The SARS epidemic...

SARS "Typhoid Mary" infected over 100 people directly in Singapore.


www.unknowncountry.com...

Man diagnosed with SARS took 7 international flights.


www.iht.com...

Hong Kong decided to change their new tourism slogan. It was "Hong Kong will take your breath away."

www.reuters.co.uk...

God I need to get some sleep.

[Edited on 4-11-2003 by AF1]

Originally posted by Shreko76
I was thinking that the SARS epidemic could be a virus created to elimanate the overflowing populations rates in Asia

They don't need it.

You see, their birth rate is dropping because they are limited in the number of children they can have and since boys are very desirable (and girls aren't -- and hence are abandoned, killed, or aborted), they have now created a situation where many men can't find a woman to marry. So the cultural preference is doing a far better job of it than anything else.

Not everyone is in agreement that this is a bio weapon I was going to post on this a little earlier but I think I will post a few links on this now. One of things that has me a little worried at this point is Fort Detrick bio labs is now working on the virus. here is the link and the story,

breakingnews.nypost.com...

Sars:

Apr 9, 4:02 PM EDT

U.S. Testing 2,000 Drugs in SARS Fight

By DANIEL Q. HANEY
AP Medical Editor


Scientists hoping a cure is already on the shelf will test at least 2,000 drugs against the frightening SARS virus, although some doubt anything they find will stop the flu-like disease once it gets a foothold.

This search is intended to find an immediate therapy for severe acute respiratory syndrome, or one that could be developed quickly. There is now no proven cure, only treatment that relieves symptoms.

Scientists are almost positive SARS is caused by a newly discovered member of the coronavirus family. Until now, these bugs have been known only to trigger colds or mild diarrhea, so no one has ever tried very hard to find a treatment.

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is gathering up the 30 or so antiviral drugs on the market, about 800 drugs approved for other uses, plus more than 1,000 that are still being developed.

They are being tested at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Md.

Quarantine ordered at Hong Kong complex

The lab can test 150 to 200 a drugs week and has started with the most obvious antiviral medicines. But so far, "nothing looks very promising, to be honest," Army research scientist Peter Jahrling said Wednesday.

At the same time, another team at the University of Virginia hopes soon to enroll SARS victims to test a two-drug strategy already used by some doctors in Hong Kong and Canada, although many are skeptical it will work.

Furthermore, experts expect much more study of the virus. Scientists will be looking for weaknesses in the bug that might be exploited, as well as a better understanding of how the immune system responds to it. Some experts believe the body's own defenses are part of the problem.

Deciphering the virus' innermost workings might in the end lead to the most effective drugs. But designing a medicine from scratch is a slow and daunting process, requiring years of testing.

"It's a fact of life we can't get around that from the design of a drug on a computer to the point where it can be given to people takes at the very best five years. We hope something will come along in this process that will prove to be effective," said Dr. Catherine Laughlin, virology chief at the infectious disease institute.

About 50 drug companies took part in a recent conference call with the institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and several said they had compounds in development that they would like try against SARS.

"This clearly isn't a market for anybody, but people feel if they have drugs on hand that can help, they want to make them available," Laughlin said.

Even if a drug knocks out the virus, it still might not cure SARS. In some infections, much of the damage results from the overwhelming chemical counterattack by the immune system. This cytokine storm, as its called, is intended to kill the virus. But it can have unintended consequences, such as inflammation, leaky blood vessels and even pneumonia, a hallmark of SARS.

"The infection comes on so quickly and you get so sick so fast that it's unlikely that an antiviral will be rapidly effective," said Dr. John Zaia, virology chairman at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif. "It may be that the virus has started a process that cannot be stopped."

Still, experiments in animals, which have their own versions of the coronavirus, suggest that stopping the virus may help, even when the disease is in full force.

"It all depends on what the virus is doing," damaging the lungs directly or triggering an immune system backlash, said Dr. Mark Denison, a coronavirus researcher at Vanderbilt University. "If it's the virus causing tremendous damage by its growth, and you interfere at midpoint, you might make quite a dramatic difference for the person."

Dr. Frederick Hayden of the University of Virginia hopes to lead a test of the drug ribavirin, an antiviral medicine, and steroids, which tamp down the immune system. Ribavirin is used to treat respiratory syncytial virus, a major cause of pneumonia in infants.

Doctors in Hong Kong and Canada say the combination may help, although there is no experimental proof of that. In Hayden's federally financed study, people with moderate SARS will be given either ribavirin or dummy medicine, and those seriously ill will be randomly given a steroid, as well.

While agreeing the strategy needs to be tested, several experts hold out little hope it will make much difference. "Many clinicians have tried ribavirin," said CDC head Dr. Julie Gerberding. "I don't think it looks real promising for that to be a solution."

