SARS is an acronym for Severe Acute Respiratory Disorder. It is caused by a coronavirus that is similar to the virus that causes the common cold. A mutation has made it more dangerous as it causes damage to the lungs and possibly fatal breathing difficulties.

Researchers worked flat out to find the cause of SARS, prevent its spread and find a cure.

The first steps in the fight against SARS were to stop the infection spreading. In Hong Kong, whole communities living in high rise apartments were sent to isolation camps and their homes disinfected. Schools and other public places were closed while in Southern China whole towns were kept in quarantine. SARS patients were kept in isolation wards and health workers wore protective clothing as they treated them. In Canada, families of SARS victims were told to stay at home and not come into contact with anyone.

At first, the pathogen responsible for SARS was not known. Researchers isolated fluids from SARS victims and eventually a coronavirus was identified as the cause of SARS. These viruses can cause the common cold and often infect domesticated animals such as cats, chickens and pigs. Regular mutations allow these viruses to spread to humans but the mutation that produced the SARS virus had made it much more deadly than normal. Once the virus passed from animals to humans, the SARS outbreak had started.

It is difficult to treat the SARS virus because, by the time the patient starts to show symptoms, the infection has already caused a great deal of damage in the lungs. Patients are given oxygen to help relieve their breathing difficulties, physiotherapy to clear fluid on the lungs and may even be put on a ventilator. Antibiotics may be given but these are not to treat the virus, they are to try and prevent any further infection by opportunistic bacteria.

Antiviral medicines can be used and these block the continued replication of the virus inside lung cells. They were used by doctors in Hong Kong but other countries hit by the virus found little benefit in using this treatment.

The best treatment is to prevent infection with the SARS virus and this was achieved by putting infected people into quarantine. A vaccine is a much better long term solution.

The SARS virus has been isolated and this now allows researchers to grow large quantities in the controlled conditions of a tissue culture laboratory. To make a SARS vaccine, the virus is purified and treated to make it harmless. Injecting these so-called dead viruses into the body prepares the immune system so that if the active virus is encountered, it is destroyed before it can cause SARS. Although not yet available, many laboratories around the world are working towards the production of a safe SARS vaccine.