Throughout the ages pandemic episodes have plagued mankind. Severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS is an example of a modern pandemic that recently affected the world. The SARS pandemic challenged world health care organizations and governments on how to confront a modern day pandemic episode. This paper will explore the origin of SARS and the steps taken to contain and treat the pandemic episode.
SARS emerged mid-November 2002 in southern China, in the province of Guangdong, but was not officially reported until February 2003 to the governmental health care organization of Guangdong (Ahmad, Krumkamp, & Reintjes, 2009). The first case of SARS outside of China that was reported was on March 3, 2003 in Vietnam, with more cases reported from Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, and Taiwan shortly afterward (Ahmad, Krumkamp, & Reintjes, 2009). By mid-summer of 2003, the World Health Organization (WHO) had been notified of 8437 cases worldwide, with 813 deaths (Zhong et al., 2003). The disease spread quickly from China to Europe, North America, and southeast Asia because of travel from where SARS first started.
Patients that were infected by SARS were noted to have atypical pneumonia. They presented with high fevers and respiratory issues that quickly developed into pneumonia within a few days (Zhong et al., 2003). Through serological and nasopharyngeal aspirate testing, the coronavirus (CoV) was determined to be the cause of SARS (Zhong et al., 2003). It was also determined that the persons that were originally exposed to the virus had contact with animals, most likely to prepare food, at a produce market in the province of Guangdong (Zhong et al., 2003). The virus had started with the animals, crossed over to humans, and mutated.
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N. S. Zhong, A. C., B. J. Zheng, A. C., Y. M. Li, A. C., L. L. M., A. C., Poon, Z., H. H., & ... Xu. (2003). Epidemiology and cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Guangdong, People's Republic of China, in February, 2003. Lancet, 362(9393), 1353-1358.
Timen, A. A., van Doornum, G. J., Schutten, M. M., Conyn-van Spaendonck, M. E., van der Meer, J. M., Osterhaus, A. E., & van Steenbergen, J. E. (2006). Public health implications of using various case definitions in The Netherlands during the worldwide SARS outbreak. Clinical Microbiology & Infection, 12(12), 1214-1220.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2004, October). WHO guidelines for the global surveillance of SARS Updated recommendations, October 2004. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/WHO_CDS_CSR_ARO_2004_1.pdf
The medical field is a vast land of beauty but with great beauty comes immense horror. There are many deadly viruses and diseases found in the medical field. In the novel, The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, the author discusses the many deadly viruses found in the field. The viruses are widespread due to the errors that occur when the viruses are in the presence of human beings. The effects of the errors performed by the human race include a decrease in population and wildlife. The viruses are spread in many different ways in the novel, but all are due to human mistakes.
Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) utilizes the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) to help limit the spread of plague and hopefully avoid a new epidemic from emerging (Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), 2016). The GOARN, a partnership of existing institutions (scientific, laboratory, technical, etc.), assembles the necessary resources for the identification, authentication, and response to outbreaks, such as for the Black Death (Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN),
She begins with the dramatic account of the SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), viral pandemic at the start of the 21st century which started in Southern China. The virus is intentionally carried to a lab in Hong Kong, breaks loose and jets to the rest of the world and ends up killing eight hundred people before it was finally put under control (Crawford 24). She goes ahead to taking us back to history to reveal the interconnected history of microbes and humans, giving an elaborate update at the historical epidemics and plagues. She also identifies the major changes in the way human beings have lived, citing examples such as the change of lifestyle from gathering and hunting to farmers and finally to a complex lifestyle of a city dweller. This later change to city dwelling is what Crawford says made humans vulnerable to attack by microbes. This she supports by showing how life in the city is characterized by a lot of crowding and travelling by air. Crawford poses the question whether humans might ever conquer microbes comple...
A few years before 1918, in the height of the First World War, a calamity occurred that stripped the globe of at least 50 million lives. (Taubenberger, 1918) This calamity was not the death toll of the war; albeit, some individuals may argue the globalization associated with the First World War perpetuated the persistence of this calamity. This calamity was referred to the Spanish Flu of 1918, but calling this devastating pestilence the “Spanish Flu” may be a historical inaccuracy, as research and historians suggest that the likelihood of this disease originating in Spain seams greatly improbable. Despite it’s misnomer, the Spanish Flu, or its virus name H1N1, still swept across the globe passing from human to human by exhaled drops of water that contained a deadly strand of RNA wrapped with a protein casing. Individuals who were unfortunate enough to come in contact with the contents of the protein casing generally developed severe respiratory inflammation, as the Immune system’s own response towards the infected lung cells would destroy much of the lungs, thus causing the lungs to flood with fluids. Due to this flooding, pneumonia was a common cause of death for those infected with Spanish Flu. Due its genetic similarity with Avian Flu, the Spanish Flu is thought to be descended from Avian Flu which is commonly known as “Bird Flu.” (Billings,1997) The Spanish Flu of 1918 has had a larger impact in terms of global significance than any other disease has had because it was the most deadly, easily transmitted across the entire globe, and occurred in an ideal time period for a disease to happen.
"Pandemic Flu History." Home. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, n.d. Web. 23 Mar.
