Awareness of MERS-CoV among Staff Members of Prince Sultan Military Medical City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Saud H Aman; Mohammed I Aljaber; Abdullah I Alwehaibi; Fahad H Aman; Hamad A Algaeed; Sultan M Almasoud; Majed A Alahmari; Omair Al Hussain; Ahmed Elhag

Human-to-human transmission is an increasingly public health concern since more than fifty percent of the confirmed secondary cases have been identified within hospitals and healthcare center boundaries [2] . Most of this coronavirus infections reported in Saudi Arabia were transmitted through human interactions within the health center boundaries, that might have been due to inadequate infection control within these areas [5] . symptoms in patients included fever, cough, shortness of breath and gastrointestinal symptoms, associated with a mortality rate of 65% [6] . Most patients infected with MERS-CoV show signs of pneumonia and ARDS, as well as acute kidney injury in some of the cases [9] . Whether the severity of MERS-CoV in patients depends on other conditions is still not clear [10] . One study in Saudi Arabia reported that an overwhelming majority of patients with MERS-CoV had underlying comorbidities [6] . Previous studies suggest that patients with diabetes, chronic lung diseases, renal failure, or immunocompromised are prone to greater risk of severe coronavirus onsets, however, there is little evidence to suggest that such underlying comorbidities contributed to disproportionate infection of MERS-CoV [8] . The WHO estimated the mortality rate of the coronavirus to be approximately 30% [2] , [11] . Currently, the treatment is rather non-specific and there are no recommended antiviral agents [2] . Though, Nitazoxanide which is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug is being tested against influenza and other viral respiratory infections and it exhibited appreciable activity against MERS-CoV and other viruses by inhibiting their N protein expression [12] , [13] . Since human-to-human transmission is said to occur in more than 60% of the total infections, mostly involving medical staffs, inpatients prone to and are at an increased risk of MERS-CoV infection. The WHO suggested that infection in healthcare settings were due to overcrowding and insufficient control measures [14] . Secondly, it would be necessary for the patients to avoid contact with camels or to eat properly cooked camel meat [15] . Sufficient knowledge of the etiology and prevention of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus among healthcare professionals is essential in combating the virus.