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The Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH) has been at the forefront of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong.1 We relate our experience at this hospital. A working definition of SARS is important,2 although clinical conditions rarely remain within artificial boundaries. Some patients might not have all features, others may present unusually. Fever is a cardinal symptom but not always so, and is sometimes absent in elderly patients. Some patients have presented with diarrhoea or, in at least two cases, with severe acute abdominal pain requiring exploratory laparotomy. All these patients developed typical SARS. Patients presenting...

<p>Atlanta, May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Five particularly infectious patients may have triggered the Singapore outbreak of severe acute respiratory disease that health officials have just brought under control, according to a study published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.</p>

Super-spreaders fan SARS fears By M.A.J. McKENNA The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Health authorities are watching uneasily for an event that could reverse their apparent success in containing the U.S. outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome: the arrival of a so-called super-spreader. There are 41 probable cases of SARS in the country, and only two sufferers were infected by other Americans. In Asia and Canada, by contrast, clusters of 20, 50 and more than 100 cases have been caused by single highly infectious individuals. A 26-year-old Singaporean infected more than 100 people -- including her parents, grandmother, uncle, brother and pastor. A...

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) - multi-country outbreak - Update 27 One month into the global SARS outbreak: Status of the outbreak and lessons for the immediate future 11 April 2003 Disease Outbreak Reported One month after declaring SARS a global threat to health, Dr David L. Heymann, Executive Director of WHO’s communicable disease programmes, gives an overview of where we stand with the epidemic – what is known about this emerging disease and the unique virus that causes it, and how outbreaks in the “hot zones” around the world are evolving. He gives a chronology of key events and...

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND -- June 2, 2003 -- The development of commercial diagnostic tests for SARS has progressed more slowly than initially hoped, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Part of the problem arises from certain unusual features of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that make this disease an especially difficult scientific challenge. For many viral diseases, the greatest quantities of the causative agent are excreted during the initial phase of illness, usually in the first few days following the onset of symptoms. This is often the period during which patients pose the greatest risk of infecting others. SARS, however,...