An Appropriate Lower Respiratory Tract Specimen Is Essential for Diagnosis of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)

Lee, Jae Hoon; Lee, Chang-Seop; Lee, Heung-Bum

Some reasons that could be considered for the delayed diagnosis of MERS include: 1) low initial viral load and shedding, and 2) poor sample collection in patients with "no cough" or dry cough. Rapid and correct diagnosis of infection and control measures are critical in preventing the possible spread of MERS-CoV. However, the early symptoms of MERS are non-specific and are the same as those of common pneumonia. In this context, it is very important to conduct thorough and careful patient interviews with a high interest of MERS in mind and to obtain optimal samples for diagnosis. In the clinical findings of patients infected with MERS-CoV, patients with dry cough are more common than patients with productive sputum (3, 4) . Therefore, optimal sample collection is frequently limited, particularly in patients with no cough or dry cough.