How common is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome?

What is the prognosis for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)?

• Answer:

  By late April/early May 2003, WHO officials had confirmed reports of more than 3,000 cases of SARS from 18 different countries with 111 deaths attributed to the disease (about a 5–10% death rate). United States health officials reported 193 cases with no deaths. Significantly, all but 20 of the U.S. cases were linked to travel to infected areas, and the other 20 cases were accounted for by secondary transmission from infected patients to family members and health care workers. Information on countries reporting SARS and the cumulative total of cases and deaths is updated each day on the WHO SARS web site at <http;//www.who.int/csr/sarscountry/en/>. Source: The Gale Group. Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine, 3rd ed.";