Lessons From the Past: Perspectives on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
- 21 June 2010
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Asia-Pacific journal of public health
- Vol. 22 (3_suppl), 132S-136S
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1010539510373010
Abstract
On March 12, 2003, the World Health Organization issued a global health alert stating that a new, unrecognizable, flulike disease may spread to health care workers (HCWs). We now know this illness as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). By August 2003, there were 8422 SARS cases and 916 deaths reported from 29 countries. SARS galvanized the world to the threat of emerging infectious diseases and provided a dress rehearsal for subsequent challenges such as H5N1 and H1N1 influenza. Among the insights gained were the following: SARS reminded us that health care work can be hazardous; the effects of SARS extended beyond the infection; general principles for prevention and control were effective against SARS; and SARS posed both a public health and an occupational health threat. Given these perspectives gained, we should be better prepared when faced with similar scenarios in the future.Keywords
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