Symptoms+&+Disease+Progression+-+SARS

Symptoms include:
 * Common symptoms include flu-like fever (>38º C or 100.4º F), dry cough, breathing difficulties, changes in chest X-rays indicating pneumonia
 * In 5-10% of SARS cases, patients get pneumonia. Pneumonia can leads to other complications that cause death especially in older individuals.
 * Severe cases develop into respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome, called ARDS.
 * 70-90% of cases develop lymphopenia (low count of white blood cells).
 * Other possible symptoms: headache, malaise (a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or uneasiness), muscular stiffness, loss of appetite, confusion, rash, diarrhea.

Disease Progression:
 * 1) After infection, chest x-rays show bilateral changes with interstitial infiltrations (fluid builds up between lung cells)
 * 2) Patients fall into two different groups: 80-90% of patients show improvement of signs and symptoms at day six or seven, and the other 10-20% progress to a more severe form of SARS.
 * Many patients in the second group develop acute respiratory distress syndrome and need mechanical ventilatory support.
 * Most patients in the second group die. Mortality can be linked to a patient's other illnesses.