SARS - scary stuff

[Silent_One]

I don't know about you but this stuff is scary. CNN said tonight that cases in Asia have doubled and that 4 cases are now in California.


http://www.who.int/csr/don/2003_03_17/en/]Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) - multi-country outbreak - Update 2


17 March 2003

Disease Outbreak Reported

NOTE FOR THE PRESS ISSUED BY WHO
17 March 2003

WHO coordinates international effort to identify and treat SARS
17 March 2003 -- WHO has today stepped up several activities aimed at strengthening the international response to the recent emergence of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). SARS is an infectious disease of unknown etiology characterized by atypical pneumonia (see WHO press release of 15 March and additional information at www.who.int.)

The disease is spread from person to person but only through close contact with a case. To date, almost all reported cases have occurred in health workers involved in the direct care of reported cases or in close contacts, such as family members. There is no evidence to date that the disease spreads though casual contact.

[Natoma]

Here's another link to add to the info:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/

I saw on CNBC today that SARS could potentially be even more deadly than the 1918-1919 Flu Pandemic that cost 25 Million lives. Scary stuff.. :(

[K.I.L.E.R]

Now we all know what happens when we start a war with Iraq, Saddam unleashes viruses on us all. ;)

Seriously: Anyone know how this new strand started?

[Basic]

Seriously: Anyone know how this new strand started?

Overuse of wide spectrum antibiotics is a rather good guess. Pushing the evolution of multiresistent viri.

[epicstruggle]

Seriously: Anyone know how this new strand started?

Overuse of wide spectrum antibiotics is a rather good guess. Pushing the evolution of multiresistent viri.
When I went to South Africa to meet my wife, i stayed with my uncle and aunt. They have 3 kids a bit younger then me. When one of them got a cold, the doctor prescribe alot of antibiotics just so he could get better fast. I cannot understand this overusing of antibiotics. This will only lead to more drug resistant bugs. I have been trying to be on an anti-anti-bactireal shopping spree. The overuse of anti-bact cleaning supplies will also lead to bacteria that cannot be easily killed.

People can we please stay on topic here. :)

[K.I.L.E.R]

So, can anything OTHER than AB kill the bug? If not, then what?

[Mariner]

Well, if it's a virus, antibiotics will be of no use anyway.

Sounds like it's a nasty disease, though, and it will be interesting (and possibly worrying) to see how far or quickly it spreads.

[Joe DeFuria]

Well, if it's a virus, antibiotics will be of no use anyway.

Exactly. If this is a virus, it didnt' "cause" this bug, nor can the bug be treated with it. We shouldn't automatically treat every new disease/bug as one that's "caused by man".

Any doctor who perscribes ABs for cold symptoms is a moron, as are parents / patients demandind an AB perscription for such symptoms. If there is a bacterial infection (such as ear or throat) accompanyting the symptions, it's at least reasonable.

[RussSchultz]

Captain Trips!

[Simon F]

Any doctor who perscribes ABs for cold symptoms is a moron, as are parents / patients demandind an AB perscription for such symptoms.
Perhaps there should be greater availability of "over the counter" placebos.

Then again ... perhaps that's already happening. I've seen homeopathy "medicine" on sale in chemists :-) (== drugstore for those in the US)

[Joe DeFuria]

Perhaps there should be greater availability of "over the counter" placebos.

Indeed....just call it "bla-blah-illin", and it will likely satisfy legions of patients, not to mention make someone filthy rich in the process.

(...goes off to check patent / copyright registry....)

[Silent_One]

http://www.who.int/csr/table/en/index.html
CUMULATIVE NUMBER OF REPORTED SUSPECT AND PROBABLE CASES OF SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME

FROM: 1 FEB 2003
TO: 17 MAR 2003

Country
Total number of case(s) Number of deaths Local transmission

Germany 1 0 None*

Canada 8 2 Yes

Singapore 20 0 Yes

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
95 1 ** Yes

Switzerland 2 0 To be determined

Thailand 1 0 None*

Viet Nam 40 1 Yes

Total 167 4

Notes:

* Imported cases immediately isolated. Not to be considered as affected areas.

**The death attributed to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China occurred in a case medically transferred from Viet Nam .

