II.

Symptoms and Treatment

SARS symptoms begin with a fever about 38°C (about 100.4°F) or higher, chills, headache, and malaise. Two to seven days later some people develop a dry cough and difficulty breathing. Symptoms may progress to a severe form of pneumonia, in which air sacs in the lungs fill with fluid, preventing oxygen from reaching blood cells and nourishing the other cells of the body. Aside from regular nursing care and the use of a respirator to help breathing in severe cases, there is no effective treatment for SARS. Recovery seems to depend on the health of the patient’s immune system. Epidemiologists (scientists that study the cause and spread of diseases) have found that those most susceptible to the fatal form of the illness are aged 40 or older and have a history of a chronic disease.