Did SARS escape from a laboratory?
I thik it did, cause I heard that the first victim of SARS was a chinese scientist who used to conduct genetic research on various viruses. What do you think?

I doubt it. SARS so far is just a media epidemic. Don't flame me, I a sad that people are dying, but it is nowhere near the level of some previous influenza outbreaks. IIRC the "Spainish Lady" or Spainish Flu killed literally tens of (20?) millions in the early 1900's.

IMO, this is just another killer flu, and the media will move on as soon as they can no longer illicit panic from people with the story.

Yeah, me too am annoyed at the extreme proportions this sickness has. Sure it is dangeruos but not to the extent the media wants us to believe. 96% survive of the illness, way too much for a biological weapon so it isnt one as some chinese claim.

Heck a few hundred has died, a normal flu kills more. A bunch of thousand infected, that is not much in a region with billions of people. Neither does it infect people easily, you need to get erally close to a sick person and in some way touch their mucus membranes or something. Again the normal flue is a helluva lot more contagious.

The only thing that makes SARS somewhat more scary than influenza is that it has killed some adult people who were in otherwise good health. Typically, influenza kills the young or the old and infirm.

I just hope they'll get it contained soon.

BTA,

Not wanting to pick a fight with you, I would lose because you are better at this anyway, but iirc, the Spainish Lady was also notorious for killing those in their prime, while didn't hardly infect the elderly and young.

Again I am basing that on things I read years ago, so I could be wrong.

added after getting schooled by BTA again (below):
DOH! I knew better than to try to go there! ;)

[ May 01, 2003, 01:44: Message edited by: Darkwolf ]

SARS is serious, but for once I agree with Joaquin -- the media is no longer informng the public, but rather inflaming. A realistic, balanced approach to this problem would be better for all concerned.

No argument from me Darkwolf; I am certainly no expert, which is why I said "typically". There are probably strains of influenza that are much worse than others and perhaps worse than SARS.

Well, Chinese scientists have linked SARS as a virus that can jump the species barrier, which is very rare as a coronovirus is not adapted to do that. Also it is believed to have evolved from an avarian virus which has mutated or evolved to resemble an atypical pneumonia. Oh, and the virus is easily killed by UV rays, so it's okay to step outside. I know all this because I have to do a science project on SARS.

The upside of this infectious disease is, that it's the first time, that the preparations for the next flu-epedimic are tested. And they seem to work. Now, we can watch in detail how an epidemic spreads. That ofcourse is interesting for the media. And a chance for every crap media-outlet around the world to get ratings and sells through some "hysteria-making".

There is some danger in the whole thing but at least this time the contamination of the infected was rather quick and hopefully we get through this easier than Aids or other epidemic diseases we saw in the past (present, future) the only thing really annoying is the reaction of the media. They look like vultures hoping for more blood and suffering.

What scares me isn't the SARS virus itself, but some bigger, badder one, that scientists have no idea what it is, like SARS, which seemed to appear from nowhere.

I'm not saying it's engineered. But if it was, it is fulfilling it's mission perfectly, between the incubation time and the mutation rate.

Since I live in HK (technically), I think I should say that the main thing getting to people out there is the fear factor. I mean, they still don't know what the method of transmission is yet: the air, surfaces, etc. There's the fact that anyone could have it, as has been mentioned. And there is a kind of group mentality associated with witch hunts... don't flame me yet, allow mw to explain. My brother told me that he was one the MTR (Underground/ Metro) and it was pretty crowded. He coughed once and bingo, two metres diameter of space around him. It's the fear of whether the person sitting next to you has it or not that gets to most people, apparently.

It's probably not a manmade virus. True, it's kill rate is relatively low but what worries people is that we don't know how it's transmitted and how to stop it.

From what I last heard there have been 100 new cases everyday in Beijing alone. 4% may be low but if SARS goes unchecked in Asia, that 4% would run into the tens of thousands. That's pretty bad by modern medical standards. Perhaps since most of SPers are from Europe and the US, the urgency isn't there (although Toronto is quite close). The CDC is looking into it so it must be serious.

