• Amélie Guihot, François Bricaire, Taisheng Li, and Philippe Bossi.
• Service de maladies infectieuses et tropicales, hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris.
• Presse Med. 2004 Mar 13; 33 (5): 344351344-51.

UnlabelledINFECTIOUS AGENT: The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a febrile pneumonia initially observed in China at the end of 2002. The infectious agent has rapidly been identified as a new coronavirus, baptised SARS-associated coronavirus (CoV-SARS). Transmission is inter-human, via respiratory particles mainly.Clinical Presentation And TreatmentThe clinical presentation is highly variable, from a mild fever to an acute respiratory distress syndrome. There is no specific treatment. Ribavirin associated with steroids have been used with success in numerous cases.EpidemiologyDuring the first half of 2003, the spreading of the virus has been very fast, with a pandemic mode of evolution. More than 8,000 people were infected and 774 died. The reservoir of the virus, which may be animal, is still unknown. The epidemic seems to be controlled, but sporadic or epidemic re-emergences may occur and have been observed in China during January 2004.

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