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SARS: How a Global Epidemic Was Stopped
SARS caused more fear and social disruption than any other diseases of our time. While it killed a relatively small number of people, it nevertheless buckled economies, crippled international trade and travel, and emptied the streets of some of the world s most prosperous cities.
Where did this frightening disease come from? How did it spread? And will the world be any better prepared if it returns? For the first time, these and other questions are answered in this remarkable inside account of what really took place in those fateful months of 2003 when severe acute respiratory syndrome threatened to engulf the world.
Written largely by the public health experts and scientists who were at the centre of the battle, this book tracks the ways in which the virus spread, how close it came to bringing public health systems to their knees and how, in the end, an unprecedented global coalition stopped it in its tracks.
For health specialists, this book will serve as an indispensable guide to the science of SARS, providing a detailed account of the clinical symptoms associated with the disease, the unravelling of the genetic secrets of the SARS coronavirus and the development of vaccines and diagnostics.
This book is published by the World Health Organization s Regional Office for the Western Pacific, where 95% of the more than 8,000 global cases took place and where 12 countries or areas were hit, some with devastating force.
Where did this frightening disease come from? How did it spread? And will the world be any better prepared if it returns? For the first time, these and other questions are answered in this remarkable inside account of what really took place in those fateful months of 2003 when severe acute respiratory syndrome threatened to engulf the world.
Written largely by the public health experts and scientists who were at the centre of the battle, this book tracks the ways in which the virus spread, how close it came to bringing public health systems to their knees and how, in the end, an unprecedented global coalition stopped it in its tracks.
For health specialists, this book will serve as an indispensable guide to the science of SARS, providing a detailed account of the clinical symptoms associated with the disease, the unravelling of the genetic secrets of the SARS coronavirus and the development of vaccines and diagnostics.
This book is published by the World Health Organization s Regional Office for the Western Pacific, where 95% of the more than 8,000 global cases took place and where 12 countries or areas were hit, some with devastating force.
317 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2006
28 people want to read
About the author
World Health Organization
2,296 books48 followersThe World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health. It was established on 7 April 1948, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The WHO is a member of the United Nations Development Group. Its predecessor, the Health Organization, was an agency of the League of Nations.
The constitution of the World Health Organization had been signed by 61 countries on 22 July 1946, with the first meeting of the World Health Assembly finishing on 24 July 1948. It incorporated the Office international d'hygiène publique and the League of Nations Health Organization. Since its creation, it has played a leading role in the eradication of smallpox. Its current priorities include communicable diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS, Ebola, malaria and tuberculosis; the mitigation of the effects of non-communicable diseases; sexual and reproductive health, development, and aging; nutrition, food security and healthy eating; occupational health; substance abuse; and driving the development of reporting, publications, and networking.
The WHO is responsible for the World Health Report, a leading international publication on health, the worldwide World Health Survey, and World Health Day (7 April of every year)
The constitution of the World Health Organization had been signed by 61 countries on 22 July 1946, with the first meeting of the World Health Assembly finishing on 24 July 1948. It incorporated the Office international d'hygiène publique and the League of Nations Health Organization. Since its creation, it has played a leading role in the eradication of smallpox. Its current priorities include communicable diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS, Ebola, malaria and tuberculosis; the mitigation of the effects of non-communicable diseases; sexual and reproductive health, development, and aging; nutrition, food security and healthy eating; occupational health; substance abuse; and driving the development of reporting, publications, and networking.
The WHO is responsible for the World Health Report, a leading international publication on health, the worldwide World Health Survey, and World Health Day (7 April of every year)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
history-of-science
February 22, 2023در این سه سال هرکس چنین حرفی میزد، از سوی اصحاب تقلید متهم میشد به توطئهباوری
"A new epidemic of SARS would most likely emerge from an animal reservoir or a laboratory doing research with live cultures of SARS-CoV or handling stored clinical specimens containing SARS-CoV. The risk of re-emergence from a laboratory source is thought to be potentially greater."
This book was published by WHO in 2006.
"A new epidemic of SARS would most likely emerge from an animal reservoir or a laboratory doing research with live cultures of SARS-CoV or handling stored clinical specimens containing SARS-CoV. The risk of re-emergence from a laboratory source is thought to be potentially greater."
This book was published by WHO in 2006.
April 22, 2020
Well written and interesting. Impossible to not compare it with the current situation :-(
"The SARS experience has not been examined critically enough, and the lessons learnt have not been thoroughly analyzed. It is repugnant to think of the SARS outbreaks, which killed nearly 800 human beings, as a "dry run" for the next major, perhaps even more deadly outbreak. But it would be tragic if we did not learn from the experience of 2003 and make the most of it. We would not be fulfilling our responsibilities to those, including our medical colleagues and friends, who died of SARS".
"SARS also showed the importance of committing enough resources right from the start. Massive resources went to controlling the outbreaks almost as soon as they appeared, although in the view of some people, the relatively few cases and deaths, compared with those from other public-health challenges such as tuberculosis, hardly justified the level of spending. In retrospect, spending to get rid of the new public-health threat was infinitely more cost-effective than having to apply resources continuously over time to control the disease. No further outbreaks occurred, neither in the winter of 2003–2004 nor in the next one. If SARS had become endemic, the resources required to root it out would have been enormous, especially in the winter months, and the impact on the health system would have been incalculable.<<
"While modern science had its role, none of the most modern technical tools had an important role in controlling SARS. Sequencing the genetic code of the virus, for example, helped identify the origin and spread of the virus but did not really help to control it (...) most important in controlling SARS were the 19th- century public-health strategies of contact tracing, quarantine, and isolation".
"The SARS experience has not been examined critically enough, and the lessons learnt have not been thoroughly analyzed. It is repugnant to think of the SARS outbreaks, which killed nearly 800 human beings, as a "dry run" for the next major, perhaps even more deadly outbreak. But it would be tragic if we did not learn from the experience of 2003 and make the most of it. We would not be fulfilling our responsibilities to those, including our medical colleagues and friends, who died of SARS".
"SARS also showed the importance of committing enough resources right from the start. Massive resources went to controlling the outbreaks almost as soon as they appeared, although in the view of some people, the relatively few cases and deaths, compared with those from other public-health challenges such as tuberculosis, hardly justified the level of spending. In retrospect, spending to get rid of the new public-health threat was infinitely more cost-effective than having to apply resources continuously over time to control the disease. No further outbreaks occurred, neither in the winter of 2003–2004 nor in the next one. If SARS had become endemic, the resources required to root it out would have been enormous, especially in the winter months, and the impact on the health system would have been incalculable.<<
"While modern science had its role, none of the most modern technical tools had an important role in controlling SARS. Sequencing the genetic code of the virus, for example, helped identify the origin and spread of the virus but did not really help to control it (...) most important in controlling SARS were the 19th- century public-health strategies of contact tracing, quarantine, and isolation".
December 2, 2020
In memory of Carlo Urbani.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews