SARS: Acute Respiratory Illness With Fatal Outcomes - Research Paper

Introduction

Severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, is a fatal respiratory illness that is contagious and results in death when appropriate medical care is not administered. SARS coronavirus causes the SARS, a virus which then leads to upper respiratory tract complications, leading to illness. The illness is acute, and when the appropriate medical care is not taken, then it leads to death (Gallagher & Buchmeier, 2001). The infection is highly contagious, whereby it is spread through touching an infected individual, sharing or objects like utensils, and speaking to an individual at close range. Currently, there is no vaccine against the Coronavirus and SARS, which makes it a big issue, which is worth anyone's attention. Basically, the spread is through an individual coming into contact with the respiratory droplets of another person that is infected. Thus, the primary control measure in place is avoiding any form of contact with any individuals who show symptoms of the Coronavirus and SARS (Cotten et al., 2014).

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To better understand any issue, there is a need to have an appropriate research design. That will have the effect of guiding the direction of the research and help in attaining the required objective. The research design chosen depends on the information given study is meant to find. In this case, each study chosen has a defined research design. That lays the ground for the explanation of the issues it is all about. Kuiken et al., take an explanatory research design, as they seek to explain what causes the SARS, which is closely associated with the Corona Virus. Their research question was; the role of the coronavirus in the various SARS infections among patients. Their method of data collection was primary in nature, as they undertook experimentation using patient samples. Based on clinical experiments, the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus is associated with the coronavirus (Kuiken et al.,2003). They tested the postmortem and clinical samples of patients' from six countries, on which they based the results of their explanatory research. Their findings stated that the coronavirus is the causative agent of the SARS. The weakness of this study is that it was not conclusive, as not all the patient samples led to the same results. However, the major strength was that there was a strong correlation between the Coronavirus and SARS.

Cyranoski and Abbott researched the cause of the SARS, where they took a descriptive research design. That is because their sole aim was to describe what caused the SARS primarily before it was spread to humans. Their research question was; what is the source of the SARS as they sought to establish its origin. Their method of data collection was experimentation, where they carried out experiments on the various animals believed to have the SARS. Based on their study, they concluded that the origin of the SARS I in animals, and is later transmitted to humans. As a result of the animals' virus being similar to that of the coronavirus, then it was concluded that it was the cause of the SARS (Cyranoski & Abbott 2003). Even though the virus was not genetically close, there was reasonable certainty that it was close to the cause. The strength of the findings is that there was a close relationship between the coronavirus and the virus found in the wild animals tested. However, the weakness was that no certainty was the real cause, as it was described as being genetically close but not identical. This study needs further research as it points us to the direction of the causative agent of the SARS and coronavirus.

Li et al. undertook explanatory research, which was meant to explain the natural reservoirs of the SARS coronavirus. Their research question was, Bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-like coronaviruses, whereby they sought to validate their claim. The data collection was through experimentations, where they carried out experiments on bats so that they could find out the similarity between its virus and that associated with the corona type. Their finding was that the bat species is the natural host of the coronavirus. The virus, SARS-like coronaviruses, were found to display more genetic variation than those in humans. That informed their conclusion that bats are the natural hosts of the virus. The strength of the research is that there was a close relationship between the coronavirus and the virus that was found in the bats. The findings inform research as it points us to the natural cause of the SARS and coronavirus, which can be based on for further study.

There was a study compiled by Jiang et al., which sought to establish the viability of the development of a vaccine against the SARS and coronavirus. The research design adopted was an experimental research design as it sought to gauge the viability of the vaccine option against the SARS and coronavirus. Their research question was based on the viability of the SARS vaccine development. Their data collection was through carrying out experiments to establish how viable the vaccine would be on the welfare of humans. The findings were that it was possible to develop a vaccine which safe, but would not be used by humans until its safety is guaranteed. The vaccine developed at that time was still undergoing tests in China. The strength of the research was that it enabled the development of a vaccine that would stop the spread of the virus. However, the major weakness was regarding the viability of the vaccine as it would react with the human body in undesirable ways.

Homles and Rambaut researched viral evolution and the emergence of the SARS coronavirus. The research took an explanatory research design, where it sought to explain how viruses evolve, in this case, the SARS coronavirus. The research question was; the evolution and emergence of the SARS coronavirus. Data collection and analysis was thorough experimentation, where there was a study of viruses and their evolution. It was established that some viruses were capable of growing and transforming, which enabled them to move from one species to another. In this case, the SARS coronavirus moved from other species to humans, where it became uncontrollable, causing illness (Holmes & Rambaut, 2004). It was concluded that viruses evolve and change their form over time, which enables them to survive in various species of organisms. The strength associated with this research is that it revealed the origin of the virus, and on that basis, preventive measures would be instituted. However, it had a weakness in that it was unclear whether there were other factors that led to the emergence of the virus apart from their evolution. The finding informed research in the healthcare field in that it formed a basis for further research on other viruses, hence get a better understanding of various viral infections.

Conclusion

Various research studies have been carried out on the Coronavirus and SARS, which seek to explain various aspects related to it. They have different approaches; hence the results they generate tend to be different. They all have the positive attribute of positively contributing to a better understanding of the nature of the virus, which can be used to improve healthcare. Based on the multiple works of research, there is better insight regarding Coronavirus and SARS, which can be built on to get better ways of combating the epidemic.

References

Cotten, M., Watson, S. J., Zumla, A. I., Makhdoom, H. Q., Palser, A. L., Ong, S. H., ... & Albarrak, A. (2014). Spread, circulation, and evolution of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus. MBio, 5(1), e01062-13. https://mbio.asm.org/content/5/1/e01062-13.short

Cyranoski, D., & Abbott, A. (2003). Virus detectives seek source of SARS in China's wild animals. https://www.nature.com/articles/423467a

Gallagher, T. M., & Buchmeier, M. J. (2001). Coronavirus spike proteins in viral entry and pathogenesis. Virology, 279(2), 371-374. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/82753182.pdf

Holmes, E. C., & Rambaut, A. (2004). Viral evolution and the emergence of SARS coronavirus. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 359(1447), 1059-1065. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rstb.2004.1478

Jiang, S., He, Y., & Liu, S. (2005). SARS vaccine development. Emerging infectious diseases, 11(7), 1016. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3371787/

Kuiken, T., Fouchier, R. A., Schutten, M., Rimmelzwaan, G. F., Van Amerongen, G., van Riel, D., ... & Ling, A. E. (2003). Newly discovered coronavirus as the primary cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome. The Lancet, 362(9380), 263-270. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673603139670

Li, W., Shi, Z., Yu, M., Ren, W., Smith, C., Epstein, J. H., ... & Zhang, J. (2005). Bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-like coronaviruses. Science, 310(5748), 676-679. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/310/5748/676