Rapid Diagnosis of a Coronavirus Associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

Abstract

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a recently emerged disease associated with pneumonia in infected patients (1 ). The disease is unusual in its severity, and patients suffering from this disease do not respond to empirical antimicrobial treatment for acute communityacquired typical or atypical pneumonia (2 ). By the end of March 2003, a cumulative total of 1622 cases and 58 deaths had been reported from 13 countries (3 ). The disease is highly infectious, and attach rates 56% have been reported in healthcare workers caring for SARS patients (2 ).