SARS BUG DEADLIER THAN AIDS SAYS DOC

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[Sub-Driver]

SARS BUG DEADLIER THAN AIDS SAYS DOC Apr 24 2003

A LEADING doctor has warned the SARS virus could be more devastating than AIDS.

Dr Patrick Dickson called on world governments to act to stamp out the threat from the deadly respiratory illness.

Dr Dixon, one of Europe's experts on predicting global trends, said it could be more dangerous than AIDS because of its ability to spread quickly.

He said: "It is worth remembering that AIDS has infected 80 million people so far over 15 to 20 years.

"AIDS spreads slowly so we can track it and plan for it. We have effective anti- viral drugs which can prolong life.

"But this is different, we don't have the time. This is a far more serious epidemic potentially than AIDS."

Dr Dixon said his main concern was rural, isolated areas in China and around the world.

He added: "In a country like India, which is chaotic with minimum health provision, the potential for spreading the virus is huge."

Dr Dixon, a fellow at the Centre for Management Development at London Business School, said if current trends continued, there could be a billion cases within 60 weeks.

He has called on world leaders to address the problem as a matter of "national security".

The Government yesterday advised Britons not to travel to Toronto, Hong Kong and the Chinese provinces of Guangdong, Beijing and Shanxi because of SARS.

Toronto is the first location outside Asia added to the list.

[Jorge]

"Sooner they die the better"? Those were not my words or thoughts but yes, the fact is, it would be better from the disease transmission point of view. Not from the humanitarian point of view. A fatal communicative disease that kills in hours doesn’t get spread as far or as fast as one that kills in years.

SARS is spreading faster and may spread(unless it's stopped) farther than AIDS, even though it kills people faster.

But you do present some valid moral questions when it comes to dealing with contagious diseases.

I would say that trying to save people's lives is the primary concern and dealing with ways to prevent it's spread is secondary.

Otherwise it would be fine to just kill everybody who has certain contagious diseases to stop them from spreading.

And by the way, this also applies to diseases like Hepatitis C...not just AIDS.

[Republic]

HAve those that have recovered been demonstrated to have built antigens within their systems that can be utilized to stop this viral travesty?

[Judith Anne]

Just an observation, here. I've been reading these SARS threads for over a month, and one of the facts that is pretty well established about this illness is that the coronavirus that seems to be responsible for SARS does not show positive test results for several weeks after infection. That may account for some of the variance in percentage--or all of it, not sure.

I'm not panicky about it, but I am a "health care worker" in an area that gets a lot of summer tourists, and I'm keeping my eyes open. Aerosol spread does concern me, especially.

[LocalYokel]

SARS is spreading faster and may spread(unless it's stopped) farther than AIDS, even though it kills people faster.

Those bugs that spread via inhalation are REALLY spooky. AIDS seems to actually be fairly difficult to get: witness the married couples where only one of them is testing positive and they have years of unprotected sex in their history. (I once asked a health professional about the risk of getting AIDS from Clintonian style sex and he slyly responded that it depended on if you were pitching or catching)

But you do present some valid moral questions when it comes to dealing with contagious diseases.

Tanks! (as they’re saying in Baghdad these days)

I would say that trying to save people's lives is the primary concern and dealing with ways to prevent it's spread is secondary.

Otherwise it would be fine to just kill everybody who has certain contagious diseases to stop them from spreading.

I guess. But I could imagine a theoretical disease that is 100% fatal, no cure or treatment, very contagious, and spreads so quickly that the only solution would be immediate use of flame-throwers or something. Sort of a Martian Invasion kind of scenario. In a really ugly situation the only way to save people lives might be to prevent the spread of the disease. I guess my youthful love of SciFi is rearing it’s head here.

[steve86]

And apparently SARS being successfully treated in countries like the US

Simply not true in the US or anywhere. Some patients get well, others don't.

It is a mystery why the US has not had any deaths or virulent cases, but it is not due to better/different treatment.

Situation in the US may change at any time due to introduction of a more virulent strain.

No one virus family has been found to occur so far in all patients and this makes development of a specific immunization impossible. General immune-boosting and anti-viral treatments have not been consistently successful.

As I said, some patients get well, others don't.

[Bob J]

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[steve86]

HAve those that have recovered been demonstrated to have built antigens within their systems that can be utilized to stop this viral travesty?

I know this has been talked about for at least a month but haven't seen any progress reported. The fact that different patients seem to have different viral infections complicates matters. Do you want to harvest antigen A, B, or C (if they even exist)?

[technomage]

With approximately 6 million dead per hundred million infected,

Wow it kills 5 people who don't have it for every person who does have it. Now that's a nasty bug.

So, how did you arrive at that conclusion? 6 Million dead out of 100 million infected equates to a 6% mortality rate. How did you arrive at 5 deaths per infected person?? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[biblewonk]

I goofed because I didn't see the word "hundred". Newgeezer already gave me my scolding.