Middle East respiratory syndrome
Autor
Memish, Ziad A
Perlman, Stanley
Van Kerkhove, Maria D
Zumla, Alimuddin
Institución
Resumen
The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a lethal zoonotic pathogen that was first identified
in humans in Saudi Arabia and Jordan in 2012. Intermittent sporadic cases, community clusters, and nosocomial
outbreaks of MERS-CoV continue to occur. Between April 2012 and December 2019, 2499 laboratory-confirmed cases
of MERS-CoV infection, including 858 deaths (34·3% mortality) were reported from 27 countries to WHO, the majority
of which were reported by Saudi Arabia (2106 cases, 780 deaths). Large outbreaks of human-to-human transmission
have occurred, the largest in Riyadh and Jeddah in 2014 and in South Korea in 2015. MERS-CoV remains a high-threat
pathogen identified by WHO as a priority pathogen because it causes severe disease that has a high mortality rate,
epidemic potential, and no medical countermeasures. This Seminar provides an update on the current knowledge
and perspectives on MERS epidemiology, virology, mode of transmission, pathogenesis, diagnosis, clinical features,
management, infection control, development of new therapeutics and vaccines, and highlights unanswered questions
and priorities for research, improved management, and prevention.