To: Marianne
.."that so far they have not found either a viral or bacterial cause for SARS."
Health officials must confront two crucial questions: Is SARS an unknown form of a known disease like influenza? Or is it caused by a novel infectious agent? If past outbreaks of new diseases are a guide, the answers may take time in coming.
Tick-borne Lyme disease was regarded as a new disease when it was given that name in 1977. It took four years after its detection in Connecticut to identify the causative agent, a spirochete bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, a microbe that had been identified for decades. For example, the same disease occurred as early as 1909 in Sweden.
After Legionnaire's disease struck in Philadelphia in 1976, it took six months before discovery of the causative bacterium, Legionella pneumophila. Meanwhile, researchers pursued many blind avenues, including toxins. It took months to identify the Ebola virus from outbreaks in Africa.
When the disease now known as AIDS was first identified in 1981, scientists debated whether it was caused by an infectious agent or a toxin. It took about two years to discover what is now known as H.I.V. And two additional years passed, to 1985, for general scientific acceptance that H.I.V. caused AIDS.
To: Mother Abigail
If it's some form of influenza, would a flu vaccine provide any protection at all?
To: Mother Abigail
Thank you for the information.
It appears Steve Quayle should wait a while before raising such questions.
19 posted on
03/17/2003 7:49:46 PM PST by
Marianne
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