SARS : a case study in emerging infections

• Main Authors: McLean, Angela, May, Robert M., Pattison, John, Weiss, Robin, A., Royal Society (Great Britain)
• Format: eBook Book
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Oxford University Press 2005; Oxford University Press USA - OSO
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Bioethics; Bioinformatics and Computational Biology; Disease Ecology and Epidemiology; Epidemiology; SARS (Disease); SARS (Disease) > Epidemiology; pandemic influenza; infection; quarantining; epidemic; airline networks; AIDS; protection; infectious agent; healthcare systems
• ISBN: 9780198568186; 0198568185; 0198568193; 9780198568193
• DOI: 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198568193.001.0001

The sudden appearance and rapid spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003 alerted the world to the fact that emerging infections are a global problem. Living in affluent societies with well-developed healthcare systems does not necessarily protect people from the dangers posed by life-threatening infections. The SARS epidemic tested global preparedness for dealing with a new infectious agent and raised important questions: How did we do, and what did we learn? This book uses the SARS outbreak as a case study to enumerate the generic issues that must be considered when planning the control of emerging infections. Emerging infections are more than just a current biological fashion: the bitter ongoing experience of AIDS and the looming threat of pandemic influenza teach us that the control of infectious disease is a problem that has not been solved. Scientists from a broad range of disciplines — biologists, veterinarians, physicians, and policy makers — all need to prepare. But prepare for what? The book provides an overview of the tasks that must be addressed by a community that wishes to confront emerging infections. While focusing on SARS, the book addresses a whole range of considerations and issues, from the use of new mathematical models to account for the spread of infection across global airline networks, to a discussion of the ethics of quarantining individuals in order to protect communities.