Emergency cesarean section in an epidemic of the middle east respiratory syndrome: a case report

Park, Mi Hye; Kim, Hee Ryun; Choi, Duck Hwan; Sung, Ji Hee; Kim, Jong Hwa

The patient's sputum was MERS-CoV negative based on RT-PCR before delivery, so it is unclear if strict precautions were necessary [9] . However, the patient had been declared recovered for only 1 day, and illness onset was within 2 weeks. In addition, a C-sec frequently involves large volumes of blood, amniotic fluid, and other body fluids, and these could be infection sources. No other case reports are available on delivering a baby for a women with MERS, but several cases of labor and delivery in women with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) have been published [10, 11] . Viral shedding from maternal body secretions, stool, cerebrospinal fluid, and peritoneal fluid has been reported in SARS cases, suggesting that MERS-CoV could be present in any body fluid and transmitted during C-sec, which is why we treated this patient for confirmed MERS perioperatively. We followed our institution protocol for patients with MERS and referred to the SARS obstetrics guidelines. According to the management guidelines for obstetric patients with SARS [12] , all deliveries should be managed in a designated negative-pressure isolation room and by designated personnel with specialized infection control PPE.