RIP, SARS: A Tenth Anniversary Celebration?


This is Paul Auwaerter from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, in Baltimore, Maryland, speaking for Medscape Infectious Diseases. Many of you, no doubt, recall the recent asteroid that struck Russia. It was of interest to me that this was only tracked a few days beforehand, allowing minimal opportunity for potential intervention. Such issues have prompted Congress to ask NASA to start tracking all celestial bodies, with the notion that earlier recognition would allow for potential intervention if a larger asteroid appears to be heading toward the earth with the potential to cause a catastrophe.

It is an interesting and parallel issue, I think, to discuss this event in contradistinction to the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the SARS epidemic, the severe acute respiratory syndrome. SARS was first described as an atypical pneumonia in the Guangdong province of China in January 2003. Subsequently, more than 8000 people were infected in more than 30 countries, showing incredibly rapid spread. Estimated deaths totaled more than 774, with blessedly little impact to the United States.

It was remarkable that this novel coronavirus infection was picked up and dealt with not only by public health agencies but also by governments and scientists, to determine the cause and seek interventions. To me, it was not diagnostics or the fact that a vaccine or therapy was recommended, but really old-fashioned infection-control maneuvers that halted the person-to-person spread and led the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare in April 2003 -- just 3 months after it began -- that the epidemic was over. It is worthwhile to take a moment to acknowledge the heroic and collaborative efforts by many individuals in many countries, who led and helped assist with recognizing this epidemic, leading to its containment.