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CHAPTER 2: CORONA VIRUS - SARs

In 2003, SARS first became known as a distinct corona virus strain. The origin of the virus was never clear, although the first human infections can be traced back to Guangdong Province in 2002. The virus then became a pandemic which caused more than 8,000 influenza-like disease infections in 26 countries with nearly 800 deaths.

Unlike SARS, this new outbreak is caused by a corona virus, a family of animal-common viruses ranging from common cold to more serious diseases, such as respiratory syndrome in the Middle East (MERS).

The Wuhan corona virus has caused fear all over the world but memories of a deadly virus have also been brought up in Asia. There are two things in common between the corona virus spreading in China and the 2003 SARS outbreak: both belong to the corona virus family and both were probably passed from animals to humans on a wet market. Corona viruses are zoonotic diseases which mean they spread from animals to humans. Since wet markets put people and live and dead animals-dogs, chickens, pigs, rats, civets, and more-in close contact, making an interspecies leap can be easy for a virus.

Poorly regulated live-animal markets combined with illegal trade in animals offer a unique opportunity for viruses to spill over into the human population from wildlife hosts. Bats were the original hosts of SARS, and possibly this corona virus outbreak too. Then, they infected other animals via their poop or saliva, and transmitted the virus to humans through the unwitting intermediaries. Bats and birds are considered pandemic-potential reservoir species for viruses.

At least three other pandemics (apart from SARS) have been traced back to bats in the last 45 years. The animals were the original source of Ebola, which since 1976 has killed 13,500 people in multiple outbreaks; Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, better known as MERS, found in 28 countries; and Nipah virus, which has a fatality rate of 78 per cent. To many, the current epidemic sounds eerily similar for 2003 when severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) spread across the country, infecting more than 8,000 people and killing 774.

But whilst a similar virus triggers the Wuhan corona virus and SARS, they are not exactly the same. Here's how the two line themselves up. The number of confirmed Wuhan corona virus cases has outpaced the 2003 SARS outbreak within mainland China, as several countries evacuated their people from the region at the center of the outbreak. According to Chinese officials, there have been 6,061 confirmed cases of the virus in mainland China, including 132 deaths. As of Tuesday, the number of cases rose by about 1,500, an increase of more than 30 percent. The numbers do not include Hong Kong and Macau, both of which had a small number of cases registered. There were at least 91 reported cases of the virus outside mainland China, too.

Nevertheless, there were 5,327 confirmed disease cases in mainland China during the 2003 SARS outbreak, with 349 deaths. Previously, experts suggested that the Wuhan virus statistics could still be widely underreported, rendering the novel corona virus much more infectious, but also less lethal, than SARS.

Chinese authorities have also confirmed a suspected case of the Wuhan virus in Tibet, which was previously the only place to prevent the virus. If confirmed, the spread to Tibet despite strict traveler checks and the closure of tourist sites will renew concerns about how easily the virus can be transmitted, especially when people are asymptomatic.

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Scientific source Sidney Osler. Coronavirus outbreak. All the secrets revealed about the Covid-19 pandemic. A complete rational guide of its Evolution, Expansion, Symptoms and First Defense. 2019

Other medical related information CHAPTER 2: CORONA VIRUS - SARs:

  1. Chapter 3. FEATURES EPIDEMIOLOGII of CHRONIC VIRUS HEPATITISES At CHILDREN And TEENAGERS In REPUBLIC (Sakha) Yakutia
  2. Chapter 6. EPIDEMIOLOGICAL And RISK SOCIAL FACTORS ON INFECTION with VIRUS HEPATITISES At CHILDREN And TEENAGERS of of Yakutsk
  3. the analysis of survival rate depending on a virus load before the therapy beginning
  4. the module analysis on knowledge of virus hepatitises.
  5. 3.1. Prevalence of chronic virus hepatitises at children and teenagers in RS ().
  6. Design clinical kogortnogo pilot research of teenagers, chastobolejushchih an acute respiratorno-virus infection.
  7. Dmitriev Tatyana Gennadevna. CHRONIC VIRUS HEPATITISES At CHILDREN And TEENAGERS In REGION GIPERENDEMICHNOM. The PROGRAM of PERFECTION of RENDERING of the MEDIKO-SOCIAL HELP. The dissertation on competition of a scientific degree of the doctor of medical sciences. Yakutsk - 2014, 2014
  8. Conclusions under chapter 4
  9. Chapter 8. The CONCLUSION
  10. Chapter 5. RESEARCH of EFFICIENCY of ANTIVIRAL THERAPY of CHRONIC HEPATITISES At CHILDREN And TEENAGERS
  11. Conclusions under chapter 1