SARS epidemic

The consequences of the SARS epidemic were remarkable. In Taiwan, as an example, the impact of the SARS epidemic on the utilization of medical services was studied [12]. Using interrupted time-series analysis and National Health Insurance data between January 2000 and August 2003, this study assessed the impact of SARS epidemic on medical service utilization in Taiwan. At the peak of the SARS epidemic, signihcant reductions in ambulatory care (23.9%), inpatient care (35.2%), and dental care (16.7%) were observed. People s fears of SARS appear to have had a strong impact on access to care. Adverse health outcomes resulting from accessibility barriers posed by the fear of SARS are signihcant. 

Disease has always been associated with war. Until the twentieth century, most casualties of war (soldiers and civilians) were due to disease rather than combat. In the Middle Ages, bubonic plague wiped out a third of the population of Europe (40 million deaths), and in modem times influenza outbreaks and the recent SARS epidemic have caused deaths worldwide. Biological agents are well suited for terrorism because they not only kill and disable but also cause fear out of proportion to their actual potential killing power. 

Reader, Joshua D., The Case against China Establishing International Liability for Chinas Response to the 2002-2003 SARS Epidemic , 19 Colum.J. Asian L, 519, 557 n. 253 (2006)... 

The importance of threat assessment screening was illustrated by the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic and the more recent threat of avian flix. Typical airport screening results are illustrated in Fig. 12.3. Image (a) shows a normal subject with a maximum skin temperature of 37.53°C, and image (b) shows a febrile subject with a maximum skin temperature of 38.67°C who then becomes a candidate for further testing. The temperature seale is shown below the images. 

SARS outbreak. West Nile disease, Lyme s disease, return of malaria epidemics. 

Pestilence is a type of virulent infectious disease caused by heat-toxins, such as epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis, poliomyelitis and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The warm-febrile diseases develop in the body at four levels, referred to as Wei, Qi, Ying and Xue. In pestilence cases,... 

In addition to the waters, pathogens can also be found in air emissions in many locations, such as long operated ventilation and air-condition systems of hospitals, shopping centers, offices, and residential areas (5,6). The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the most severe epidemic in 2003 in Asia, is suspected to spread out through airborne particles or droplets (7,8). 

Outbreaks/epidemics of contagious diseases (severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Ebola virus, hantavirus). 

Let us review. Escape from restriction is the commonest causes of epidemics by really new epidemics encountered so far in prehistorical and historical time. It might typically involve a mutation which, for example, overrides the immune system of a new host or permits entry into the cell of the new host. There are some 60 well-known zoonotic examples, if not exactly running from A to Z, certainly from Acinetobacter pneumonia to Yersiniosis that infect humans. The Z disease if it comes, may be aptly named the analogous Greek letter omega has been used in many science fiction stories for the ultimate bacterial or viral disease The Omega Man was a film in which Charlton Heston played the last uninfected man on Earth. Recent real-life examples include the recent outbreak in Toronto of bird flu (from Asian water birds), SARS (from the civet, etc.), anthrax (sheep), ebola (from rodents), and acquired CJD (sheep, mad cow). 

Actually, SARS is the first major novel infectious disease to hit the international community in the twenty-first century. It originated in southern China in November 2002 and spread rapidly thereafter to 29 countries/regions on five continents. At the end of the epidemic, the global cumulative total was 8098 with 774 deaths. Seven Asian countries/regions were among the top 10 on the list. It has alarmed the world with its infectivity and significant morbidity and mortality, its lack of a rapid, reliable diagnostic test, and lack of effective specific treatment and... 

In Ref. [3], heat-conduction formulas at the skin surface are derived. For example, a high-temperature spot in the IR image of the face, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), are important to detect early for further immediate isolation of those infect to prevent outbreaks of such an epidemic. The thermodynamic relation between the blood flow rate at the skin level, blood temperature at the body core, and the skin temperature is used to convert IR intensity to temperature and, therefore, to the blood flow rate. In addition, the breathing rate can be estimated during the dialogue of fhe patient or user with the personnel [7]. 

First, there is substantiated evidence that the frequency of catastrophic events such as natural hazards is increasing (Coleman 2006). Elkins et al. (2005) state that there has been an increase both, in the potential for dismptions and in their magnitude. And according to Munich Re s (2007) annual report on natural hazards, the comparison of the last 10 years with the 1960s reveals a significant increase in the number of natural hazards. The series of memorable crises and catastrophes that occurred in the past years imderscores this development. Natural disasters such as hurricane Katrina devastating New Orleans in 2005, terrorist acts such as the World Trade Center attack from September 11, 2001, and epidemics like SARS in South-East Asia in 2003 are violent reminders that we live in an unpredictable and increasingly unstable world. 

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