Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

Latest Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome News and Research

Scientists identify natural human antibodies against virus that causes MERS

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have identified natural human antibodies against the virus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), a step toward developing treatments for the newly emerging and often-fatal disease.

29 Apr 2014

Scientists seek broad, versatile countermeasures effective against several kinds of viruses, other pathogens

A group of University of Washington scientists is seeking broad, versatile countermeasures effective against several different kinds of viruses and other pathogens. The investigators are part of a national push for faster responses to unexpected infectious agents.

9 Apr 2014

Upstream interventions may provide options to contain emerging pathogens at source

While many endemic infectious diseases of humans have been largely contained, new microbes continue to emerge to threaten human and animal health.

18 Feb 2014

Researchers uncover how SARS coronavirus uses host cell to reproduce itself

UC Irvine infectious disease researchers have uncovered components of the SARS coronavirus - which triggered a major outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2002-03 - that allow it to take over host cells in order to replicate.

23 Aug 2013

Scientists provide insight into emergence of inter-species transmittable viruses

Outbreaks such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS) have afflicted people around the world, yet many people think these trends are on the decline.

13 Aug 2013

Saudi and UK scientists provide detailed picture of MERS coronavirus

Saudi and UK scientists provide the most detailed picture yet of the clinical and laboratory characteristics of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, revealing a wide range of clinical symptoms and an extremely high death rate among patients with co-existing medical conditions.

29 Jul 2013

McMaster University researchers identify three factors that influence pandemic influenza

Three waves of the deadliest influenza pandemic in history, known as the Spanish flu, hit England and Wales in 1918, just as World War 1 was coming to an end.

10 Jul 2013

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus currently unlikely to cause a pandemic, finds study

New estimates of the transmissibility of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in humans suggest that it does not yet have pandemic potential, according to research published in The Lancet.

9 Jul 2013

Study describes radiologic findings in H7N9 pneumonia

H7N9 pneumonia is characterized by imaging findings that differentiate it from other types of pneumonia, including rapidly progressive changes in the lungs and pulmonary connective tissues, according to the first study to describe radiologic findings in the disease. The results are published online in the journal Radiology.

2 Jul 2013

Coronavirus incubation period may be longer than previously thought

A detailed clinical description of two cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in France, published online in The Lancet today, suggests that the incubation period for the virus may be longer than previously thought, and longer quarantine periods may be required to rule out infection among patient contacts.

29 May 2013

Five more die of SARS-like disease in Saudi Arabia

"Saudi Arabia said five more people have died of a deadly new virus from the same family as SARS, and two other people were in intensive care," Reuters reports.

3 May 2013

Researchers call H7N9 bird flu strain 'one of the most lethal'; first case outside China reported by Taiwan

Chinese scientists have confirmed for the first time that a new strain of bird flu that has killed 23 people in China has been transmitted to humans from chickens.

26 Apr 2013

Nature editorial, opinion piece address H7N9 virus

The journal Nature published an editorial and opinion piece on the emergence of the H7N9 avian influenza strain.

26 Apr 2013

World must be better prepared for potential pandemics

"In China an influenza virus never before seen in people had, as The Economist went to press, infected at least 82 and killed 17. Meanwhile a new type of coronavirus, the family that brought severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), is festering in the Middle East," an editorial in the magazine states.

23 Apr 2013

GeneCapture developing new device with one-hour pathogen testing capabilities

A company hatched as a partnership between The University of Alabama in Huntsville and chemical engineering professor Dr. Krishnan Chittur is in the design phase for a device that can provide physicians one-hour pathogen testing capabilities.

23 Apr 2013

Editorials address China's response to emergence of H7N9 bird flu strain

"The H7N9 strain contains gene sequences that make it relatively effective, for a bird virus, at infecting humans and other mammals," Bloomberg writes.

20 Apr 2013

Health officials have reason to 'remain hypervigilant' over H7N9

"Just as the world was breathing easier about a deadly bird flu virus that killed 371 people over the past decade before dropping out of sight, a different form of bird flu has emerged in China that is causing concern among health experts," a New York Times editorial writes.

18 Apr 2013

U.S., Chinese researchers developing vaccine for H7N9 avian flu virus; Some question speed of case reporting

"Less than two weeks after Chinese officials released the genetic sequence of a new type of bird flu [H7N9], U.S. vaccine experts are well on the way to making a vaccine to protect people against it," NBC News's "Vitals" blog reports (Fox, 4/10).

12 Apr 2013

Hong Kong researchers examine health risks of new SARS-like virus

"A new coronavirus that emerged in the Middle East last fall could be deadlier than the SARS virus (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed 774 people between 2002 and 2003, researchers from the University of Hong Kong said ... in a study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases this week," GlobalPost reports.

30 Mar 2013

WHO reports 9th death from new SARS-like virus

"A Saudi man infected with a deadly new virus from the same family as SARS has died, becoming the ninth patient in the world to be killed by the disease which has so far infected 15, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday," Reuters reports.

14 Mar 2013