New and emerging infectious diseases

Abstract

New emerging infectious diseases include "severe acute respiratory distress syndrome" (SARS) and avian influenza A H5N1. First cases of SARS, induced by a new strain of coronavirus, were described in China in 2002 and by May 2003 8360 cases and 764 deaths were reported by the World Health Organization. The disease can be transmitted from person to person and at the onset is characterized by nonspecific symptoms such as a fever of > 38 degrees C, dry cough, myalgia, and dyspnea. Adults can develop severe hypoxemia requiring intubation, whereas the course of the disease is generally benign in children. Avian influenza A H5N1 is another emerging infectious disease transmitted from avian species to humans, without clear evidence of transmission from human to human. The widespread outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza in 2003-2004 have caused major problems for the poultry industry in many Asian countries. On January 2004 the disease crossed over to humans, for the first time in Vietnam, causing 74 deaths to date (mortality rate of 50%) in southeastern countries. Unlike SARS, the avian flu occurs in rural areas, where people live in intimate contact with birds, and many of the victims are children < 5 years of age. As for SARS, the World Health Organization has adopted a global action plan to control avian influenza among chickens and ducks and at the same time to limit the threat of a human flu pandemic.

The different clinical characteristics of corona virus disease cases between children and their families in China – the character of children with COVID-19

“…In China, the SARS outbreak of 2003 is still impressive, because the 2002-2003 SARS outbreak infected 8422 individuals leading to 916 deaths in eight affected areas [12]. During the SARS outbreak, there were less children patients and the symptoms are significantly milder in children than in adults [13][14][15][16]. Similarly, the official data to date suggest that children infected with the SARS-CoV-2 are relatively rare too [17], and their overall symptoms are significantly mild.…”

Influence of Psychological Stress on Upper Respiratory Infection—A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies

“…Hamrick et al (2002) are based on the same sample. 2 The stress type is a combination of major stressful events and perceived stress. 3 The stress type is a combination of major and minor stressful events and perceived stress.…”

“…The emergence of novel influenza types, such as "severe acute respiratory distress syndrome," avian influenza A H5N1, and latest pH1N1 flu ("swine flu") has led to increased attention to influenza viruses as a possible threat to global health (2). Of those exposed to an infectious agent, only a proportion develop clinical disease, and it has long been suggested that at least a part of this variability could be due to reduced resistance to infection caused by psychological stress (3,4).…”

High-throughput neuraminidase substrate specificity study of human and avian influenza A viruses

“…Avian influenza A virus outbreaks have caused major losses for the poultry industry (Spicuzza et al, 2007), but can also cause deadly diseases (e.g. H5N1) as well as less severe infections in humans (Swayne and Halvorson, 2008).…”