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I was watching the TV recently and I something I saw on the news made me start freaking out! "Monkeypox!" and "SARS!"
I think I should just lock myself in a room until all of this is over! But, exactly what
are they? How can we educate ourselves about them?
I read an article from the San Diego Tribune online which you can check out by
searching through www.signonsandiego.com.
This is a picture of SARS infected tissue borrowed without permission from the San Diego Tribune. Doesn't look too good, eh? They even have a great interactive thing to help you
understand SARS more.
So what is SARS? Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome to be exact. It's a flu-like
illness that started in China in November.
Some of the known symptoms of SARS are:
A fever over 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit
Dry cough
Shortness of breath
Some possible symptoms:
Chills
Headache
Body aches
Thousands of people have SARS worldwide! Six to fifteen percent of the cases are FATAL! This is a
much higher rate than most other respiratory illnesses.
SARS is extremely contagious! You can catch it when a person who has SARS coughs
or sneezes in the air and then you breathe that air. You can also catch it if
you touch an object an infected person may have sneezed or coughed on. Family
and health care workers in close contact are usually the ones who catch it. Now
health officials say that the virus can live up to 3 hours in the air.
The origin of SARS is linked to a hotel in Hong Kong which one person gave the
virus to 12 other people who spread it to hundreds of others.
Ok! So we understand SARS. What's this whole Monkeypox thing now. It sounds like
something a child would make up after they heard of Chicken Pox.
What is strange is that this virus is found in Prairie Dogs! Not related to
monkeys at all! Mice and rabbits have also been know to carry it.
"Experts are looking closely at a group of Gambian rats transported from Africa
to a Gambian giant-rat breeder in Texas. A Chicago-area exotic pet dealer
purchased some of the rats presumed to be carrying the virus, and the rats
likely passed on the disease to prairie dogs. Thousands of these animals are
shipped every year from the Plains states as pets," says Ian Smith, M.D. in the
New York Daily News.
Approximately 12 days after exposure to the monkeypox virus, the symptoms are:
Fever
Headache
Muscle aches
Backache
A general feeling of discomfort
Exhaustion
Enlarged Lymph Nodes
Rash
Monkeypox lasts 2-4 weeks. 10% of the cases are FATAL! Monkeypox is a relative
to smallpox but not nearly as dangerous.
So should you be afraid of these illnesses? Sure! Take extra precautions when
traveling outside your home country. Wash your hands! This can prevent the
spread of many illnesses!
If there is any new information on any cases PLEASE why-mail me! I would love to
help
Whyvillians learn all they can!
A now very world illness educated,
Wildfire9
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