Severe acute respiratory syndrome: providing care while minimizing personal risks.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) poses a threat to most countries because of easy and convenient travel across the globe in a matter of hours. SARS is a recently recognized infectious disease that may lead to death and severe pulmonary sequelae. It presents with non-specific signs and symptoms and because no definitive laboratory test is readily available, it poses a great risk to healthcare workers because quarantine of affected individuals may not occur early in its presentation. Healthcare workers should consider the diagnosis and institute prompt and thorough protective measures in suspected cases.