Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) - Surveillance and testing in North England from 2012 to 2019.
Int J Infect Dis
; 93: 237-244, 2020 Apr.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32004690
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) emerged in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and caused an epidemic in the Middle East. Public Health England (PHE) Manchester is one of the two PHE centres in the UK that perform testing for MERS-CoV. The results of the PHE Manchester MERS surveillance from 2012 to 2019 are presented in this report.METHODS:
Retrospective data were collected for returning travellers from the Middle East fitting the PHE MERS case definition. Respiratory samples were tested for respiratory viruses and MERS-CoV using an in-house RT-PCR assay.RESULTS:
Four hundred and twenty-six (426) samples from 264 patients were tested for MERS Co-V and respiratory viruses. No MERS-CoV infections were identified by PCR. Fifty-six percent of samples were PCR positive for viral or bacterial pathogen with Influenza A as the predominant virus (44%). Sixty-two percent of all patients had a pathogen identified with the highest positivity from sputum samples. Patients with multiple samples demonstrated a 100% diagnostic yield.CONCLUSIONS:
Although no cases of MERS were identified, the majority of patients had Influenza infection for which oseltamivir treatment was indicated and isolation warranted. Sputum samples were the most useful in diagnosing respiratory viruses with a 100% diagnostic yield from patients with multiple samples.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Coronavirus Infections
/
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus
/
Travel-Related Illness
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
/
Screening_studies
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Child
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Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
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Infant
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
/
Europa
Language:
En
Journal:
Int J Infect Dis
Journal subject:
DOENCAS TRANSMISSIVEIS
Year:
2020
Document type:
Article