SARS-Kai+and+Harrison

toc =Harrison Talese-Rhodes & Kai Farrell=

General:
SARS were first discovered in China in 2002 by an Italian scientist named [|Dr. Carlo Urbani] who had died from this disease himself. It had first been reported in February 2003. As the months went on the disease had spread out to over thirty countries in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. In between the time of November 2002 and July 2003 the total number of people around the world who had become sick with SARS was 8,098 and 774 of these people had [|died.]

Symptoms:
SARS has been proven to cause the following symptoms:
 * Fever
 * Chills
 * Diarrhea
 * Headache
 * Body Ache
 * General feeling of discomfort

In addition to this, after 2-7 days after contraction of the virus, patients report  a dry cough or shortness of breath. These symptoms might be accompanied by or progress to a condition in which the oxygen levels in the blood are low (hypoxia). Many patients develop pneumonia after contracting SARS.

Getting the virus:
SARS is a highly contagious airborne virus. If you are near an infected person who is less than 3ft away from you are in danger of getting the disease yourself. It is spread from breathing in air that an infected person has exhaled. Some ways in which you could [|become infected] are by sharing food with someone infected, kissing someone infected, or having a conversation with someone infected. It is possible for [|animals] besides humans to get SARS as well. The disease had actually started from animals and had been transmitted to humans. One of the problems with the latest outbreak that occurred was that some doctors had stopped helping patients because the doctors were getting infected as well.

Preventing yourself from getting it:
The best way to avoid getting SARS is to stay away from other people who might have it. Whenever there is a big outbreak that everyone is worried about you should stay away from big party's and try not to interact with anybody in public who you don't know. It never hurts to always wash your hands every time you leave a room. Don't go on long airplane trips. It would be bad if you just got off a fourteen hour flight to Australia and found out the person who you were sitting next to had this highly contagious disease. If there does happen to be an outbreak don't worry too much, just do everything listed above and chances are you'll be okay. Scientists are working on a vaccine now.

How Our Bodies Fight the Disease:
Our bodies have many ways of fighting and preventing infections. The body uses the immune system which includes white blood cells that work by attempting to catch germs and kill them. It also uses a variety of other mechanisms that stops germs from making an infection. The body also uses a variety of acids in organs, this then creates bad environments for foreign cells. When foreign, viral cells attempt to enter and spread in the body this will activate a specific type of blood cell called [|neutrophils]. The neutrophils will flood the area where the infection has taken place. They may release chemicals that kill bacteria. The human body learns to recognize infective agents and often will make us immune to viruses or bacteria to which they have been previously exposed. The main actors in what is called acquired immune response are lymphocytes, these are also a type of white blood cell. There are two types of lymphocytes called B and T cells they are usually made from the body's bone marrow and the Thymus gland. If white blood cell count is low the precise actions of the body to fight off infection can be impaired.

Sources:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/348/20/1951 http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/faq.htm#2003 http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/severe-acute-respiratory-syndrome-sars-overview http://www.vetscite.org/publish/items/001184/index.html http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=4561