by Fintan Dunne 
                                        SarsTravel.com
                                        April 16, 2003 

                                        Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is the mother of
                                        all circular logic. A self-defining merry-go-round. I see
                                        reference everywhere to the "SARS virus." The term
                                        is a dud. Anyway, SARS is for wimps. But I digress
                                        already.

                                        First. The head of the Canadian WHO lab investigating
                                        SARS can only find the alleged causal coronavirus in half
                                        of the so-called SARS cases. So what are the rest of the
                                        cases then? Are they SARS or are they not? See. The
                                        virus is not the same as the syndrome.

                                        A syndrome is a collection of symptoms. It's a concept.
                                        Whereas the coronavirus is a thing. So, to describe the
                                        virus, call it "SARS associated virus." That's not being
                                        pedantic --that's being scientific. Sloppy words lead to
                                        sloppy thinking and result in sloppy science. 

                                        The sloppy science of SARS includes the fact that they
                                        just sequenced the coronavirus. Big deal. They sequenced
                                        the whole human genome last week and it makes as much
                                        sense a shredded telephone book. They have no idea how
                                        that jumble of numbers makes a human.

                                        A sequence of nucleotides does not mean a handful of
                                        coronaviruses can kill you. You need to be teeming with
                                        virus for it to trouble you.

                                        The head of the Canadian WHO lab found so few copies
                                        of the coronavirus in so many cases that he doubts it's the
                                        cause. Indeed, back in March, Dr. Susan McLellan, an
                                        infectious disease specialist at Tulane University Health
                                        Sciences Center in New Orleans, said that viruses can be
                                        found in healthy people so "just seeing it doesn't mean it's
                                        the cause." 

                                        Which leaves the troubling question of what the difference
                                        is between SARS pneumonia and a bad case of regular
                                        pneumonia (besides the fact that the latter outnumber the
                                        former by 1000 to 1). Currently, if you get pneumonia and
                                        they find a few paltry copies of the coronavirus in your
                                        blood. Hey presto! You're a SARS case too!

                                        It's gets worse. Take a look at the WHO case definition
                                        of the syndrome:

                                        High fever AND cough or breathing difficulty AND either:
                                        a) close contact with a case of SARS; 
                                        b) travel to an affected area;
                                        c) residing in an affected area.

                                        That's a rather loose definition. A very loose definition,
                                        even. But let's take it on face value. Cough and fever is
                                        SARS if you are anywhere near another SARS case. 

                                        And... how do we know the SARS case you were near
                                        was a SARS case? Same thing. Cough and fever anywhere
                                        near a SARS case. Hey this is fun! 

                                        We just reclassified lots of bad colds or flu or pneumonia
                                        as SARS cases. 
                                        You leave your home in the morning with a bad flu and
                                        drive through a SARS neighborhood on your way to work.
                                        By the time you get there, you're a SARS case! 

                                        No wonder the hospitals are starting to bulge at the seams.

                                        Time for a more logical and consistent definition of SARS
                                        that matches what those letters stand for. Here goes:

                                        People die of pneumonia all the time. And they die of
                                        influenza. Let's call all those vSARS cases. Very Severe
                                        Acute Respiratory Syndrome. Well, it must have been
                                        very severe -or they wouldn't have died, now would they?
                                        vSARS has a 100% mortality rate.

                                        Then, let's call anyone who had to be admitted to hospital
                                        but did not die -- a pSARS case. Pretty Severe Acute
                                        Respiratory Syndrome. No mortality.

                                        Then all the mild pneumonia and bad doses of the flu. We
                                        can call them mSARS. Moderately Severe Acute
                                        Respiratory Syndrome. No mortality here either, merely
                                        discomfort.

                                        Finally we can call sneezing iRSSS. Incipient Respiratory
                                        Syndrome of Some Sort. There, that ties it all up.

                                        Only one problem. With those new sub-categories, they
                                        are all effectively back to being the same old colds, flu,
                                        and pneumonia they were before we invented the SARS
                                        classification. So, no Nobel prizes and fat salaries for
                                        disease pioneers and no piles of cash for Pharma Inc. Ah
                                        well.

                                        But we could still keep the medical police stuff to placate
                                        the control freaks. To handle the SARS thing, if you
                                        sneeze in public we arrest you. Cremate you. And bury
                                        your ashes at sea. Tough, but a least it would stop the
                                        um... epidemic.

                                        SARS. It's a disease that's perfect for wimps. The kind of
                                        death-fearing wimps that faithless consumerism thrives
                                        on. Wimps will suffer any imposition; pay any price; to
                                        avoid death or the mere risk of it.

                                        Here's news. People get pneumonia and flu. Every year,
                                        literally millions die. Not hundreds, or thousands. But
                                        millions die. Always have. Long before SARS was
                                        illogically constructed. Always will. Happens all the
                                        time.

                                        To compensate, millions of babies are born every week.
                                        It's called Life.

                                        When was the last time you saw a media headline saying
                                        "Loads of Babies Born," rather than "7 more die of
                                        SARS." 

                                        Forget the fear mongers. Let the rest of us get on with
                                        living. 

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