SARS Virus Dies Earlier When Heat's On (Survives 15 days outside of body)

People's Daily ^ | June 3, 2003 | Staff

[Judith Anne]

The virus of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) can live for up to 15 days without the human body, Chinese scientists have discovered.

According to Tuesday's China Daily, the Key Science and Technology Group under the National Task Force for SARS Control and Prevention revealed that the virus can exist in temperatures of 24 degrees Celsius for five days in patients' saliva, mucus andexcrement, 10 days in urine and 15 days in blood.

It can live indoors for three days on paper, cotton cloth, wood, metal, plastic and glass surfaces and in soil.

Experiments by the group indicate that the lifespan of SARS reduces as temperatures rise. In normal conditions, the virus can exist for four days if temperatures are less than 37 degrees Celsius, 90 minutes at under 56 degrees Celsius and 30 minutes at under 75 degrees Celsius.

[Judith Anne]

Entire article. I'm not sure how well people knew this...thought I'd post this.

Blood transfusions are going to be a risk, especially since there's not much of an accurate test for the virus.

[Judith Anne]

Look at how long it can live on the various surfaces--three days on paper, cloth, wood, stainless steel, plastic, glass, in soil....

[netmilsmom]

We in Michigan are fighting NOT to take human waste from Toronto. Wonder why?

[Judith Anne]

Recently, I briefly read something about that...what's going on? Does Michigan already get some of Toronto's waste? (Doesn't sound like a good idea, to me...let Toronto take care of its own waste...)

[netmilsmom]

http://stabenow.senate.gov/press/2003/053003TrashPetitionWebSite.htm

This is an article on it.

[IvanT]

Being from Toronto, I often wonder why Michigan takes our waste. Of course, we pay Michigan a lot of money too, so I suppose that is the incentive for them.

[netmilsmom]

I think you are right, it's in the money. I don't mind that Michigan makes money from this, but at this point,no offense, but with SARS, Toronto needs to find something else to do with it. Michiganders need to just say no.

[netmilsmom]

Dan, can you give us some insight to why we are doing this?

[blackdog]

A virus is not "live" in the sense that reporters who do no research claim it does. A virus must be in perfect host conditions to become active. When conditions do not favor it's activity, it becomes a phage. It's essentially a chemically shelled crystaline structure that lies dormant. Does it breathe? no.....Does it metabolize? no......Does it reproduce? no.......None of the activity that would identify any micro-organism as "living" is present. Some phages can have a damn rugged chemical shell and internal structure that can last hundreds of years, and when reintroduced to a condition favorable to it, it becomes active again. Viruses do not die. They are chemically altered by UV light, temperature extremes, caustic substances, etc.....It is the destruction of the phage's ability to protect itself with a chemical shell that makes it no longer infectious.

Viruses are strange thingies which cannot be classified as "living" or "Dead". They just "Are" or Are Not".

[blam]

Maybe they should use the word 'infectious' instead of 'live.' Huh?

[aristeides]

May explain the lack of spread in India. Maybe explain Singapore's relative success with SARS. Suggests that there will be a spell of little or no disease during the summer. No doubt this virus will not die out during the summer -- colds don't die out either. But this does raise the question of how coronaviruses survive summers.

I wonder if rooms where SARS patients are should be heated to where the heat is even slightly discomforting.

[theFIRMbss]

>Maybe explain Singapore's relative success with SARS.

Introducing 'the happy toilet' (“a country with dirty toilets has no future”)

Singapore is opening up its toilets for scrutiny by ranking washroom facilities in shopping malls, parks and other public places with the best rated receiving a "Happy Toilet" logo, the Restroom Association said today.

Singapore's public toilets will be judged this month on cleanliness, design, construction and daily maintenance criteria, including the supply of toilet paper.

Association president Jack Sim told The Straits Times there are three grades for loos - three, four and five stars. Singapore is the first in the world to adopt this system, the report said.

[Prince Charles]

I think humidity has something to do with the viral longevity also.. in the winter, indoor air humidity is quite low as compared to the summer. That, combined with the higher amount of U.V. light and outdoor humidity may break down the viral wall faster. See the thread below:

Six Months to Act

[DeepDish]

Also, how about setting up some UV lamps in the room.
Give the patient a pair of UV blocking glasses if there
would be a risk of eye damage.

[blackdog]

All you need to be a reporter these days is a fax machine, computer to be fed MS Word files and be able to insert author's name as it indicates on their driver's license.

It's plain irresponsible for media outlets to allow "reporters" to fill up rags and bandwidth with press releases renamed as a reporter's story. But then what would the Jayson Blair's and New York Times do to fill up their day?

I would rather hear nothing about important things. This would cause me to go find out about the issues I find important. Being told what's important, why, when, where, and how by clueless self absorbed products of affirmative action journalism factories is dangerous.

[EternalHope]

From the article in the thread you linked:

There is also a third factor working to our advantage, and that is the simple change of seasons. Viruses that are transmitted from human to human by coughing or sneezing, such as influenza, measles and even smallpox, are strongly seasonal in nature. (My underline: This is also how SARS is spread.)

In winter, the epidemic is like a chain reaction; in summer, it fizzles out. Quite why this is so has never been conclusively determined. Temperature alone is not the explanation, although experimental evidence suggests that seasonal changes in humidity levels play an important role. Crowded indoor conditions, leading to more people breathing the same air, may be another factor.

Whatever the explanation, all available evidence suggests that SARS shares the same seasonal pattern.

We can not be certain that SARS is seasonal until this winter, of course. But there are certainly reasons to believe that it is.

[EternalHope]

I think you guys may be on to something, and it bears repeating:

In hospitals:
1. Keep the room as warm as possible without harming the patient.
2. Install UV lights, perhaps with a portion of the bed canopied to protect the patient.

In public places:
Install UV lights. Perhaps not as strong as in hospitals, but strong enough to degrade the virus more rapidly than would otherwise occur.

These steps may not help patients recover faster, but they may help break the chain of transmission (especially in hospitals).

[sam_paine]

In public places: Install UV lights.

Screw that!! Revert back to R-12 freon and burn through the "dangerous" ozone layer that is blocking the sun's natural UV and "harboring" this dangerous outbreak!!!!!!!!!!!

[Judith Anne]

Hmmmm...I think most people who are short of breath prefer cooler air, for some reason it's easier to breathe...fever is a natural mechanism the body has to kill microbes, and we know that aspirin is NOT indicated in SARS...As far as UV goes, it could be used to help sterilize an empty room, but I don't know about rooms with patients in them...I'd want to know how long an exposure to UV was necessary...

Truthfully, I think it will die back this summer, who knows where it may emerge in the fall?

[Dog Gone]

I wish I were smart enough to be able to convert Celsius temperatures to Farenheit in my mind while I'm reading a story.