Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in the last two years: Health care workers still at risk

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.Background An important emerging respiratory virus is the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). MERS-CoV had been associated with a high case fatality rate especially among severe cases. Methods This is a retrospective analysis of reported MERS-CoV cases between December 2016 and January 2019, as retrieved from the World Health Organization. The aim of this study is to examine the epidemiology of reported cases and quantify the percentage of health care workers (HCWs) among reported cases. Results There were 403 reported cases with a majority being men (n = 300; 74.4%). These cases were reported from Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. HCWs represented 26% and comorbidities were reported among 71% of non-HCWs and 1.9% among HCWs (P < .0001). Camel exposure and camel milk ingestion were reported in 64% each, and the majority (97.8%) of those with camel exposures had camel milk ingestion. There were 58% primary cases and 42% were secondary cases. The case fatality rate was 16% among HCWs compared with 34% among other patients (P = .001). The mean age ± SD was 47.65 ± 16.28 for HCWs versus 54.23 ± 17.34 for non-HCWs (P = .001). Conclusions MERS-CoV infection continues to have a high case fatality rate and a large proportion of patients were HCWs. Further understanding of the disease transmission and prevention mainly in health care settings are needed

The middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus respiratory infection: an emerging infection from the arabian peninsula

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was initially isolated from a patient who was admitted to a private hospital in the Western part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2012. Subsequently, MERS-CoV resulted in many sporadic cases, multiple intrafamilial transmission, and major outbreaks in healthcare settings. Of all the cases reported within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 38% of the cases were primary, 45% were healthcare-associated infection, and 14% were household infections. The clinical spectrum of the MERS-CoV infection ranges from asymptomatic infections, mild or moderately symptomatic cases, and severe disease requiring intensive care unit admissions and may result in death. Within healthcare settings, transmissions of MERS-CoV are facilitated by overcrowding, poor infection control measures, unrecognized infections, and superspreader phenomenon. Currently, there is no approved therapy for MERS-CoV and there are no vaccines

Update on therapeutic options for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.INTRODUCTION: The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an important emerging respiratory pathogen. MERS-CoV resulted in multiple hospital outbreaks within and outside the Arabian Peninsula. The disease has a high case fatality rate, with the need for a therapeutic option. Areas covered: In this review, we provide an overview of the progress in the development of therapeutic strategies for MERS. We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Scopus, and Google Scholar, using the following terms: 'MERS', 'MERS-CoV', 'Middle East respiratory syndrome' in combination with 'treatment' or 'therapy'. Expert commentary: There are multiple agents tried in vitro and in vivo. None of these agents were used in large clinical studies. Available clinical studies are limited to the use of the combination of interferon and other agents. These clinical studies are based solely on case reports and case series. There are no prospective or randomized trials. There is a need to have prospective and randomized clinical trials for the therapy of MERS-CoV. However, this strategy might be hampered by the sporadic cases outside the large hospital outbreaks

Emerging respiratory viral infections: MERS-CoV and influenza

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic

The Hajj 2019 Vaccine Requirements and Possible New Challenges

Each year millions of pilgrims perform the annual Hajj from more than 180 countries around the world. This is one of the largest mass gathering events and may result in the occurrence and spread of infectious diseases. As such, there are mandatory vaccinations for the pilgrims such as meningococcal vaccines. The 2019 annual Hajj will take place during August 8–13, 2019. Thus, we review the recommended and mandated vaccinations for the 2019 Hajj and Umrah. The mandatory vaccines required to secure the visa include the quadrivalent meningococcal vaccine for all pilgrims, while yellow fever, and poliomyelitis vaccines are required for pilgrims coming from countries endemic or with disease activity. The recommended vaccines are influenza, pneumococcal, in addition to full compliance with basic vaccines for all pilgrims against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, polio, measles, and mumps. It is imperative to continue surveillance for the spread of antimicrobial resistance and occurrence of all infectious diseases causing outbreaks across the globe in the last year, like Zika virus, MDR-Typhoid, Nipah, Ebola, cholera, chikungunya and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

Drivers of MERS-CoV transmission: what do we know?

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) emerged in 2012 has since resulted in sporadic cases, intra-familial transmission and major outbreaks in healthcare settings. The clinical picture of MERS-CoV includes asymptomatic infections, mild or moderately symptomatic cases and fatal disease. Transmissions of MERS-CoV within healthcare settings are facilitated by overcrowding, poor compliance with basic infection control measures, unrecognized infections, the superspreaders phenomenon and poor triage systems. The actual contributing factors to the spread of MERS-CoV are yet to be systematically studied, but data to date suggest viral, host and environmental factors play a major role. Here, we summarize the known factors for the diverse transmission of MERS-CoV

A systematic review of emerging respiratory viruses at the Hajj and possible coinfection with Streptococcus pneumoniae

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.Background The annual Hajj to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attracts millions of pilgrims from around the world. International health community's attention goes towards this mass gathering and the possibility of the development of any respiratory tract infections due to the high risk of acquisition of respiratory viruses. Method We searched MEDLINE/PubMed and Scopus databases for relevant papers describing the prevalence of respiratory viruses among Hajj pilgrims. Results The retrieved articles were summarized based on the methodology of testing for these viruses. A total of 31 studies were included in the quantitative/qualitative analyses. The main methods used for the diagnosis of most common respiratory viruses were polymerase chain reaction (PCR), culture and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Influenza, rhinovirus and parainfluenza were the most common viruses detected among pilgrims. Coronaviruses other than MERS-CoV were also detected among pilgrims. The acquisition of MERS-CoV remains very limited and systematic screening of pilgrims showed no infections. Conclusions Well conducted multinational follow-up studies using the same methodology of testing are necessary for accurate surveillance of respiratory viral infections among Hajj pilgrims. Post-Hajj cohort studies would further evaluate the impact of the Hajj on the acquisition of respiratory viruses