[LizardQueen]

What I want to know is what is the trigger that causes some cases to progress into full-blown SARS, while others just fizzle out like a bad case of the flu?

There has got to be something that's triggering this "fork" into fatality, either an individual characteristic, different strain of the virus, whatever.

I wish I could find some detailed demographic data on who got better and who died.

LQ

[TaxRelief]

Excellent question, the one most actively pursued. Most diseases manage to overpower an immune system if something else has already compromised it. A good percentage of the early cases (some of the most virulent) tested positive for chlamydia or a paramyxovirus. Several deaths of young women involved pregnant women, (who have suppressed immune systems, except in this country where they take megadoses of prenatal vitamins).