Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS): loud clang of the Leper's bell.

1 December 2003

Vol. 44 (6) , 674-80

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) or the "Chinese Chernobyl" emerged against an alarming background of rising infectious disease in poor rural China and to a backdrop of interregional and global polarization of population well-being and vulnerability. SARS has added its own dissonant note to "health disturbance", caused fear and panic and disrupted international commerce. Its emergence should be perceived as a disturbing alarm that underscores the need to strengthen public health and facilitate construction of a human security "umbrella" in the event of future disasters. Although SARS has produced a relatively insignificant level of damage when compared to other threats, its long-term effects on health should not be underestimated, based on its unexpected appearance and still unknown properties. This essay presents a qualitative flowchart that follows SARS from its origin in China to the accumulation of global damage. Two future scenarios were formulated, covering a worse-case outcome and containment outcome, which currently appears to be the case. In the event of the worst-case scenario it is doubtful whether any health service in Europe could cope. In either case, the development of a European Union Center for Disease Control is mandatory.

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