When viewing this topic in a different language, you may notice some differences in the way the content is structured, but it still reflects the latest evidence-based guidance.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

  • Descripción general
  • Teoría
  • Diagnóstico
  • Manejo
  • Seguimiento
  • Recursos
Última revisión: 19 Aug 2025
Última actualización: 10 Feb 2022

Resumen

Definición

Anamnesis y examen

Principales factores de diagnóstico

  • history of travel to affected area
  • history of close contact with infected individuals
  • history of laboratory work on SARS-CoV
  • fever
  • cough
  • myalgia
  • dyspnea
Todos los datos

Otros factores de diagnóstico

  • chills or rigors
  • malaise
  • headache
  • watery diarrhea
  • tachypnea
  • tachycardia
  • cyanosis
  • nausea and vomiting
  • sore throat
  • sputum production
  • chest pain
  • pleurisy
  • rhinorrhea
  • dizziness
  • arthralgia
  • abdominal pain
  • seizure
  • delirium
  • rales
  • inspiratory crackles
  • bronchial breathing
Todos los datos

Factores de riesgo

  • travel to affected area
  • close contact with infected individuals
  • laboratory work on SARS-CoV
Todos los datos

Pruebas diagnósticas

Primeras pruebas diagnósticas para solicitar

  • CBC
  • aminotransferases
  • lactate dehydrogenase
  • creatine kinase
  • blood culture
  • sputum culture
  • nasopharyngeal virus culture
  • direct immunofluorescent antibody staining
  • chest x-ray
  • pulse oximetry
  • reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
Todos los datos

Pruebas diagnósticas que deben considerarse

  • ABG
  • coagulation screen
  • high-resolution CT (HRCT) of thorax
  • serologic testing for SARS-CoV-specific antibodies
  • viral culture
Todos los datos

Pruebas emergentes

  • rapid immunoswab assay for SARS-CoV detection
  • monoclonal antibodies

Algoritmo de tratamiento

Inicial

suspected SARS

Agudo

confirmed SARS

Colaboradores

Autores

Georgia G. Pitsiou, MD, PhD
Georgia G. Pitsiou

Associate Professor in Pulmonary Medicine

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Respiratory Failure Clinic

General Hospital G. Papanikolaou

Thessaloniki

Greece

Divulgaciones

GGP declares that she has no competing interests.

Ioannis P. Kioumis, MD, PhD
Ioannis P. Kioumis

Professor in Pulmonary Medicine

Infectious Diseases

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Respiratory Failure Clinic

General Hospital G. Papanikolaou

Thessaloniki

Greece

Divulgaciones

IPK declares that he has no competing interests.

Revisores por pares

Tommy R. Tong, MD

Attending Pathologist

Montefiore Medical Center

Bronx

NY

Divulgaciones

TRT declares that he has no competing interests.

Sian Griffiths, OBE, MA, MB BChir, FFPHM, FRCP (Lon), FRCP (Edin), FHKCCM

Director of the School of Public Health

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Prince of Wales Hospital

New Territories

Hong Kong

Disclosures

SG declares that she has no competing interests.

Peer reviewer acknowledgements

BMJ Best Practice topics are updated on a rolling basis in line with developments in evidence and guidance. The peer reviewers listed here have reviewed the content at least once during the history of the topic.

Disclosures

Peer reviewer affiliations and disclosures pertain to the time of the review.

References

Our in-house evidence and editorial teams collaborate with international expert contributors and peer reviewers to ensure that we provide access to the most clinically relevant information possible.

Key articles

Christian MD, Poutanen SM, Loutfy MR, et al. Severe acute respiratory syndrome. Clin Infect Dis. 2004;38:1420-1427.Full text  Abstract

Peiris JS, Chu CM, Cheng VC, et al. Clinical progression and viral load in a community outbreak of coronavirus-associated SARS pneumonia: a prospective study. Lancet. 2003;361:1767-1772. Abstract

Mahony JB, Richardson S. Molecular diagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome: the state of the art. J Mol Diagn. 2005;7:551-559. Abstract

Peiris JS, Yuen KY, Osterhaus AD, et al. The severe acute respiratory syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2003;349:2431-2441. Abstract

Fowler RA, Lapinsky SE, Hallet D, et al. Critically ill patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome. JAMA. 2003;290:367-373.Full text  Abstract

Reference articles

A full list of sources referenced in this topic is available to users with access to all of BMJ Best Practice.
  • Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) images

  • Differentials

    • Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)
    • Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)
    • Community-acquired pneumonia
    More Differentials

  • Guidelines

    • Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
    • No. 225-Management guidelines for obstetric patients and neonates born to mothers with suspected or probable severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
    More Guidelines

  • Patient information

    Pneumonia

    More Patient information

  • Videos

    Radial artery puncture animated demonstration

    Femoral artery puncture animated demonstration

    More videos
  • padlock-lockedLog in or subscribe to access all of BMJ Best Practice

Use of this content is subject to our disclaimer