Will the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic recur?
- 1National Infectious Diseases Surveillance Unit, Ministry of Health, Brazil
- 2Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil
- Correspondence to: Professor M L Barreto, Institution: Instituto de Saude Coletiva/Universidade Federal da Bahia, Address: Instituto de Saude Coletiva/UFBa Rua Padre Feijo, 29 - Canela Salvador, Ba, Brazil; mauricioufba.br
This article adds to the debate section that was published in the October issue of the journal (2003;57:770–7)
The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which appeared in China in November 2002 and disseminated rapidly to 29 countries, was the first emerging disease and the first pandemic of the current century.1,2 Since then, a lot of research has produced a great amount of relevant information and knowledge. Although the announcement of the last case in June brought some relief, it also raised several new questions; the most important being: has SARS gone forever? (or: will it be back?). The answer to this question is not only expected …
