The calm before the storm: #clinical observations of Middle East respiratory syndrome (#MERS) #patients (J Chemother., abstract)

[Source: US National Library of Medicine, full page: (LINK). Abstract, edited.]

J Chemother. 2018 Feb 1:1-4. doi: 10.1080/1120009X.2018.1429236. [Epub ahead of print]

The calm before the storm: clinical observations of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) patients.

Al-Tawfiq JA1,2, Hinedi K3.

Author information: 1 a Internal Medicine , Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare , Dhahran , Saudi Arabia. 2 b Department of Medicine , Indiana University School of Medicine , Indianapolis , IN , USA. 3 c Hospital Medicine , Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare , Dhahran , Saudi Arabia.

 

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection emerged in 2012. The majority of cases occurred in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the disease carries a high case fatality rate.

METHODS:

We present three MERS-CoV cases and highlight the salient clinical features and laboratory, and radiographic characteristics.

RESULTS:

Although all nasopharyngeal samples were negative, MERS CoV infection was confirmed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of the E gene (UpE) and open reading frame (ORF1b) on sputum samples. The Ct value of the ORF1 gene was 24.8-29.11. One patient had been on immune suppressive agent and two patients had diabetes mellitus. The average length of hospital stay was 10.6 days. Two patients received ribavirin and IFN-a2b in addition to supportive management. The clinical course for these patients started with a febrile period lasting five days, a reduction in fever was coinciding with increased respiratory rate and oxygen requirements. All patients were discharged home. None of the 50 contacts tested positive for MERS-CoV.

CONCLUSION:

Resolution of the fever was accompanied by an increase in oxygen requirements and respiratory rate also lasting several days. This was followed by resolution of all symptoms and return to normal.

KEYWORDS: Hospital care; MERS-CoV; Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

PMID: 29385908 DOI: 10.1080/1120009X.2018.1429236

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Keywords: MERS-CoV.

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Giuseppe Michieli

I am an Italian blogger, active since 2005 with main focus on emerging infectious diseases such as avian influenza, SARS, antibiotics resistance, and many other global Health issues. Other fields of interest are: climate change, global warming, geological and biological sciences. My activity consists mainly in collection and analysis of news, public services updates, confronting sources and making decision about what are the 'signals' of an impending crisis (an outbreak, for example). When a signal is detected, I follow traces during the entire course of an event. I started in 2005 my blog ''A TIME'S MEMORY'', now with more than 40,000 posts and 3 millions of web interactions. Subsequently I added an Italian Language blog, then discontinued because of very low traffic and interest. I contributed for seven years to a public forum (FluTrackers.com) in the midst of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa in 2014, I left the site to continue alone my data tracking job.