Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is the term being used to describe a previously unknown serious respiratory illness which has been recently reported in Hong Kong, China, parts of Asia and in Toronto, Canada.
The signs and symptoms of the illness are:
and one or more of the following respiratory symptoms:
and one or more of the following:
As at 6 July, no areas are listed as being affected.
SARS appears to be less infectious than, for example, influenza, and the incubation period is short, around 3-6 days. Based on currently available evidence, close contact with an infected person poses the highest risk of the infective agent spreading from one person to another. To date, the majority of cases have occurred in hospital workers who have cared for SARS patients and close family members and other close contacts of those patients. Only a few cases have been identified outside South East Asia and these cases were in people who had travelled from there.
If they are symptom-free, staff, students and visitors arriving from SARS-affected areas are not considered to be a risk to others.
Close contact includes having cared for, lived with or had direct contact with respiratory secretions and/or body fluids of a person with SARS.
For the latest number of reported cases worldwide, please refer to the World Health Organisation . For the UK, please refer to the former Health Protection Agency.
The health and welfare of its students, staff and visitors is the University's priority. It has responded carefully and speedily to concerns about SARS. In line with national and local advice, the University sees its principal role as making sure students, staff and visitors have ready access to reliable, up-to-date information. Hence:
The University is following government advice, which states that there is no need for students or staff arriving from affected areas (i.e. those stipulated by the WHO) to be quarantined unless they are unwell. In the event of a member of staff or a student developing symptoms of SARS within ten days of arriving from an affected area, the University will follow the advice of the Local Health Authority.
We would request that all visitors to the University, whether conference delegates, holidaymakers, students or other visitors, note the information provided on this website. A detailed SARS information leaflet will also be provided to all visitors on arrival.
It is not possible at present to predict the global situation with respect to SARS incidence and risks to travellers. However, in recent weeks there has been a marked decrease in the number of new cases in most affected areas, so it is possible that the SARS outbreak will have no effect on registration. Please continue to monitor this site for the latest information.
Background information on SARS will be printed in the Registration Handbook issued to all new students.
If they are symptom-free, staff and students arriving from SARS-affected areas are not considered to be a risk to others. If a member of staff or a student develops a fever with any of the other symptoms of SARS within ten days of their return from an affected area, they should seek immediate advice from the Students' Health Service by telephone - +44 (0)117 973 7716 - or telephone a GP. At this stage, do not visit the surgery.
Members of staff who are planning overseas visits on University business must follow the Government advice available from the following websites. Students are also advised to follow this guidance.
Please note that travel insurance is unlikely to be valid if you do not follow this advice.
If you have been in one of the affected areas recently and were in close contact with someone confirmed as suffering from SARS, please contact the Students' Health Service on 0117 973 7716 before returning to the University.
If you develop a fever and any of the other symptoms listed above, it is important that you contact the Students' Health Service by telephone - +44 (0)117 973 7716 - or telephone a GP, giving a history of your travel and your symptoms so that it can be established whether you fit the criteria of a suspected case of SARS. You will then be given guidance on what to do. At this stage, do not visit the surgery.
If you do not have any symptoms of SARS, you are not considered to be a risk to others. The government advice is that students arriving from affected areas who are symptom-free are not considered to be a risk to others.
If you have been in close contact with someone confirmed as suffering from SARS, please contact the Students' Health Service on +44 (0)117 973 7716 before returning to the University.
On return to the University, you are advised to monitor your temperature twice daily for ten days (thermometers are available from most pharmacies and chemists). If you do develop a fever and any of the other symptoms listed above, it is important that you contact the Students' Health Service by telephone - +44 (0)117 973 7716 - or telephone a GP, giving a history of your travel and your symptoms so that it can be established whether you fit the criteria of a suspected case of SARS. You will then be given guidance on what to do. At this stage, do not visit the surgery.
If you develop a fever and any of the other symptoms listed above, it is important that you contact the Students' Health Service by telephone - +44 (0)117 973 7716 - or telephone a GP, giving a history of your travel and your symptoms so that it can be established whether you fit the criteria of a suspected case of SARS. You will then be given guidance on what to do. At this stage, do not visit the surgery.
If they are symptom-free, students arriving from affected areas are not considered to be a risk to others. The government advice to universities is that such students should continue with their education in the normal way.
If they are symptom-free, students arriving from affected areas are not considered to be a risk to others. The government advice to universities is that such students should continue with their education in the normal way.
The University is following government advice, which states that students arriving from affected areas should continue with their education in the normal way. Such students are not a risk to others unless they have symptoms of SARS.
If you do develop a fever and any of the other symptoms listed above, it is important that you contact the Students' Health Service by telephone - +44 (0)117 973 7716 - or telephone a GP, giving a history of your travel and your symptoms so that it can be established whether you fit the criteria of a suspected case of SARS. You will then be given guidance on what to do. At this stage, do not visit the surgery.
The University has an Infectious Diseases Control Committee, chaired by Dr Tony Butler, Director of the Students' Health Service, who is co-ordinating the University response to SARS. The University has tested mechanisms in place to respond to an individual case or an outbreak of an infectious disease, and in the event would work closely with the government Health Protection Agency to take action as appropriate.
Any advice that needs to be given to staff and students in the event of a case or outbreak of SARS will be given via the University website.There is no known risk of contracting SARS from someone who is asymptomatic. The infection does not appear to be spread by aerosol but by respiratory droplets. Therefore, medical advice is that you are not at risk unless you have come into close contact with someone suffering from SARS. At this stage, the government is not advising on general protection of any kind.