Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) (cont.)
Medical Author:
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhDDr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications. Medical Editor:
John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP
John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEPJohn P. Cunha, DO, is a U.S. board-certified Emergency Medicine Physician. Dr. Cunha's educational background includes a BS in Biology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and a DO from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City, MO. He completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey. IN THIS ARTICLE
SARS Prognosis and Risk FactorsSARS can result in serious illness and medical complications that require hospitalization, intensive care treatment, and mechanical ventilation. The most recent numbers indicate that the death rate from SARS is higher than that of influenza or other common respiratory tract infections. Complications include altered lung function, polyneuropathy, and avascular necrosis. The overall death (mortality) rate from SARS is about 10%. Age is a risk factor and plays a large role in the prognosis. Patients under 24 years of age have a mortality rate of about 1% while those over 65 years of age can have a 50% or higher mortality rate. Other risk factors include patients with chronic hepatitis B infection, hepatitis from any cause, diabetes, lymphopenia, leukocytosis, and high cytokine levels early (first week) in the SARS infection. Next Page: |
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Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) »
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a serious, potentially life-threatening viral infection caused by a previously unrecognized virus from the Coronaviridae family.
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