Case Clusters of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

Abstract

Just over three weeks ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a worldwide notice about the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). It described a rapidly progressive, sometimes fatal pneumonia that appears to have arisen from Guangdong Province in southern China. At the time of the WHO notice, there were known SARS cases in China (both the mainland and the special administrative region of Hong Kong), Vietnam, Singapore, and Canada. As of the end of March, there are more than 1600 cases and more than 50 deaths in over a dozen countries. At this time, it is impossible to forecast how many cases there will be in 10 or 100 days. Because the disease picture is changing rapidly, we are using our electronic pages to bring information of importance to the community of health care professionals.