Severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is a viral
disease of the respiratory system with zoonotic importance. It was initially reported in
Southern China (province: Guangdong) in mid-November (2002). This disease showed
a viral spread to more than thirty countries belonging to five different continents and
infected 8098 people, out of which 774 died. The emergence of SARS has been found
to be due to human-animal contact. SARS-CoV is not harmful in children, and there is
no vertical transmission from mothers to newborns. In pediatric age groups, no death
has been reported. Most SARS autopsies cases showed extensive spleen and white pulp
necrosis with severe depletion of lymphocytes. The genomic sequence of SARS-CoV
is detected through RT-PCR in some specimens of the brain and cerebral spinal fluid.
The pathogenesis of SARS is very complex as multiple factors are involved. With the
prevalence of SARS-CoV, many diseases are associated with and cause damage to
different organs and systems of the body. Some strategies that can help treat SARSCoV are host-directed therapies, the use of antibiotics, inhibitors of viral and host
proteases, and interferons. The World Health Organization (WHO) issued an alert on
12th March 2003 about new deadly infectious diseases globally. After three days, the
WHO named these diseases SARS. China, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong were
the most severely affected areas.
Keywords: China, History, SARS, WHO.