SARS Epiville Case Study

Epiville Case Study

1. Provide a brief description of SARS, supporting your description with sources from the case study

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease that presents with high fever (100.4F or 38C) coupled with breathing difficulties or severe cough that begins within 10 days of close contact with an infected person, and either residence or recent travel history to a recent local transmission area (Epiville Department of Health, n.d.). A probable/suspect case of SARS exhibits infiltrate patterns consistent with respiratory distress syndrome or pneumonia coupled with a positive SARS coronavirus test (Epiville Department of Health, n.d.). A descriptive analysis of cases with person shows that the elderly (ages 60 and above) are disproportionately affected and more likely to die as a result of the disease, while children and young people below the ages of 25 are at the lowest risk of getting infected. A descriptive analysis of place shows that cases are concentrated within Area B of Epiville. A total of 12 people have died from suspected SARS infection over the past two weeks and 53 others are confirmed cases.

2. Describe patterns you can identify in the population impacted by the SARS outbreak, citing the case to support your response.

The population impacted by the SARS outbreak resides in the same street address, the Amoy Apartment Complex, which serves a tenant population of 600 (Epiville Case Study, n.d.). Further, all affected individuals exhibit a common pattern of pneumonia-like symptoms that includes severe flu, high fever, and difficulty breathing (Epiville Case Study, n.d.).

3. Draw conclusions about the mode of disease transmission based on your analysis of the disease and population