Severe acute respiratory syndrome

What it is

A rare pulmonary disease induced by SARS-CoV coronavirus infection, with a reported incubation period varying from 2 to 7 days. Patients present flu-like symptoms, including fever, malaise, myalgia, headache, diarrhoea, and rigors. Dry, nonproductive, cough and dyspnea are frequently reported. Severe cases evolve rapidly, progressing to respiratory distress and failure, requiring intensive care. Mortality rate is 10%. The disease appeared in 2002 in southern China, subsequently spreading in 2003 to 26 countries. Reported human-to-human transmission occurred in Toronto (Canada), Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Chinese Taipei, Singapore, and Hanoi (Viet Nam).

Key facts

Prevalence

<1 / 1 000 000 (annual incidence, Europe)

Age of onset

All ages

Inheritance

Not applicable

Classified as

Disease

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

Cross-references