SARS In The News

Study Faults WHO Guidelines on SARS

Atlanta Journal Constitution:

The existing World Health Organization guidelines for diagnosing severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) may not be adequate.

While current WHO guidelines emphasize respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath, coughing, and difficulty breathing, a team of researchers reporting in the June 21 issue of the British Medical Journal feels that emphasis may be misplaced. Symptoms at the early stages of the illness in the patients they studied were more likely to include fever, chills, loss of appetite, vomiting, and diarrhea.