SARS
(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome · Atypical Pneumonia)
In this condition factsheet:
Diagnosing SARS
Your doctor may suspect SARS if you experience symptoms of SARS during an outbreak. Your doctor will ask you about your symptoms, your travel history, and whether you may have come in contact with someone who has SARS.
If your doctor suspects you may have SARS, he or she may recommend that, instead of visiting the doctor's office, you go straight to a hospital. The hospital will take appropriate precautions to prevent the infection from spreading to others. During an outbreak, some hospitals set up clinics to specifically deal with SARS.
To diagnose SARS, a doctor will perform a physical examination and check for fever and swollen glands. He or she will also listen to your lungs with a stethoscope. Buildup of fluid in the lungs can be seen through a chest X-ray, CT scan, or with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The doctor will send a sample of your sputum (phlegm) to a laboratory to confirm the diagnosis.
Treating and Preventing SARS
People with SARS must be treated in a hospital. Because the disease is severe, treatment needs to start based on symptoms, before the cause of the illness is confirmed. People who are suspected of having SARS are placed in isolation to protect other patients and health care workers. So far, no medication has been proven to cure SARS.
Treatment, for the most part, is supportive, and may include intravenous fluids (fluids injected into a vein) or a respirator to help with breathing. Although antibiotics will not help with SARS (as SARS is due to a virus), they may be used in cases where the person has developed a secondary bacterial infection. The benefit of antiviral medications or corticosteroids (e.g., prednisone*) has not been established.
There are currently no vaccines or medications that can protect you from SARS. To protect yourself from viral infections in general, practise good hand hygiene. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water and rub hands together briskly for at least 20 seconds; if your hands are not visibly soiled, alcohol-based hand rubs may be used as an alternative.
During an outbreak, health care workers should follow their institution's isolation policies when caring for SARS patients. If you are not a health care worker, avoid close personal contact with people who are known to have SARS or who are experiencing symptoms of SARS. Wash your hands often, especially before eating or touching your face.
*All medications have both common (generic) and brand names. The brand name is what a specific manufacturer calls the product (e.g., Tylenol®). The common name is the medical name for the medication (e.g., acetaminophen). A medication may have many brand names, but only one common name. This article lists medications by their common names. For information on a given medication, check our Drug Information database. For more information on brand names, speak with your doctor or pharmacist.
All material copyright MediResource Inc. 1996 – 2024. Terms and conditions of use. The contents herein are for informational purposes only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Source: www.medbroadcast.com/condition/getcondition/SARS
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