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SARS

Wednesday 14 April 2004

WKP

Definition : Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin that surfaced in the early 2000s caused by the first-identified strain of the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1).

In late 2017, Chinese scientists traced the virus through the intermediary of civets to cave-dwelling horseshoe bats in Yunnan province. No cases of the first SARS-CoV have been reported worldwide since 2004.

In 2019, a related virus strain, SARS-CoV-2, was discovered. This new strain causes COVID-19, a disease which brought about the ongoing 2019–20 coronavirus disease and coronavirus pneumonia pandemic.

Synopsis

- exudative phase of acute lung injury

  • proliferative phase of acute lung injury
  • edema
  • inflammatory infiltrate
  • pneumocyte hyperplasia
  • fibrinous exudates
  • organization

- diffuse alveolar damage pattern of acute lung injury
- acute fibrinous organizing pneumonia pattern (AFOP pattern)
- squamous metaplasia
- scattered multinucleate giant cells
- vascular fibrin thrombi
- pulmonary infarcts
- vascular endothelial damage of both small- and mid-sized pulmonary vessels

Complications

- invasive fungal disease

  • Aspergillosis

- cytomegalovirus infection

References

- Stadler K, Rappuoli R. SARS: Understanding the Virus and Development of Rational Therapy. Curr Mol Med. 2005 Nov;5(7):677-97. PMID: 16305493

- Hwang DM, Chamberlain DW, Poutanen SM, Low DE, Asa SL, Butany J. Pulmonary pathology of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Toronto. Mod Pathol. 2005 Jan;18(1):1-10. PMID: 15272286

- Peiris JS, Guan Y, Yuen KY. Severe acute respiratory syndrome. Nat Med. 2004 Dec;10(12 Suppl):S88-97. PMID: 15577937

- Peiris JS, Yuen KY, Osterhaus AD, Stohr K. The severe acute respiratory syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2003 Dec 18;349(25):2431-41. PMID: 14681510

- Drosten C, Preiser W, Gunther S, Schmitz H, Doerr HW. Severe acute respiratory syndrome: identification of the etiological agent. Trends Mol Med. 2003 Aug;9(8):325-7. PMID: 12928032

- Chan HL, Tsui SK, Sung JJ. Coronavirus in severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Trends Mol Med. 2003 Aug;9(8):323-5. PMID: 12928031