MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) has resulted in the death of 19 people in South Korea alone in recent weeks. The number of diagnosed patients has exceeded 160. What is this virus, what are the symptoms of MERS and is it possible to prevent it?
What is MERS?
MERS is a disease of the upper respiratory tract. The MERS-CoV virus that causes it was discovered relatively recently. It was first identified in an infected person in London in 2012. The name of the disease, Middle Eastern Respiratory Distress Syndrome, did not come from nowhere. Since the virus was first discovered, most cases of MERS have been reported in Saudi Arabia.
This is also where the origin of the virus is believed to be. Antibodies to the MERS-CoV virus found in camels. Similar infections also occur in bats. Unfortunately, scientists are not able to unequivocally indicate that one of these animals is indeed the primary source of infection.
Symptoms of MERS
The course of MERS is similar to other ailments of this type. Symptoms characteristic of MERS infection are fever, shortness of breath and cough with intense production. About 30 percent. patients also develop a flu-like symptom in the form of muscle aches. Some of the infected also complain of abdominal pain, diarrhea and vomiting. In severe cases, MERS develops pneumonia leading to acute respiratory failure, as well as kidney damage and acute intravascular coagulation syndrome.
MERS – routes of infection
MERS most likely spreads via the droplet route. You can definitely catch the infection from sick camels. There are also indications that the disease can be transmitted from person to person. This is evidenced by the fact that after a household member becomes ill, a family member usually develops MERS. The incubation period of the disease is five days on average. It is not known whether people who are infected but are asymptomatic can infect others.
Prevention of MERS
The World Health Organization recommends that those in contact with patients with MERS take the following preventive measures:
– Wearing protective medical masks;
– Eye protection with goggles;
– Putting on long-sleeved clothing and gloves in direct contact with the sick person;
– Increased hygiene in keeping hands clean.
Treatment of MERS
MERS, compared to SARS, is a disease with extremely high mortality – about 1/3 of those infected die. Although animal trials to treat interferon infection have resulted in some improvement in the course of the disease, the effect in humans does not always occur. Treatment of MERS is therefore symptomatic.