What Is Severe acute respiratory syndrome?

SARS or severe acute respiratory syndrome was first identified in 2003. It is a serious form of pneumonia. SARS virus infection leads to severe breathing difficulty (acute respiratory distress) and sometimes death too. SARS is highly infectious, but can’t spread by only passing by a patient on the street.

What Are The Symptoms Of Severe acute respiratory syndrome?

• Fever, malaise or chills
• Difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, respiratory distress
• A headache, muscle aches, body aches
• a dry cough

What Are The Causes Of Severe acute respiratory syndrome?

SARS is caused by a virus of the coronavirus family which also causes common. It can spread by:

• During coughing or sneezing by the infected person, infected droplets spread in the air. Breathing in or touching these particles can give you SARS infection.
• The SARS virus lives on tissues, hands, and other surfaces for up to 3 hours after the droplets have dried and up to 6 hours in these droplets. Touching these surfaces can also spread the infection.
• Hugging, kissing, or close contact with the infected person is the riskiest thing to do.
• The stool of SARS infected persons is another way of spreading the virus as they can live there for up to four days or years in the freezing temperature.

What Are The Things One Should Do To Manage Severe acute respiratory syndrome?

• Stay away from the infected person.
• If you have the infection, cover your face with a handkerchief while coughing or sneezing.
• Wash your hands frequently, especially as soon as you visit an infected person or an area. Wear hand gloves.
• Use alcohol-based hand rubs for washing.
• Cover your nose with N95 mask, if you are near an infected person.
• Isolate the patient till he/she comes out of the infectious stage.

What Are The Things One Should Avoid To Manage Severe acute respiratory syndrome?

• Avoid using open dustbins or dustbins which need to be opened with hands to dispose of the tissues, towels or other material used by the infected person.
• Don’t hand-manipulate, bend, or break the used needles. Put used sharps in an unbreakable container.
• Don’t share utensils, towels or any such item with the infected person.

What Are The Best Foods For Severe acute respiratory syndrome?

The diet of a SARS patient should be strictly given as per the advice of a medical practitioner. However, some diets suggested for patients with severe respiratory diseases are:

• Take lots of fluids like water, fresh juices, green tea etc.
• Eat lots of colorful fruits and vegetables as they contain high nutrition which helps not only in preventing the risk of an infection but also in fast recovery.
• Whole grains are full of selenium, carbohydrates, proteins and many other nutritional elements. All these are required to rebuild the lost strength. So, add oatmeal, whole wheat bread, and cereals to your diet.
• Lean protein helps in immune function and tissue repair. So go for high protein and low saturated fat foods like skinless white-meat poultry, beans, lentils, fish, cold water fish, sardines, and salmons.
• Chicken soup can provide necessary hydration and nutrition when the body is suffering from any respiratory disease.
• Carrot, radish and celery juice alkalizes respiratory tract and bloodstream, dissolves mucus, and accelerates detoxification.
• Raw garlic is supposed to be very good for any kind of respiratory disease.

What Are The Worst Foods For Severe acute respiratory syndrome?

• Avoid saturated fats like processed and red and meats, as they can increase inflammation.
• Avoid cold drinks, aerated drinks, and alcohol.
• Avoid heady foods like fried foods as they are difficult to digest and hamper the immunity.
• Avoid dairy products for some time as they increase the mucous production.
• Avoid sugar and all refined starch.

What Are The Medicines For Severe acute respiratory syndrome?

What Are The Tips To Manage Severe acute respiratory syndrome?