The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in South Korea has been the largest outside Saudi Arabia, where the disease first occurred three years ago. The outbreak is traceable to a 68-year-old man, who returned to South Korea on May 4 after traveling to four Middle Eastern countries. A week after his arrival, the man started getting sick with MERS and he sought treatment at two clinics and two hospitals.
The man evidently passed on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the virus that causes MERS, to members of his family and to the health workers and other patients he got into contact with. By June 7, a total of 87 people have already contracted the disease, six of whom died. In an effort to contain the outbreak, South Korea has quarantined hundreds of people and temporarily closed numerous schools.
MERS-CoV was first isolated in September 2012 by an Egyptian virologist in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from the lungs of a 60-year-old male patient with acute pneumonia who later died of acute kidney failure. Since then, more than 1,000 cases of the disease, with 449 deaths, have been recorded. Most of the cases occurred in the Middle East, primarily Saudi Arabia.
Prior to the discovery of MERS-CoV, only five strains of the coronavirus are known to infect humans—four cause common cold, while the fifth, SARS-CoV, causes severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). SARS generated a scare when it appeared in East Asia in 2002, leaping to humans from animal hosts and then escalating into a global epidemic, eventually killing close to 800 people before suddenly and mysteriously disappearing in 2004.
Three years after it first appeared, MERS remains an enigma. For one, it is not known yet where MERS Co-V came from. It has been found in camels and bats in Saudi Arabia and since there is widespread direct or indirect contact among humans and camels in that country, the camel is suspected as the probable source of the virus.
MERS is transmitted from person to person through close contact. Its transmission rate is low but it is highly fatal—30 to 40 percent of those who get infected die. It has an incubation period of two to 14 days. Its initial symptoms are similar to those of the common cold: runny nose, cough, sore throat, and fever. Sometimes, diarrhea, nausea, and muscle pains also occur. Most MERS patients recover spontaneously but many, especially those with underlying medical conditions, develop complications, most notably pneumonia, kidney failure, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and pericarditis. There is no cure for MERS yet. Current management consists of symptomatic and supportive treatments only.
How can we prevent MERS from infecting Filipinos? The Department of Health (DOH) has been implementing measures to prevent the entry and spread of the virus into the country. All entry ports are being guarded and ways to track down people suspected to have been infected by the virus are in place. In fact, our country’s preparedness to handle MERS was tested last February when a Filipino nurse, who came back from Saudi Arabia, tested positive for MERS-CoV. The DOH was able to avert the spread of the disease by locating the 56 individuals who got into contact with the nurse and quarantining some of them.
But if a MERS outbreak does occur in the Philippines, Filipinos can adopt the following preventive measures as suggested by the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
1. Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
2. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Then, throw the tissue in the trash.
3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
4. Avoid close contact such as kissing, sharing cups, or sharing eating utensils with sick people.
5. Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces such as toys and doorknobs.
http://www.mb.com.ph/mers-mystery/#0P2Kzh3bqPBuJ4a6.99
Reference:-
http://www.mb.com.ph/mers-mystery/
Prepared by :Nurul Fatin Shuhada Binti Rosli
Programme :Environmental Health
Faculty :BIomedical & Health
University :Universiti Selangor
