how long do bugs like Sars survive if they are in a hot, dry room?
Not a clue. I've never really seen a convincing explanation of the marked seasonal nature of many infectious ailments. Why should influenza strike mainly in winter, but the not-dissimilar RSV strike mainly in spring?
Here's an interesting article that suggests it may be seasonal differences in susceptibility that might be one explanation:
Seasonal Variation in Host Susceptibility and Cycles of Certain Infectious Diseases
Scott F. Dowell
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Seasonal cycles of infectious diseases have been variously attributed to changes in atmospheric conditions, the prevalence or virulence of the pathogen, or the behavior of the host. Some observations about seasonality are difficult to reconcile with these explanations. These include the simultaneous appearance of outbreaks across widespread geographic regions of the same latitude; the detection of pathogens in the off-season without epidemic spread; and the consistency of seasonal changes, despite wide variations in weather and human behavior. In contrast, an increase in susceptibility of the host population, perhaps linked to the annual light/dark cycle and mediated by the pattern of melatonin secretion, might account for many heretofore unexplained features of infectious disease seasonality. Ample evidence indicates that photoperiod-driven physiologic changes are typical in mammalian species, including some in humans. If such physiologic changes underlie human resistance to infectious diseases for large portions of the year and the changes can be identified and modified, the therapeutic and preventive implications may be considerable.
Full text at:
cdc.gov
At this point we have no clue about what the peak "SARS-season" will be.
Peter |
