Another interesting feature to know would be the amount of medical intervention required in atypical versus other types of pneumonia - eg oxygen requirement, ventilatory support etc. In addition, it would be interesting to know what long term effects the disease has on lung function? ie - is there any residual scarring? Also, what is the usual infection rate in the general population of atypical pneumonias generally as opposed to this outbreak of SARS?
Just curious - I haven't really been able to find any of this out, apart from anecdotal evidence that SARS patients do seem to require extraordinary amounts of oxygen/ventilation.
Pneumonia was always called the 'old person's friend', as indicated in the higher morbidity rates in older persons. As you say on your site, Chris, the worrying feature of SARS is its effects on younger people - hopefully, the longer term statistics will not support this initial aberration. Additionally, the highly infectious nature of the this particular virus in close contact, as evidenced by those infected in the lift in the first instance in HKG and the high number of HCW's infected is pertinent.
Last edited by min; 15th Apr 2003 at 13:10.