Noninvasive Ventilation in Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

Severe acute respiratory syndrome first emerged in Guangdong, China in November 2002 and then spread rapidly to many countries through Hong Kong in 2003 [1–4]. A 64-year-old physician from southern China, who had visited Hong Kong on February 21, 2003 and died 10 days later of severe pneumonia, is believed to have been the source of infection causing subsequent outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, and Canada [1–4]. By the end of the epidemic in July 2003, there had been 8,096 cases reported in 29 countries and regions, with a mortality incidence of 774 (9.6 %) [5]. Among the 8,096 cases, 1,706 were health care workers (HCWs). A novel coronavirus (CoV) was responsible for SARS [6]. Bats are likely the natural reservoirs of SARS-like CoV [7, 8].