This list does not include the reported doubling of cases in Asia nor the 4 reported cases in California. Additionally their are (were) about 300 cases in China reported in February that the WHO is checking into to see if their related.

“This syndrome, SARS, is now a worldwide health threat,” said Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director General of the World Health Organization. “The world needs to work together to find its cause, cure the sick, and stop its spread.”

[RussSchultz]

"And now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray John Reynolds, the peace will keep.

Amen."

[John Reynolds]

"And now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray John Reynolds, the peace will keep.

Amen."

Speak of the devil and he appears in a burst of sulferous smoke.

I deleted quite a few posts to clean this thread up, guys. Let's keep on-topic here.

[Ty]

Seriously: Anyone know how this new strand started?

Overuse of wide spectrum antibiotics is a rather good guess. Pushing the evolution of multiresistent viri.

Anti-biotics don't kill virii. ;)

[Natoma]

Seriously: Anyone know how this new strand started?

Overuse of wide spectrum antibiotics is a rather good guess. Pushing the evolution of multiresistent viri.

Anti-biotics don't kill virii. ;)

Tis true. However, flooding the body with antibiotics still exposes virii and bacterium, which in turn allows virii and bacterium to come up with defenses against the antibiotics.

Virii and Bacterium have been known to share DNA strands. While antibiotics do nothing to virii, there is nothing to stop the virii from developing defenses and passing them along to the bacterium that live in your bodies.

Definitely overuse of our antibiotics and subsequent resistance has been a huge factor in the current crop of 'super bugs' popping up lately.

[Ty]

Virii and Bacterium have been known to share DNA strands. While antibiotics do nothing to virii, there is nothing to stop the virii from developing defenses and passing them along to the bacterium that live in your bodies.

If Antibiotics do nothing to Virii, then what defenses would they develop to pass along to Bacteria?

Definitely overuse of our antibiotics and subsequent resistance has been a huge factor in the current crop of 'super bugs' popping up lately.

While in College, I did my fair share of time working in an ER so I completely understand and agree with this point of view.

[Natoma]

Virii and Bacterium have been known to share DNA strands. While antibiotics do nothing to virii, there is nothing to stop the virii from developing defenses and passing them along to the bacterium that live in your bodies.

If Antibiotics do nothing to Virii, then what defenses would they develop to pass along to Bacteria?


From my understanding of virii and bacteria, anytime they encounter a new medium, their genetic code changes, even if there is no effect. That's one reason why mutations occur so quickly in virii. Sometimes those adaptations end up being passed along to bacterium and end up strengthening them.

Defenses was incorrect terminology. Sorry for the confusion.

[Babel-17]

I've read that even when antibiotics are prescribed sensibly the patients themselves misuse them. Often a person will stop taking them once their symptoms subside. If the infection is still inside them and they infect someone else it will be with a dose that has already begun adapting.

We may come to the point where what few effective antibiotics we have or will develop will only be prescribed under conditions that mandate compliance. I can't readily imagine such an implimentation though. The moral and political implications alone .......... the first time a free clinic denies a hebephrenic treatment, for example, and the person dies .........

I don't have an answer.

[Demonio]

The earth is punishing us do you really think that it will let it treat itself this bad any longer.......???!!!

That statement may seem over the top but think about it........we killing a ''living'' planet........

[Silent_One]

Update:

http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/03/19/mystery.disease.virus/index.htmlWhile doctors would not identify the disease, they say the deadly respiratory illness sweeping through Asia and the world comes from a class of viruses known as paramyxovirus.

This family of microbes causes measles, mump and canine distemper, as well as several respiratory diseases in young children, and a variety of mammals and birds.

Hong Kong authorities unveiled their clue in solving the outbreak on Wednesday after Germany and Taiwan said they had pinpointed a similar virus, and have urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to verify it.

The findings come after a swathe of countries across the world -- among them Singapore, Canada, Taiwan, Australia, Britain, Brunei, Canada, Spain and the United States -- reported suspected cases of the disease.

On Wednesday the mystery virus appeared to have jumped to China's capital Beijing, as well as to Japan and Romania.

