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April 04, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Epidemics Can Take a Variety of Courses"

Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com) (04/04/03); Chase, Marilyn

With information about the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) still surfacing, scientists hope to measure the duration of the mysterious viral infection by looking at past epidemics.  The rapid pace at which SARS is infecting people has been compared to several infamous influenza outbreaks, including the Spanish Flu in 1918 and Hong Kong flu in 1968.  Flu pandemics occur when the flu virus mutates, exchanges genes with another virus incubating inside of an infected animal, or is transmitted from animals to humans, such as in the case of the Swine Flu Scare of 1976 and the Avian Flu Scare in 1997.  But experts say that has not occurred with SARS, which researchers like Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, believe could either die out or continue to spread, depending on the vigilance of the implementation of public health measures. Fauci says it is still too early to tell which way the pendulum will swing.  Scientists now believe SARS to be a new member of the coronavirus family that includes the common cold and more severe respiratory diseases of pigs and fowl.

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