The White Horse Pub W1
29 April 2003
The SARS sciBAr was very popular and a healthy discussion between our two speakers, Professor Roy Anderson and Professor John Oxford, and the audience took place at the White Horse, just off Carnaby Street.
This sciBAr was organised as a response to the extensive media coverage of the SARS virus and the event was designed to give members of the public a chance to discuss SARS with two of the UK’s leading researchers on the topic. At the time of the event SARS was still of great interest to the press and a number of journalists were in attendance on the evening, along with students, sciBAr regulars and new faces.
Below are key points raised during the discussion:
The virus itself
SARS is a corona virus, as is the influenza virus. John Oxford compared these two viruses to different breeds of dogs: where influenza is like a greyhound, able to rush around infecting people, SARS is more like a dachshund—it can bite but can’t move around so quickly infecting so many people.
The spread
Roy Anderson considers that SARS is not going to turn into a global epidemic because, although very pathogenic, it is not easily transmitted. The virus can only be spread by touch, that is you would not pick it up from someone if they just coughed in the pub.
The virus has now been effectively contained in Western countries, but less effective reporting systems in poorer nations makes them more of an unknown quantity. Roy Anderson stated that in China, the measures currently being taken to halt the spread of SARS are very stringent.
It was suggested that the World Health Organisation requires more money to help poorer countries contain SARS and conditions like SARS more effectively.
The situation in the UK
There had been six cases of SARS reported in the UK. The spread was contained by quarantining those affected and checking any possible contacts who might have become infected.
John Oxford pointed out that the environment in the UK could be less hospitable to the SARS virus. The weather along with less crowded living conditions would probably limit any spread anyway.
Opportunities to develop a vaccine
The full genome of the virus is now known, which will help a great deal in the development of a vaccine. However, it was suggested that the western nations should invest in finding a vaccine to help WHO.
The future
SARS is here to stay, but is unlikely to develop like the influenza pandemics of 1918, 1957 and 1968 due to the less infectious nature of SARS.