Symptoms of SARS
Symptoms of SARS
The list of signs and symptoms mentioned in various sources
for SARS includes the 35
symptoms listed below:
- Early symptoms are those of fever and related symptoms:
- Lower respiratory phase begins after about 3-7 days:
- Laboratory test signs:
- No rash - not common if at all
- No neurologic symptoms - not common if at all
- No gastrointestinal symptoms - except rarely diarrhea in some patients
- No kidney symptoms - not common if at all
- more information...»
Research symptoms & diagnosis of SARS:
SARS: Complications
Review medical complications possibly associated with SARS:
SARS Symptoms: Book Excerpts
Diagnostic Testing
Diagnostic testing of medical conditions related to SARS:
- No official specific SARS tests available yet
- Various SARS tests under development
- Chest imaging - for identifying pneumonia and related findings
- Chest x-rays
- more tests...»
Research More About SARS
Do I have SARS?
Wrongly Diagnosed with SARS?
The list of other diseases or medical conditions
that may be on the differential diagnosis list of alternative diagnoses
for SARS includes:
See the full list of 5
alternative diagnoses for SARS
More about symptoms of SARS:
More information about symptoms of SARS and related conditions:
Other Possible Causes of these Symptoms
Click on any of the symptoms below to see a full list
of other causes including diseases, medical conditions, toxins, drug interactions,
or drug side effect causes of that symptom.
Medical Books Online about SARS
Medical Books Excerpts
Excerpts of published medical book chapters related to SARS
are available from published medical books
for more detailed information about SARS.
Copyright notice for book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.
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Patient Surveys for SARS
Symptoms of SARS: Online Medical Books
16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE!
Review excerpts from medical books online, free, without registration,
for more information about the symptoms of SARS.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome:
Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
The incubation period for SARS is typically 3 to 5 days but may last as long as 14 days. Initial signs and symptoms include fever, shortness of breath and other minor respiratory symptoms, general discomfort, headache, rigors, chills, myalgia, sore throat, and dry cough. Some individuals may develop diarrhea or a rash. Later complications include respiratory failure, liver failure, heart failure, myelodysplastic syndromes, and death.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Acute respiratory failure in COPD:
Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
In patients who have COPD with ARF, increased ventilation-perfusion mismatch and reduced alveolar ventilation decrease PaO2 (hypoxemia) and increase Paco2 (hypercapnia). This rise in carbon dioxide (CO2) lowers the pH. The resulting hypoxemia and acidemia affect all body organs, especially the CNS and the respiratory and cardiovascular systems.
Specific symptoms vary with the underlying cause of ARF but may include these systems:
❑ Respiratory — Rate may be increased, decreased, or normal depending on the cause; respirations may be shallow, deep, or alternate between the two; and air hunger may occur. Cyanosis may or may not be present, depending on the hemoglobin (Hb) level and arterial oxygenation. Auscultation of the chest may reveal crackles, rhonchi, wheezing, or diminished breath sounds.
❑ CNS — When hypoxemia and hypercapnia occur, the patient may show evidence of restlessness, confusion, loss of concentration, irritability, tremulousness, diminished tendon reflexes, and papilledema; he may slip into a coma.
❑ Cardiovascular — Tachycardia, with increased cardiac output and mildly elevated blood pressure secondary to adrenal release of catecholamine, occurs early in response to low PaO2. With myocardial hypoxia, arrhythmias may develop. Pulmonary hypertension, secondary to pulmonary capillary vasoconstriction, may cause increased pressures on the right side of the heart, elevated jugular veins, an enlarged liver, and peripheral edema. Stresses on the heart may precipitate cardiac failure.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Infant respiratory distress syndrome:
Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
Although a neonate with IRDS may breathe normally at first, he usually develops rapid, shallow respirations within minutes or hours of birth, with intercostal, subcostal, or sternal retractions, nasal flaring, and audible expiratory grunting. This grunting is a natural compensatory mechanism designed to produce positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and prevent further alveolar collapse.
Severe disease is marked by apnea, bradycardia, and cyanosis (from hypoxemia, left-to-right shunting through the foramen ovale, or right-to-left intrapulmonary shunting through atelectatic regions of the lung). Other clinical features include pallor, frothy sputum, and low body temperature as a result of an immature nervous system and the absence of subcutaneous fat.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Acute respiratory distress syndrome:
Signs and Symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
Rapid, shallow breathing; dyspnea, crackles, rhonchi; hypoxemia; bilateral infiltrates on chest X-ray
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Acute respiratory failure:
Signs and Symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
Shallow or deep respirations (or both), air hunger, cyanosis, adventitious breath sounds, confusion, decreased level of consciousness, tachycardia, pulmonary hypertension, irritability, decreased reflexes
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Respiratory acidosis:
Signs and Symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
Confusion, apprehension, asterixis, coma, headache, dyspnea, tachypnea, papilledema, depressed reflexes, tachycardia, hypertension or hypotension, arrhythmias, vasodilation
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Respiratory alkalosis:
Signs and Symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
Deep, rapid breathing; dizziness; agitation; circumoral and peripheral paresthesia; carpopedal spasms; twitching; muscle weakness; seizures; arrhythmias
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Respiratory syncytial virus infection:
Signs and symptoms
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))
Clinical features of RSV infection vary in severity from mild, coldlike symptoms to bronchiolitis or bronchopneumonia and, in a few patients, severe, life-threatening lower respiratory tract infections. Symptoms usually include coughing, wheezing, malaise, pharyngitis, dyspnea, and inflamed mucous membranes in the nose and throat. Reinfection is common, producing milder symptoms than the primary infection.
