SARS update: fear more important than the virus

1. It is absolutely amazing to think that we can go, in a matter of months, from finding a novel disease to identifying the agent responsible (a coronavirus), apparently having a test for it, and with a rapidly improving understanding of how to treat people. The parallels with 1918 might have been relevant, but the fact is that in a world not suffering the disruption of world war, and with 80 years of scientific development, this disease is actually a nasty but manageable problem.

2. It is clear that the fear of the disease is more of a problem than the disease itself, as the New York Times illustrates. No-one has yet died from SARS in the US. Meanwhile, the impact on China and Hong Kong continues. Economic growth is expected to be hit in China. Apparently, many travel agents in Hong Kong are on the point of collapse.