Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Analysis

430 Words2 Pages
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus, had its initial outbreak in Asia, North America & Europe in 2003 (Epiville, n.d.). When outbreaks occur, there are some interventions that may be able to decrease the number of cases and/or contain the outbreak. The reproductive rate (R0) is the number of secondary infections produced by a typical case of infection and is a useful tool when determining measures to control outbreaks. R0 is defined using the following equation: R0 = B (transmission probability) * c (average rate of contact between susceptible and infected individuals)* D (average time spent being infected). There are several interventions or implementable ways of manipulating the parameters of reproductive rate to slow the spread of the SARS epidemic. Wearing masks,…show more content…
It describes the severity of disease; thus it indicates the significance of the disease as a public health problem. During an active outbreak, the case-fatality ratio would be most useful for public health planning and hypothesis testing at in the beginning of the outbreak. Having the case fatality ratio at the beginning of the outbreak allows for better preparation. This includes personal preparedness, gathering supplies, preparation for healthcare facilities and providers, and preparation for businesses. Although this is information would be more useful in the beginning, this does not give an absolute case fatality rate. According to the World Health Organization (2003), an estimated case-fatality ratio can be calculated before the outbreak is over, but the results may vary depending on the average time from illness onset to recovery and the average time of illness onset to death. An absolute case-fatality ratio is determined at the end of an epidemic which takes into account all deaths, recoveries and those who were lost to follow
Show More
Related

  • Dengue Fever Case Study

    10098 Words  | 41 Pages

    Dengue is an arbovirus disease complex which includes dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and its subsequent dengue shock syndrome (DSS). It is caused by four serotypes of dengue virus. A dengue virus infection may be asymptomatic or it may lead to undifferentiated viral fever syndrome, dengue fever, fever hemorrhagic fever or dengue shock syndrome. (World Health Organization 2003) The disease is often, though not exclusively, closely associated with poor environmental sanitation, inferior

    Read More

More about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Analysis

Open Document