Is SARS a real threat?

[G-Man]

Actually a better analogy would be to call the fireman to get a kitten who got stuck on a tree when there are dozens of fires in the city. SARS is one of the least deadly problems on earth. The media should focus on major issues where world attention will make a significant change for the better, like starvations in Africa, massacres around the world, etc. In this case world attention means nothing. People living in SARS areas are already informed by their local medias, and people in other areas have very little interest.

 

[Gainy]

I agree with Vonork. I think it is a VERY serious threat, considoring there is not a known cure for it, and new cases are appearing every day. It kinda reminds me of the film, "Twelve Monkeys".

 

[Stapel]

Thats in only a month. If after a year its killed 3000 people worldwide would it be a threat then? Its brand new and seems to have mutated across from an animal virus, doesn't that alarm you in any way?

3000? No big deal. Every single day more than 3000 people die.

It does not alarm me. Not at all. What alarms me is that media focus on things that are in fact not a big issue, while there are quite a few big issues in this world.

How the hell can people worry over a 250 people killing virus? While typing this, 1000's have died of other nasty things!

 

[Phantom Lord]

Depends on what you call "real threat". Malaria, AIDS, Cholera and others are much bigger threats in the big picture. On the other hand, many people die of SARS at the moment and it spreads like wildfire - altough I think it will stop as fast as it started once they find a vaccine.

 

[Quokka]

So a new strain of virus that has mutated from an animal virus into one that can infect and kill humans is in no way alarming?

3000? No big deal. Every single day more than 3000 people die.

Interesting. 3000 people died on 9/11 and that has changed the world forever. The mortality rate of Terrorism is less than the 5% for SARS, so you could argue that it also is overhyped. Traffic also kills more people than Terrorism. Why the big who hah about it?

People living in SARS areas are already informed by their local medias, and people in other areas have very little interest.

People in Israel have been informed of suicide bombers by their local media, what if people in other areas had very little interest?
I live in Australia so who cares who dies in Israel as long as its safe to play in traffic here.

I don't think this way, I just find it the utter lack of concern very galling, G-man and Stapel you both seem to be dismissing it as an ' over there, not here' problem. Well its here in Australia and has already had serious effects and not only those to do with health. It's effect on the economy has been huge, especially the travel industry.
The government has already added it to the forcible detainment list and the WHO has listed travel warnings for the areas affected. When the WHO lists a disease as a threat, wouldn't it make sense to believe them?

 

[DancesWithGoats]

It's a real threat, but I'm more worried about the bird flu currently spreading in the Netherlands and Belgium.

 

[Sh3kel]

A 5% mortality is FAR from being high.
Anthrax, untreated, has a mortality rate of ~70% and is one of the deadliest strains of viraii known to man. SARS is not even 10 times smaller than that percentage. PROPORTIONS, people, get things into proportion!

 

[Hitro]

I agree with Sh3kel. People should remember that the flu killed many more people this year (and every other year) than SARS.

 

[JJP]

Originally posted by Sh3kel
A 5% mortality is FAR from being high.
Anthrax, untreated, has a mortality rate of ~70% and is one of the deadliest strains of viraii known to man. SARS is not even 10 times smaller than that percentage. PROPORTIONS, people, get things into proportion!

I agree with Sh3kel. SARS is very kind disease compared to Anthrax but it is a serious threat. There is no cure and it spreads fast. It is also a threat to the economies in China and other SARS countries.

 

[Phantom Lord]

Anthrax can be cured with antibiotica, since it's not a virus. So Anthrax is easy prey for medicine.

SARS can't be cured yet, but unlike AIDS a cure doesn't seem out of reach ...

 

[Grisu]

I think it's wrong to measure the threat of a virus by its fatality rate. for example a virus that has a 100% fatality rate but doesn't spread fast and thus only infects five people is far less dangerous than a disease with 5% that infects tens of thousands. So I guess if you live in those endangered regions SARS IS a real threat. Our media, however, seems to overrate this threat.

 

[vonork]

SARS 5.9%(As it is now), spanish flu 4% normal flu 0.01%

The spanish flu killed around 20-30 million of 500 infected and as KaeptnOvi say it's not the mortality rate par se but also how it infects and how fast you die, how long you can transfere it to others and so on.

As long as we don't know exactly how it infects and how to control it then we should have our goard up. To go into the trafic analogy... this is a new car - and people die from it, sure not that many yet but perhasp we should be carfull and investigate it, warn people about this car?

G-Man:

The media should focus on major issues where world attention will make a significant change for the better, like starvations in Africa, massacres around the world, etc.

Well, it's not SARS they should lift out of the news to get this in but there is things they sure could take of the air to let a lot of this make it's way into the light. Cuz it's also importnat.

 

[Akka]

Originally posted by Stapel
So far it is not even 1% of a 'threat' we encounter every day again and again: traffic.

It is just like the anthrax / white powder envelopes: not even worth to be mentioned compared to traffic.

@XIII: Howmany did die in Singapore in traffic since SARS broke out?

I second taht.

I find the traffic much more a day to day danger than any kind of disease.

 

[Greadius]

Originally posted by Phantom Lord
Depends on what you call "real threat". Malaria, AIDS, Cholera and others are much bigger threats in the big picture.

Well, don't you think if the initial outbreaks of malaria, AIDS, and Cholera were handled like SARS they'd never have become the mass killers they did?

I think people have a different perception of disease than they do of something like, say, traffic accidents. Even though people die on the roads everyday, that is accounted to human error and accept... we feel like we're still in control of that.

Disease? We are powerless against. What makes SARS so scary? Its airborne and new.

And the mortality rate, when judging a disease only gives a limited picture. Its disables people, at least temporarily, costs a lot of money to keep them alive, and then continues to spread. Its not even been established if the people hit with it can get it again.

Fears like this are based on perception, so you can't really say a fear is irrational, because, strictly speaking, all fears can be considered irrational except the one that gets you.

 

[Ohwell]

SARS is not a serious threat but should be monitored incase it reaches a major outbreak.

 

[Pasi Nurminen]

Something like a few hundred have died in the world. There are six billion people. With modern medical technology, SARS poses no real threat to society.

 

[Pongui]

The mortality rate may be "low" (just a few dozen kids at each highschool dead?) but I agree with vonork here:

As long as we don't know exactly how it infects and how to control it then we should have our goard up.

We don't know how it spreads. Some say "respiration", others guess "staying power on public surfaces". It might be spread throughout hotels and apartment blocks by cockroaches, and if that's so then this disease is unstoppable, in some parts of the world.

 

[Sultan Bhargash]

I ain't worried about SARS- it can't be real. God wouldn't just "create" a brand new disease out of nowhere.

And it isn't very deadly. I'm still more worried about catching anthrax or small pox.

 

[Pasi Nurminen]

Originally posted by Antonius Block
I ain't worried about SARS- it can't be real. God wouldn't just "create" a brand new disease out of nowhere.
small pox.

1) ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha that god bit was great, you should do standup

2) smallpox no longer exists

 

[Sultan Bhargash]

1) Ask a creationist where SARS came from. It sure as hell didn't just evolve.

2) If small pox no longer exists, why was our American president recently vaccinated for it? He isn't stupid.

EDIT 3) Welcome to CFC!