SARS - Symptoms, Causes, Images, and Treatment Options

Diseases

Highlights & Basics

Key Highlights

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an emerging infectious disease responsible for the first pandemic of the 21st century; there have been no reported cases since 2004.
Infection control precautions are of paramount importance; transmission is usually caused by direct contact with infected individuals through respiratory droplets.
Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the test of choice for confirming diagnosis.
Treatment is mainly supportive; neither specific therapy nor a vaccine is available.
Fatality rate is about 10% and death usually occurs due to severe respiratory failure.

Chest x-ray of a SARS patient showing multifocal opacities

Ketai L, et al. J Thorac Imaging. 2006;21:276-283; used with permission

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Definition

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Etiology

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Chest x-ray of a SARS patient showing multifocal opacities

Citations

Key Articles

Christian MD, Poutanen SM, Loutfy MR, et al. Severe acute respiratory syndrome. Clin Infect Dis. 2004;38:1420-1427.[Abstract][Full Text]
Peiris JS, Chu CM, Cheng VC, et al. Clinical progression and viral load in a community outbreak of coronavirus-associated SARS pneumonia: a prospective study. Lancet. 2003;361:1767-1772.[Abstract]
Mahony JB, Richardson S. Molecular diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome: the state of the art. J Mol Diagn. 2005;7:551-559.[Abstract]
Peiris JS, Yuen KY, Osterhaus AD, et al. The severe acute respiratory syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2003;349:2431-2441.[Abstract]
Fowler RA, Lapinsky SE, Hallet D, et al. Critically ill patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome. JAMA. 2003;290:367-373.[Abstract][Full Text]

Referenced Articles

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46. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Public health guidance for community-level preparedness and response to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), version 2/3. Supplement D: community containment measures, including non-hospital isolation and quarantine. Jan 2004 [internet publication].[Full Text]
47. Donnelly CA, Ghani AC, Leung GM, et al. Epidemiological determinants of spread of causal agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong. Lancet. 2003;361:1761-1766.[Abstract]
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56. Ho JC, Wu AY, Lam B, et al. Pentaglobin in steroid-resistant severe acute respiratory syndrome. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2004;8:1173-1179.[Abstract]
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