Influenza, an innocent little virus that annually comes and goes, has always been a part of people’s lives. Knowing this, one would not believe that it has caused not one, not two, but three pandemics and is on its way to causing a fourth! The Spanish flu of 1918, the Asian flu of 1957, and the Hong Kong flu of 1968 each killed millions of people worldwide, causing mass terror. People were mad with fear, and for good reason, as friends, family, neighbors dropped dead like flies. And yet, as soon as the deaths ceased, the forgetfulness set in… until very few know about these pandemics. These pieces of history may have faded from memory, but with the upcoming threat of an avian flu which can jump from human to human, people must learn from the past to combat the future.
“Doctors told to prepare for global outbreak after Ebola victim was allowed on two planes” - - www.mirror.co.uk
Kamradt-Scott, Adam. "The Politics Of Medicine And The Global Governance Of Pandemic Influenza." International Journal Of Health Services: Planning, Administration, Evaluation 43.1 (2013): 105-121. MEDLINE with Full Text. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
The human population has a high susceptibility to the contraction of new diseases and outbreaks of these diseases are of high risk. Diseases in recent times that have broken out into the human population are the H7N9 flu strain and SARS. Despite the risk, outbreaks like H7N9 and SARS have been controlled due to epidemiology and other disease control methods. Outbreaks of disease are not uncommon to the human population as they move to new areas around the world with foreign diseases that the native residents would have developed a resistance to.
Influenza, normally called “the flu”, the influenza virus causes an infection in the respiration tract. Even though the influenza virus can sometimes be compared with the common cold. It also can cause a more severe illness or death. During this past century, pandemics took place in 1918, 1957, and 1968, in all of these cases there where unfortunately many deaths. The “Spanish flu” in 1918, killed approximately half a million people in the United States alone. It killed around 20 million worldwide. The “Asian flu” in 1957, in the United States their 70,000 people died. In 1968 the “Hong-Kong flu” There where 34,000 deaths in the United States.
When looking back on history, it is evident to see that humans by nature are warriors. Humans often find themselves fighting mysterious battles against disguised enemies. Throughout history the earth has been afflicted with mysterious diseases, which tend to invisibly cause the preponderance of civilizations to perish. The evolution of infectious diseases has and always will provide challenges for humankind (Hoff, Smith, and Calisher 6-7). Over the course of time, humans gradually developed a preference to live in large urban settings. Urbanization and the cross-cultural interaction of civilizations have both strongly provoked widespread illness, which is known as an epidemic or pandemic based upon size. An epidemic is when a common disease affects a large number of people within a particular region (Lamb). A pandemic is similar to an epidemic but is even more widespread than an epidemic, and spreads throughout entire continents or even the world. Despite the slight variation in meaning, most pandemics are interchangeably denoted as epidemics (Friendlander 13-14). Epidemics and pandemics have formed the course of human history by inflicting lifestyle alterations and abruptly killing large masses of people. When one thinks of widespread disease it is easy to think that pandemics and epidemics are things of the past. Unfortunately, epidemics are commonly found today in poorer countries and major pandemics are still on the rise, such as the modern disease AIDS (Lampton 12-15). Nonetheless, epidemics and pandemics affect large portions of the world’s population; thus, these ongoing diseases will always influence the history of mankind because they force transformation amongst even the strongest civilizations.
Murray, M.2006. The epidemiology of SARS. In SARS in China: Prelude to pandemic?, ed. A. Kleinman and J. Watson, 17-30. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.
Throughout human history disease has been linked to many facets of life and even the rise and fall of entire civilizations. Biological, social, political and economic forces have all influenced how the outbreak of disease is handled. Epidemics have altered history in how they have developed and the impact that they have had. In turn, epidemic management has been influenced by history and governments as humans have learned to cope with outbreaks and the social and political implications that result from them. Today, biomedical engineers, politicians, historians and social scientists are leading the battle in an attempt to understand and combat infectious diseases. This report will explore epidemic management and its historical relationship with the international political system. Issues will be investigated that range from the societal effects of epidemics, to observing today’s public policy debates regarding outbreaks to the possible reduction or even dissolution of conflict in exchange for food and medical technology between nations. Research has made it abundantly clear that humans must be vigilant in combating epidemics. By drawing on multiple disciplines, it is possible to implement a sound disease management plan that will control and reduce the spreading and mortality of infectious agents across the globe, as well as reduce tension and conflict between the developed and developing worlds.
In 1918-19 approximately 50 million deaths were a detriment of the Spanish H1N1 virus pandemic; a respiratory virus. According to the World Health Organization, the second Influenza A H1N1 pandemic in 2009 spread to more than 200 countries causing more than 18 000 deaths. Before the World Health Organization had announced the official end of the pandemic in August 2010, in July 2009 the World Health Organization sent out a phase 6 warning that H1N1 could soon be a global pandemic. It is important to recognize that the 2 different outbreaks had different A/H1N1strains effecting the world population; this suggests A/H1N1has a high ability for mutation, severely complicating the human body’s natural immune mechanism of antigenic drift. (Qi-Shi Du et al., 2010)
World Health Organization “Frequently Asked Questions on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS),” Communicable Disease Surveillance & Response (CSR), March 24. (2003). World Health Organization . Retrieved March 29, 2004.