faulker024

The current outbreak in Riyadh started mid-July when a 56-year-old man became infected with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS). This individual had frequent contacts with camels and consumed raw camel milk. This man infected his 52-year-old wife, his 53-year-old brother, and 30-year old son. The index case and his wife are reported to have died. Almost 120 cases have been confirmed during this MERS outbreak in Riyadh through August 28, 2015.   As in other MERS outbreaks, more males then females are infected, about 61%. The males range in age from 2-109 years old with a median age of 61. The females range in age from 25 to 98 with a median age of 58. The fatality rate for this outbreak is about 25%, with similar death percentages for both males and females. However the fatality statistics could change because the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health is reporting that there are at least 50 cases still under treatment. In this outbreak, most of the infections had been con...

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreaks associated with nosocomial infection and human-to-human transmission have been routinely documented since the first cases were first reported in 2012. At least 11 major MERS outbreaks have occurred since then, including the current outbreak in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All the major MERS outbreaks have occurred on the Arabian Peninsula with the exception of a recent outbreak in the Republic of Korea between May and June, 2015 where more than 180 cases could be traced back to a single index case infected on the Arabian Peninsula. With the exception of data from the Republic of Korea outbreak, detailed information is limited on the MERS outbreaks on the Arabian Peninsula. One or possibly two separate outbreak in the United Arab Emirates included as many as 40 cases between April and May 2014 from Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. All of the remaining major outbreaks from the Arabian Peninsula occurred in Saudi Arabia. Chronologically, the first major ou...

The recent outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in the Republic of Korea (ROK) is the largest outbreak outside of the Arabian Peninsula since MERS was first reported in 2012. A total of 185 cases of MERS have been reported to date by the World Health Organization (WHO) from the ROK (see Annex 1). The media has reported that the outbreak in the ROK is over ( link ), however, WHO does not consider an infectious disease outbreak to be over until twice the maximum incubation period has passed interrupting the chain of human-to-human transmission. The maximum incubation period for MERS is believed to be14 days. The end of the outbreak will only be signaled 28 days after the last MERS-infected individual in the ROK tests negative sometime in the future. Because of the size and nature of the MERS outbreak in the ROK, researchers will be analyzing the epidemiological data from the ROK outbreak in the future to assess what can be learned from this outbreak. Critical to such a...

Prior to the report of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in mid-May, more than 1000 cases of MERS had been reported from around the world since 2012. Most of these cases, about 87%, have been reported from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Saudi Arabia). Only about 3% of the MERS cases reported through mid-May from Saudi Arabia can be can be classified as pediatric cases (cases less than 18 years old). There has been speculation that Saudi Arabia has had pediatric cases of MERS that were unreported ( link ). Through June 14, 2015, South Korea has reported 150 MERS cases. The number MERS cases reported from South Korea is second only to Saudi Arabia. Since the beginning of the outbreak in South Korea only a single pediatric MERS case has been reported, a hospitalized, 16-year-old male. As unfortunate as the outbreak in South Korea is, it provides an important data set for analyzing the nature of MERS infections. The South Korea outbr...