Infectious Diseases >> SARS

Causes

It is transmitted by being exposed to contaminated sweat, saliva or mucus, or even vomit, stool or urine. SARS is caused by a new member of the coronavirus family. SARS is clearly spread by droplet contact. When someone with SARS coughs or sneezes, infected droplets are sprayed into the air. Like other coronaviruses, the SARS virus may live on hands, tissues, and other surfaces for up to 6 hours in these droplets and up to 3 hours after the droplets have dried. While droplet transmission through close contact was responsible for most of the early cases of SARS, evidence began to mount that SARS might also spread by hands and other objects the droplets had touched. Airborne transmission was a real possibility in some cases. Live virus had even been found in the stool of people with SARS, where it has been shown to live for up to four days. And the virus may be able to live for months or years when the temperature is below freezing. Reports of possible relapse in patients who have been treated and released from the hospital raise concerns about the length of time individuals might be carrying the virus.