In Asia it's taken quite seriously. Hong Kong's economy has already taken a hit. People are wearing masks. HK is such a small place that SARS could potentially hit everyone. Cathay Pacific, a popular airline in Asia, might close down since only 50% of its passenger capacity is filled. In Manila we check all passengers at our international airport. It's a great hassle but it has to be done to protect the general populace. Our medical technology isn't as good by Western standards and SARS would take take a heavy toll.

I still encourage everyone to take your Vitamin C and wash your hands regularly. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. With air travel, SARS could be at your doorstep today.

With air travel, SARS could be at your doorstep today I guess that's killing air travel world wide right now. But as far as I know, the "health branch" is preparing for it. They make a big fuss about preparation for it. Which I personally find a good idea. But air travel is not longer number 1 danger on my list. Land travel is now. China -> Russia (Asian part) -> Europe.

Seems now, like SARS is spreading through mainland China. If SARS spreads to Russia, I don't think the Russians are prepared to handle it.

And economics: East-Asia is supposed to be the horse that is pulling the world-economy. Singapor was supposed to get out of it's recession and China to continue steadily growing. Economically, that is a desaster.

[ May 06, 2003, 09:41: Message edited by: Yago ]

SARS? Man made? Yeah right!
No virus this unaffective would be man made. There is more chance of dieing in a car accident than there is than dieing of SARS. Why would someone creat a virus which is less deadly than a vecheil (spelling?) most of us use every day?

Fyi, SARS already killed quite a few people in the short time we know it, and as long as we don't know what we're dealing with, it will continue to do so.

Comparing it with caraccidents is a bad example, there's nothng you can compare with human stupidity, which causes thousands of deadly accidents day in, day out.

Well the problem of SARS is that the people who have it are too stupid to know when to stay away from people who don't have it. So in a way, viruses too are spread by human stupidity.

Question: does asthma make one more vulnerable to SARS?

That is not yet known.

Not really, I have asthma, and I live in Singapore, and not a trace of SARS in me.

What's funny is that Japan has like, 0.0 cases of SARS. And there is more than one reason this could be the case.

EJ, what are you hinting at? I've heard S/F stories wherein viruses were tailored to hit certain enthnicities -- is that what you're saying, or am I a whacko?

I would bet that any pre-existing condition (like asthma) would complicate matters if you caught SARS, but whether said condition makes you more susceptable to the disease is another question.

Ooops. I remember clearly, that in one part of the "Dark Angel" series, someone developped a virus which was made only to kill chinese people. But that is just science fiction rubbish (rubbish, but nice to look at) and the "goal" of people, who get unlimited goverment supplies.

Sidenote: I am still not over it. Why did they axe Dark Angel. That chick just ruled.

What's funny is that Japan has like, 0.0 cases of SARS. And there is more than one reason this could be the case. Well, as I understand it, SARS spread from China to Hong-Kong-Singapore-Candada. Seems to me, like SARS is following the old traderoutes of the British-Empire. I bet, there is still a lot of travel along this old routes going on. Familiy ties, a place someone heard of and want to live there....

And then the time it broke out. Some countries had more time to prepare for it (resp. keep borders safe) than others.

And there's a rumour going around, that more Chinese die than others. Now, this is pure prejudice. But I think that's because the Chinese health system is heavely hindered by the Chinese bureaucracy. And may not be very well prepared for a disease in the first place.

So, as long nothing else is sure. It is just a fully normal disease which spreads fully normal. A disease always spreads with some random factor. Deseases come and go. That's life. Even if we are living in the 21th century, that's does not mean, that we are immun to the ways of nature.

Anything else is just speculation, fantasy and too many Dark Angel series watched. And if it's form a labaratory, I am sure that the X-men will save us. :D . If you can't trust Patrick Stewart. Whom can you trust ?

Well, the Koreans aren't being hit either. And in Canada, a lot of the people who have contracted SARS are Chinese.