So far 14 people have been killed by the virus, dubbed Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and more than 500 have been infected..........The virus, which can lead to a complete respiratory breakdown, is damaging not only because it attacks the body but because of the body's immune response to it.

While SARS has so far proved difficult to treat, Hong Kong doctors say they have had some success by prescribing a cocktail of antiviral drugs and steroids.

Doctors say they hope the two drugs will keep the death rate to a minimum, with health workers reacting positively. While some patients are still in a very serious condition, several have already been discharged.

[kyleb]

The earth is punishing us do you really think that it will let it threat itself this bad any longer.......???!!!

That statement may seem over the top but thing about it........we killing a ''living'' planet........

the Gia hypothesis, i don't put its my faith in it as much as many others; but i do see some truth to it.

also, i have had my share of respiratory issues due to allergies to molds and a weakened immune system from working and playing way to hard; from that experience i can tell you that cocktails of antiviral drugs and steroids only work for so long. eventually i came to the point were the infection was so bad that the doctors ran out of medications to try and i had so much buildup in the tubes that control equilibrium that i had to resort using diluted hydrochloric acid to clear them out. i came down with a small sinus infection about a year after that but just fought it with a hearty lifestyle and have been good for two years sense then. please not that i am not trying to downplay the importance of doctors but simply pointing out that they cannot save us from ourselves.

[Silent_One]

An update

SARS is still spreading, not looking good:

CDC: Mystery illness spreads more easily than first thought
http://www.cnn.com/2003/HEALTH/03/29/mystery.illness/index.html

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The mystery illness that has sickened 1,550 people worldwide appears to spread more easily than was first thought, said Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Earlier this month, when cases of the mystery illness started appearing in North America, health officials thought it could be spread only by close, face-to-face contact, such as that which occurs between a doctor and a patient or among family members.

The disease, which has killed 54 people in 13 countries, most of them in mainland China and Hong Kong, is called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS.

"The potential for infecting large numbers of people is great," Gerberding told reporters Saturday. "We may be in the early stages of what could be a larger problem. On the other hand, this is new and we have a lot of questions about the overall spread."

I have friends who have been in Hong Kong for the last two weeks. They should be home any day now. I don't know about visiting them for a while though. :?

[CI]

It's getting more serious here in Singapore (though nowhere as bad as Hong Kong and other areas). We have 3 deaths and close to a hundred infected. All non-tertiary educational facilities are closed for 10 days (max virus incubation period). Education Ministry is in consultation on whether to shut down all the tertiary institutes as well and extending the duration. People suspected to have come into contact with those infected are quarantined (by law) to stay at home. There's another index case (original source) that just popped up, making 5 total now.

:(

Local papers:
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/latest/story/0,4390,180281,00.html?

[Humus]

I don't think we should be too worried. In fact most people who get the desease fully recovers, only a few dies.

[Sabastian]

When I went to South Africa to meet my wife, i stayed with my uncle and aunt. They have 3 kids a bit younger then me. When one of them got a cold, the doctor prescribe alot of antibiotics just so he could get better fast. I cannot understand this overusing of antibiotics. This will only lead to more drug resistant bugs. I have been trying to be on an anti-anti-bactireal shopping spree. The overuse of anti-bact cleaning supplies will also lead to bacteria that cannot be easily killed.


Well I don't know if anyone explained this or not so far as I didn't read the whole thread but.... My understanding is that the resistant bacteria does not come directly from the use of antibiotics to kill the virus in question but rather if a person whom is infected with the flu virus is taking antibiotics to get better and does not finish the prescription or is not prescribed enough to kill the virus entirely then the virus may develop some resistance of the antibiotic being used. The overprescription of these antibiotics for the flu is likely the source of many more resistant variations of influenza that will likely end up becoming a deadly affliction rather then a simple cold and this is a major fear as a result of this over prescribing of antibiotics. The same fear was considered when doctors began to treat AIDS with antibiotics fearing it would cause the virus to mutate and become even more deadly then it already is. This may very well be the first of many considerably more dangerous forms of the influenza virus and I do believe this will cause doctors to reconsider prescribing antibiotics for the flu. BTW it really is scary.

