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During the three months from March 2003 the economically vibrant city of Hong Kong was seriously dislocated after becoming 'second port of call' of the new and potentially fatal disease, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). The uncertainties during that period had a significant impact on the provision of dental care. However the city's only dental hospital continued to function and to support the Faculty of Dentistry of the University of Hong Kong in educating dental students and other members of the dental team. At the time of writing no transmissions of the disease have been attributed to procedures associated with dental healthcare. This article chronicles the sequence of events during the outbreak from a dental perspective. It highlights information that may be useful to dental colleagues who might someday be confronted with similar outbreaks of newly emerged potentially lethal infections.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has caused a major epidemic worldwide. A novel coronavirus is deemed to be the causative agent. Early diagnosis can be made with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of nasopharyngeal aspirate samples. We compared symptoms of 156 SARS-positive and 62 SARS-negative patients in Hong Kong; SARS was confirmed by RT-PCR. The RT-PCR-positive patients had significantly more shortness of breath, a lower lymphocyte count, and a lower lactate dehydrogenase level; they were also more likely to have bilateral and multifocal chest radiograph involvement, to be admitted to intensive care, to need mechanical ventilation, and to have higher mortality rates. By multivariate analysis, positive RT-PCR on nasopharyngeal aspirate samples was an independent predictor of death within 30 days.