sars, a novel disease

severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) is a fetal communicable respiratory disease, known as atypical pneumonia. this disease first appeared in china on november 2002 and spread very fast in various parts of the world especially in asia. number of reported cases of sars from november 2002 to may 2003 were about 8046 of which 6825 patients died. sars is caused by coronavirus, and symptoms of disease are, high fever (38c), cough, breathing difficulties and respiratory distress syndrome, the consequence of the disease is admission in intensive care units for some patients. the disease transmits by respiratory droplets and the incubation period is 2-7 days. high-risk persons are: hospital workers who take care of sars patients, close family members of the patients, olds and chronically ill patients. experts believe that the disease will probably be epidemic, in coming cold season. so, in order to prevent the disaster of sars it is better to promote public awareness about the discusses, and it’s preventive methods especially in health workers and nurses.