On that note, I am sure there are plenty here whom have read the uncut version of "The Stand" where Steven King discribes the massive outbreak of some deadly flu like virus that wipes out most of the population this SARS virus reminds me of that story .... creepy. While the outbreak was a result of the virus being some sort of biological warefare weapon and the book takes a strange supernatural twist the viral outbreak discribed in that story still creeps me out. I wouldn't recomend anyone whom is really scared of the SARS virus to read that book. ;)

[Vince]

. I wouldn't recomend anyone whom is really scared of the SARS virus to read that book. ;)

Heh, just have to read it then. Although, personally, I'm not really scared of SARS due to it's relativly quick incubation period - that allows for conventional containment. But, what scares the shit out of me is the prospect of an airborne HIV strain.

[Sxotty]

The news tonight had a segment with the WHO head guy in geneva and it seems like sars aint really that that bad, I mean 62 cases in the US no deaths, no big deal yet. We will see how far it spreads though, sounds like it is about as virulent as a cold or maybe less.

[Sabastian]

Heh, just have to read it then. Although, personally, I'm not really scared of SARS due to it's relativly quick incubation period - that allows for conventional containment. But, what scares the shit out of me is the prospect of an airborne HIV strain.

heh, my dad came down with a real bad case of the flu while I read the book made me creep out when I hear someone cough hard. Make sure it is the uncut version. Some dry parts but really a good read. Oh and it is a rather long story make sure you have lots of free time.

[Sabastian]

The news tonight had a segment with the WHO head guy in geneva and it seems like sars aint really that that bad, I mean 62 cases in the US no deaths, no big deal yet. We will see how far it spreads though, sounds like it is about as virulent as a cold or maybe less.

The governments sure are not reacting as if it is no big deal. Initially I hear of 10 cases in Canada out of them 10 cases there were 2 deaths but that doesn't seem to jive with what we have been hearing lately... I never hear of an outbreak in my life where they shut down hospitals on a large scale like they have in Ontario. In Hong Kong they quarantined a whole apartment building.. sounds serious to me. I don't think I would want to catch this bug.

[PC-Engine]

Aren't more people dying from the traditional flu than from SARS?

[arjan de lumens]

Been wondering a little - does SARS kill otherwise healthy inidividuals, or is it more like traditional flu/pneumonia, mostly killing people already weakened by other disease/old age?

[8ender]

not completely sure but I believe that it only kills the weak and old.

My theory, which many do not like, is that these "super bugs" are just a newer, more resilient version of natural selection at work.

Quite frankly, 100 years from now, I fully expect our children to be suffering from "super bugs" and other diseases a lot worse than the children of people currently drinking filthy brown water in third world countries.

If you think about it, those people who endure much harder lives are likely becoming a much hardier breed of human through good old fashioned natural selection. They are still being exposed to many diseases that won't even touch our bodies during out lifetimes. Not to mention the thousands that starve or die from other reasons.

[elroy]

Hi all,

Finally, my area of speciality! First of all, antibiotics will do nothing to viruses (as has already been stated), so there's no point in treating this (or any other viral infection, for that matter) with antibiotics. Secondly, most of these strains arise as a result of the increased reproduction in bacteria (and AFAIK, virii). A bacterial population will double every eight minutes. So, basically, take the theory of evolution, speed it up big time (can't be bothered doing the math!) and I'm sure that you can see why we are seeing new and resistant strains of bacteria/virii. Increased use of AB's does not help this either.

It is also correct that some people don't take their full prescription of AB's when they have a bacterial infection, which can lead to increases in mutations. With AB's, there are two concentrations, a mean inhibitory concentration, and (I think, can't remember the name!) a mean bacteriocidal concentration. What happens is that some people take enough of the AB to reach the MIC, which will kill most bacteria, but not all. It is usually these ones left that then become resistant to the AB. However, the MBC has not been reached, so not all bacteria are killed, and people then carry the resistant bacteria around. However, most mutations probably occur in livestock, as 99% of the world's AB's go into feed, with only 1% going to humans. Go figure.....