Among the drugs being tested at the Army lab are a wide range of compounds intended to stop viruses from making new copies of themselves. Although virtually all of these drugs were tailored for other viruses, the researchers said there is a chance they might work on coronavirus, too.

If a coronavirus drug must be designed from the ground up, scientists say the virus offers several possible targets in its life cycle. Similar strategies have led to treatments for AIDS and herpes, among other viral diseases.

At least one company says it may be able to produce a new drug fast. AVI BioPharma in Portland, Ore. uses a technique that disables viral genes and has already made experimental drugs for coronaviruses that cause illnesses in cats and lab mice.

Using the same technology, officials say they should be able to make a drug that would attack the SARS virus within a week of receiving its genetic code, which the CDC hopes to finish reading soon.

The other link I was going to post last week is this one.

www.sarsscam.com...

As to if this is a scam to what is comming I guess we will find out soon enough.

Falcon

i live in toronto how do u think i feel

i live in toronto how do u think i feel

Scientists in Vancouver yesterday broke the genetic code of the virus suspected of causing Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), the first step toward developing a test for doctors to diagnose victims and developing a possible vaccine.

Story Link

Vancouver scientists' claim was also made over the weekend by a group of H.K. scientists.
Everyone is hoping that there is just one SARS and both teams have the same illness.
Claims on having "identified" it have been proliferating since it was "identified" as a coronavirus two weeks ago.

your paranoia has no bounds.

Look at the deaths and divide that into the population and multiply it by 100.. Know what that is? The percenatge of worldwide fatalities..More people are killed by lightning for crying out loud.. so put the panic horn back in the closet and pull it out when Syria is attacked.. that will be the real event to cause loss of human life.... Get real folks.. sheesh


LOL.. (Forgot this part)

I know a person that has a friend that knows someone who's mother knows someone that has a friend in the world that flys that sat next to someone that knows someone that was sick who knows someone that ate a pickle that went to college with someone who knows someone that met a person that read the enquire who saw an article on SARS!

[Edited on 13-4-2003 by ArcAngel]

If SARS *is* a coronavirus similar to the cold, what if it mutates as readily as does the cold virus?

I was listening to the news tonight and they (the alphabet guys) were saying that the SARS strand in the US isn't as deadly as it is in the Far East and Canada. Though not as severe it isn't fully contained.

I'm not sure it is quite "paranoia" -although it has to be admitted, still, that crossing the road in Beijing is more likely to be terminal than SARS.
We've had a combination of factors: worries about WMD (remember all the post 9-11 anthrax nonsnse, then ricin, sarin and Gawd knows what else.
The Iraq conflich sort of short-changed the drivel- mongers of the media: they looked very silly, very often and "embedding" certainly worked for the military. So they had to find "news": put the "military experts" back into cold storage and bring on the microbiologists.
And the Chinese Govt. has done itself no great favours in its attitude to publicity.
Nevertheless, it is distinctly worrying and I can asure you that foreigners in China are getting very, very worried. (not as bad as Canada however, it appears)

Someone mentioned that SARS is probably not an engineered disease due to its low fatality rate (3-5%).

I would suggest that if it has been engineered, it has simply been geared towards a particular demography, such as senior citizens and the post-WW2 baby-boomer generation. Considering the immense drain this demography will produce on the world's health and welfare agencies, a nation or group might assume a more proactive stance - solving the problem before it occurs.

Mind you, this is a conspiracy board. And I am feeling particularly imaginative tonight.

-�-

[Edited on 21-4-2003 by Savonarola]

I guess going in public bathrooms is out of the question now...

It's certainly hotted up with the banning of the New Year holiday (this is a technically Marxist country and it's a bit like banning Yom Kippur in Israel or Easter at the Vatican)
It's far to late of cousre: the time for a ban was the Chinese New Year when -officially -SARS didn't exist (even though it's been in the rumour mill in Guangdong since October.)
Schools and businesses are starting to close down in Beijing and Shanghai and I've just spent a day crisis-managing.
It doesn't help that we've had a long and unusually severe winter so everyone has half of the symptoms, anyway!
If anyone has people out here: I can assure you that the British, American and Canadian embassies have been very helpful. (I'm sure the others have too but we only have Brits, Yanks and canadians at my place)

If it is a bio-weapon then america made it. Maybe we fear that china will stand up to us during our "raid" of the middle east. Since china has such a big army they need it to become weaker.

It would be a perfect bio-weapons since it only has a 3%-5% kill rate. If it was 70% people might think of it as a bio-weapon.

Again this is only if it is a bio-weapon.

Originally posted by ilovepizza
If it is a bio-weapon then america made it.

That's a strong claim, and it's one that you can't prove.

someone with sars went on the ttc now i'm screwed cuz i risk getting sars if i take the bus, which i take alot cuz i don't have a drivers license for another 5 months

lol

i knew the virus would make a conspirationcrisis on this board



paranoia