when I was a teenager. I wish I could remember whether or not it worked.

[hove]

I hope Carol Devine-Molin got demoted for writing such a pointless, weak article.

[hove]

" It can be both tragic, and given to media sensationalism."

Yeah! Enough stories on this unimportant SARS stuff. We want more war coverage!!!

[steve86]

Link to post about 3M Corporate Advisories...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/893236/posts?page=4#4

[tiki]

I think that it is not only the death toll that is a concern. It seems to me that most people have to have medical intervention. How many respirators does your local hospital have? 10? 20? That isn't very many and it sounds like a vast amount of the ill need such intervention to live through it.