[elroy]

I almost forgot, an excellent website for up to date info on SARS:

http://www.medscape.com/pages/editorial/public/toc-sars

[Sabastian]

This is something more and more distressing to me. I am beginning to think that this is possibly a biological attack..... by North Korea. I know that this is a very speculative suggestion but I would suggest that North Korea is less then happy about the US attack in Iraq and is beginning to seriously consider the idea that this countries days are numbered as well. The outbreak of SARS in the East at literally the outset of the War on Iraq seems like no small coincidence.

This virus is deadly and it does seem to spread relatively quick suggesting that indeed it is airborne. If you look at the quarantined people on the news you will notice that indeed they are forced to wear masks .. I would suggest to others reading this post that our states are very worried that this outbreak will cause panic. The suggestion coming from the media is that this virus is not something to be worried about but I beg to differ. The actions of quarantine are very unusual and suggest that indeed there are serious worries that the virus is spreading .. rapidly.

Now I would be the first one to stand up and suggest that this is not a worry. But .... this virus seems to be causing some serious action on behalf of the countries involved. At any rate it is a very alarming development and I do think possibly that this is action taken by North Korea. Surely I am not certain of this but it does as though the outbreak was timed well with the onset of War with Iraq and I believe it is possibly a biological attack in response to the coalition effort in Iraq. Time will tell. Biological warfare is a scary thing. This virus is creeping me out and I would not put it past North Korean leaders to release just this sort of attack.

[Tahir2]

Weren't the first instances traced to Vietnam tho' Sabastian?

[PC-Engine]

Weren't the first instances traced to Vietnam tho' Sabastian?

Even if it was, what prevents someone from North Korea smuggling or shipping some biological sample to Vietnam? Drugs have and are smuggled in/out of every country on the planet.

[RussSchultz]

I've got a website for you if you believe that one:

www.timecube.com

Or maybe www.rense.com, or www.debka.com, or...

[Tahir2]

Weren't the first instances traced to Vietnam tho' Sabastian?

Even if it was, what prevents someone from North Korea smuggling or shipping some biological sample to Vietnam? Drugs have and are smuggled in/out of every country on the planet.

What prevents N Korea smuggling the virii straight to the US then?

I think a reality check is in order.. try one of Russ' links. :lol:

[K.I.L.E.R]

Airborn HIV virus? You guys are truly scary, despite being educated. :lol:

[PC-Engine]

Weren't the first instances traced to Vietnam tho' Sabastian?

Even if it was, what prevents someone from North Korea smuggling or shipping some biological sample to Vietnam? Drugs have and are smuggled in/out of every country on the planet.

What prevents N Korea smuggling the virii straight to the US then?

I think a reality check is in order.. try one of Russ' links. :lol:

The point is the possibility is there ie drugs. Whether it's true or not is another matter. BTW there have been cases in CA :wink:

Also directly smuggling a sample to the US from NK would be a very difficult task considering current events and would be easily traced if found. Indirect infection from travelers would be a smarter choice.

[Silent_One]

New way virus is spreading?
Bug is spread by BUGS!!!

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/reuters20030408_99.html
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Doctors still haven't pinned down exactly how a deadly flu-like virus is spreading and more cases are pointing to possible new ways it is using to pass from one victim to another.

A top Hong Kong health official said on Tuesday cockroaches might have spread the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in an apartment complex in the city, leading to nearly 300 infections in a matter of days.

If proved true, it would represent an alarming development in the swiftly spreading epidemic in Hong Kong, a city of nearly seven million people filled with densely populated apartment buildings.

Health officials are also looking at the possibility that SARS can be spread by a latter-day version of Typhoid Mary, a cook in early 20th century America who spread typhoid fever without showing symptoms herself.

[RussSchultz]

Health officials are also looking at the possibility that SARS can be spread by a latter-day version of Typhoid Mary, a cook in early 20th century America who spread typhoid fever without showing symptoms herself.

HA! Its sounding more and more like captain trips every day. ;)

[Silent_One]

O.K. latest update-
http://www.who.int/en/
WHO extends SARS-related travel advice
23 April 2003 -- WHO is now recommending that persons planning to travel to Beijing and Shanxi Province, China, and to Toronto, Canada consider postponing all but essential travel to these destinations.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2971841.stm
China seals off major Beijing hospital
In Beijing, the authorities have sealed off the 1,200-bed People's Hospital of Peking University because of multiple Sars infections. Staff and patients cannot leave and no-one is allowed to enter.

