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Case-series study: Severe illness common with MERS
October 9, 2014
Experience gained at one Saudi Arabia institution on the clinical aspects and outcomes of 70 MERS-CoV patients found that severe illness was common, particularly in those with concomitant infections and/or low albumin levels, as were fatalities, with age 65 or over the only independent risk factor for death.
The study was released today in the International Journal of Infectious Disease.
The records of 70 consecutive lab-confirmed MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases seen at tertiary care center Prince Sultan Military Medical City in Riyadh from Oct 1, 2012, through May 31, 2014, were examined retrospectively. Median age was 62 years, males accounted for 65.7% of the cases, and just over half (55.7%) acquired their illness in the healthcare setting.
Hospital admission was required in 64 cases (91.4%). Fever, dyspnea, and cough were the most common symptoms, occurring in 43 (61.4%), 42 (60%), and 38 (54.3%) case-patients, respectively. Pneumonia developed in 63 (90%), and 49 (70%) were treated in the intensive care unit (ICU).
Forty-nine patients (70%) required ICU admission; associated factors were concomitant infections (odds ratio [OR], 14.13; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.58-126.09; P = 0.018) and low levels of albumin (OR, 6.31; 95% CI, 1.24-31.90; P = 0.026). Forty-two patients (60%) died in the hospital, with age over 65 years associated with mortality (OR, 4.39; 95% CI, 2.13-9.05; P < 0.0001).
Recent (within 2 weeks of illness onset) exposure to animals, including camels, was present in only 3 cases (4.3%).
The authors noted multiple healthcare-associated clusters in their cohort and note that one patient transmitted the disease to 10 others.
The first case of MERS-CoV was reported in June of 2012 in Saudi Arabia. Since that time it has caused more than 750 cases with more than 320 deaths in multiple countries.
Oct 9 Int J Infect Dis abstract
October 9, 2014
Experience gained at one Saudi Arabia institution on the clinical aspects and outcomes of 70 MERS-CoV patients found that severe illness was common, particularly in those with concomitant infections and/or low albumin levels, as were fatalities, with age 65 or over the only independent risk factor for death.
The study was released today in the International Journal of Infectious Disease.
The records of 70 consecutive lab-confirmed MERS-CoV (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus) cases seen at tertiary care center Prince Sultan Military Medical City in Riyadh from Oct 1, 2012, through May 31, 2014, were examined retrospectively. Median age was 62 years, males accounted for 65.7% of the cases, and just over half (55.7%) acquired their illness in the healthcare setting.
Hospital admission was required in 64 cases (91.4%). Fever, dyspnea, and cough were the most common symptoms, occurring in 43 (61.4%), 42 (60%), and 38 (54.3%) case-patients, respectively. Pneumonia developed in 63 (90%), and 49 (70%) were treated in the intensive care unit (ICU).
Forty-nine patients (70%) required ICU admission; associated factors were concomitant infections (odds ratio [OR], 14.13; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.58-126.09; P = 0.018) and low levels of albumin (OR, 6.31; 95% CI, 1.24-31.90; P = 0.026). Forty-two patients (60%) died in the hospital, with age over 65 years associated with mortality (OR, 4.39; 95% CI, 2.13-9.05; P < 0.0001).
Recent (within 2 weeks of illness onset) exposure to animals, including camels, was present in only 3 cases (4.3%).
The authors noted multiple healthcare-associated clusters in their cohort and note that one patient transmitted the disease to 10 others.
The first case of MERS-CoV was reported in June of 2012 in Saudi Arabia. Since that time it has caused more than 750 cases with more than 320 deaths in multiple countries.
Oct 9 Int J Infect Dis abstract