Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) History/Background of SARS Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is an infectious respiratory disease that has been traced to be caused by coronavirus. While not widely known, coronavirus is an everyday virus that individuals will likely acquire at least once within their lifetime. First found in the 1960’s, coronaviruses, are named after the crown-like spikes on their surfaces. (Europa, 2015) Today, researchers and public health advisors know more about coronavirus and its family and are concerned by the coronavirus’ ability to change given its atmosphere and environment (Perlman, 3) SARS was an epidemic outbreak in 2002 and 2003. SARS was never on any disease control radars, neither was it known to be …show more content…
Wang examined whether people are affected by SARS based on their fear of the virus or by the statistical chances of actually being infected with SARS while in contact with the daily public. Wang was able to prove that SARS has had a significant affect on the public through his experiments. Wang did a trial in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei City, which was one of the more heavily affected areas by SARS and coincidentally has a high number of daily underground ridership of subways, trains, and buses. Wang was testing to see that if he presented the community with a new SARS virus being spread in the area, would riders continue to ride or will their fear stop them of using public transportation where they would have to be in contact with the general public. After numerous trials, in conclusion, it was shown that once the idea of SARS was spread throughout the community, underground ridership dropped by 1200 people per day showing that 1200 in a certain society had the fear of catching this virus and most likely stayed home instead of traveling to their destinations such as work or school. The SARS virus has been a hassle and burden on the areas that were heavily affected and the researchers are convinced that because of the 2003 outbreak in those areas, citizens are wearing masks in all public locations and carrying masks as a precaution for any future virus that may introduce itself spontaneously. (Wang,