A two-week closure of all public schools in Beijing was ordered on Wednesday, affecting more than 1.7 million children.

A BBC correspondent says there is a sense of spreading alarm in the Chinese capital, with panic buying of rice and salt. :shock:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2971843.stm
The deadly Sars virus and the aftermath of the war in Iraq are likely to knock almost one-sixth off economic growth in Asia this year, the World Bank has warned.

The mortality rate has been increasing from about 4%....
Currently.....
Total cases = 4,288
Total deaths = 252
% mortality rate = 5.88%
While to date there have been relatively low number of cases worldwide the mortality rate are alarming. During the 1918 outbreak of influenza the mortality rate were about the same and that outbreak resulted in 18 million deaths. SARS sees to be slowly gaining ground. I hope SARS is over quickly because if not....... :shock:

[BoardBonobo]

The latest is that the mortality rate could reach as high as 10%.

That's quite scary, the big influenza epidemic had a mortality rate of 3.4% and that killed ~18 million people. And it's a corona virus, they have a huge mutation rate so even if a vaccine is produced it has to reach all the people very quickly to be effective.

And since the usual way this works is that only the wealthy can afford the medication, the virus has a whole lot of people to mutate in who can't afford the medication. If anybody is infected then everybody is at risk.

[RussSchultz]

Gaea is angry.

[BoardBonobo]

Oh if lovelock were alive today ;)

[John Reynolds]

Gaea is angry.

That's really not very funny. Bad, Russ, bad.

[MrsSkywalker]

Anyone have any thoughts as to why no one in the US has died from it yet? I have been keeping close tabs on the Canadian outbreaks (we're just about 100 little miles from Quebec...*gulp*) and though people have died in Canada, it seems odd that no one in the US has died... do you think it's b/c of the way we handle colds/flu in general? Or perhaps something in one of our vaccines??

Edit: Just on my local news: "If you have SARS, report it to your doctor imediately." Um....yeah. :roll:

[Mariner]

Does anyone else not think that there has been a bit too much scaremongering by the media about this disease? From what we know, it is difficult to catch this illness - certainly, the number of people infected so far indicates that it is far less virulent than a common influenza.

The disease has been around for several months, yet there are still less than 5,000 cases confirmed out of the world population of 6 billion! How many people have died from influenza during this period, I wonder or even other relatively scarce diseases such as meningitis?

I'll agree that there is cause for concern in the far east where most of the cases are occurring, but every news report here in the UK seems to mention the disease and there have only been 6 cases in this country, all of whom have survived (I believe). Why the media-induced 'panic'?

[BoardBonobo]

That's probably because there are enough life support machines around to cope with the current number of infections. The real panic will set in if the infection rate rises above the number of units available. Then people will start dying in large numbers.

It's the end of the world as we know it :shock: and not with a bang but more of a snuffle and tissue shortage.

Good job I'm flying to Portugal on Saturday...

[pax]

Actually good its only the corona virus thats involved. The high mutation rate will likely turn it into a harmless version soon enough... Influenza plague was over in 3 months ... lets just hope this is contained long enough for the mutation to kick in... or the vaccine for the current form the virus to be made...

Vaccine should be available in a few months...

[BoardBonobo]

But coronaviruses tend to change from one bad variety to a worse one e.g. from lung to gut to liver to... And in most cases the mutated varieties replicate faster and spread faster, also the incubation period can change dramatically with each new strain. Could be ten days for one, twenty days for another, or even ten hours. That makes it incredibly hard to track and even harder to identify.

[pax]

Corona has been with us a long time... I dont want to be overly optimistic but lets see how far the contagion goes and how lethal it really is. I dont think we can gauge real death rates until (hopefully not) much larger numbers are involved.

Most pneumonias arent investigated as they mostly affect the very young or old or sickly. Thats why so many docs prescribe anti biotics for what are 90% of the time viral pneumonias. They dont know for sure it isnt bacterial so they prescribe just in case for legal reasons.

I see many die of pneumonia every year at the chronic care facility I work at. Its a leading cause of death so Im waiting to see more detailed statistics as to how bad this thing is before I start to get worried.