This is a detailed essay about the new emergence of SARS. The history, the physiology, the symptoms, and the treatment are discussed.

It was on a farm somewhere in southern China where the mystery pneumonia we know as SARS probably began. Once in the cities, the virus spread, thanks to air travel, is now a flaring epidemic in more than a dozen countries. SARS, which stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, is the name of a potentially fatal new respiratory disease only recently recognized by scientists. It is not the name of the microorganism that causes the …showed first 75 words of 924 total…

…showed last 75 words of 924 total…usually a mild case of cardiovascular failure. One in 10 requires assistance to breathe. In many patients, higher levels of lactate dehydrogenase are often found; this is an enzyme whose presence in the blood usually indicates tissue damage to heart muscle or other organs, such as the liver. Patients also show evidence of aspartate aminotransferase, a catalysing enzyme whose presence is often used to diagnose the presence of hepatitis or damage caused by a heart attack.