Otitis media is a common complication of RSV in infants. RSV has also been identified in patients with a variety of central nervous system disorders, such as meningitis and myelitis.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005
Acute respiratory failure in COPD:
Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)
In COPD patients with ARF, increased ventilation-perfusion mismatching and reduced alveolar ventilation decrease Pao2 (hypoxemia) and increase Paco2 (hypercapnia). This rise in carbon dioxide tension lowers the pH. The resulting hypoxemia and acidemia affect all body organs, especially the central nervous, respiratory, and cardiovascular systems. Specific symptoms vary with the underlying cause of ARF but can include any of the following:
Respiratory symptoms. The respiratory rate may be increased, decreased, or normal, depending on the cause; respirations may be shallow or deep, or they may alternate between the two; and air hunger may occur. Cyanosis may or may not be present, depending on the hemoglobin (Hb) level and arterial oxygenation. Auscultation of the chest may reveal crackles, rhonchi, wheezes, or diminished breath sounds.
CNS symptoms. The patient may show evidence of restlessness, confusion, loss of concentration, irritability, tremulousness, diminished tendon reflexes, and papilledema; he may slip into a coma.
Cardiovascular symptoms. Tachycardia, with increased cardiac output and mildly elevated blood pressure secondary to adrenal release of catecholamines, occurs early in response to a low Pao2.With myocardial hypoxia, arrhythmias may develop. Pulmonary hypertension also occurs.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003
Respiratory acidosis:
Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)
Acute respiratory acidosis produces CNS disturbances that reflect changes in the pH of cerebrospinal fluid rather than increased carbon dioxide levels in cerebral circulation.
Effects range from restlessness, confusion, and apprehension to somnolence, with a fine or flapping tremor (asterixis), or coma. The patient may complain of headaches and exhibit dyspnea and tachypnea with papilledema and depressed reflexes. Unless the patient is receiving oxygen, hypoxemia accompanies respiratory acidosis.
This disorder may also cause cardiovascular abnormalities, such as tachycardia, hypertension, atrial and ventricular arrhythmias and, in severe acidosis, hypotension with vasodilation (bounding pulses and warm periphery).
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003
Respiratory alkalosis:
Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)
The cardinal sign of respiratory alkalosis is deep, rapid breathing, possibly exceeding 40 breaths/minute and much like the Kussmaul’s respirations that characterize diabetic acidosis.
Such hyperventilation usually leads to CNS and neuromuscular disturbances, such as light-headedness or dizziness (from below-normal carbon dioxide levels that decrease cerebral blood flow), agitation, circumoral and peripheral paresthesia, carpopedal spasms, twitching (possibly progressing to tetany), and muscle weakness. Severe respiratory alkalosis may cause cardiac arrhythmias that fail to respond to conventional treatment, seizures, or both.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003
Respiratory distress syndrome:
Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)
Although a neonate with respiratory distress syndrome may breathe normally at first, he usually develops rapid, shallow respirations within minutes or hours of birth, with intercostal, subcostal, or sternal retractions; nasal flaring; and audible expiratory grunting. This grunting is a natural compensatory mechanism designed to produce positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and prevent further alveolar collapse.
The neonate may also display hypotension, peripheral edema, and oliguria; if he has severe disease, apnea, bradycardia, and cyanosis (from hypoxemia, left-to-right shunting through the foramen ovale, or right-to-left shunting through atelectatic regions of the lung) may be present. Other signs and symptoms include pallor, frothy sputum, and low body temperature as a result of an immature nervous system and the absence of subcutaneous fat.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003
Respiratory syncytial virus infection:
Signs and symptoms
(Handbook of Diseases)
Signs and symptoms of RSV infection vary in severity, ranging from mild coldlike symptoms to bronchiolitis or bronchopneumonia and, in a few patients, severe, life-threatening lower respiratory tract infections. Generally, signs and symptoms include coughing, wheezing, malaise, pharyngitis, dyspnea, and inflamed mucous membranes in the nose and throat.
Otitis media is a common complication of RSV in infants. RSV has also been identified in patients with various central nervous system disorders, such as meningitis and myelitis.
» READ BOOK EXCERPT ONLINE »
Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003
SARS as a Cause of Symptoms or Medical Conditions
When considering symptoms of SARS, it is also important to consider SARS as a possible cause of other medical conditions.
The Disease Database lists the following medical conditions that SARS may cause:
- (Source - Diseases Database)
SARS: Onset and Incubation
Incubation period for SARS: typically 2-7 days; perhaps up to 10 days (CDC)
Medical articles and books on symptoms:
These general reference articles may be of interest
in relation to medical signs and symptoms of disease in general:
Full list of premium articles on symptoms and diagnosis
About signs and symptoms of SARS:
The symptom information on this page
attempts to provide a list of some possible signs and symptoms of SARS.
This signs and symptoms information for SARS has been gathered from various sources,
may not be fully accurate,
and may not be the full list of SARS signs or SARS symptoms.
Furthermore, signs and symptoms of SARS may vary on an individual basis for each patient.
Only your doctor can provide adequate diagnosis of any signs or symptoms and whether they
are indeed SARS symptoms.
Allergies can leave children feeling sniffly, teary and itchy and take their toll at play and at school. Previously, allergy remedies left children...
When you have watery eyes, a runny nose, congestion and sneezing, how can you tell if it's a cold or an allergy? Find out the difference and the...
Whenever you go to a hospital or clinic for a major procedure or diagnostic test, one of the many forms you are given to sign is an "informed...
Germs are a fact of life and catching an infectious disease like a cold may seem inevitable. But there are simple ways to protect yourself against...
See full list of 4 related videos
» Next page: Diagnostic Tests for SARS
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