WHO Update On Saudi MERS Cases – August 21st

Credit WHO

 

#10,439

The World Health Organization has published a new batch of Saudi MERS cases, with 18 of 19 cases hailing from Riyadh.  As the current cluster increases in size, the size of these updates becomes a bit unwieldy as well, and so I’ve only published the header and a link to the details.

But to make things a bit easier, I have charted the 19 cases (see below), and from it we can glean some pertinent information (click the chart to enlarge).

 

Of note, we have a rare pediatric case (age 2), a direct contact of a previously identified case.  While making up roughly 40% of the Saudi population, less than 2% of MERS cases are under the age of 20. 

 

Males outnumber females nearly 2:1, with an average age of 58.  Two are HCWs, while the vast majority appear to have acquired the infection while hospitalized for being treated for something else.

 

When it comes to the time between the patient testing positive for MERS, and the time the case is revealed by the MOH daily reports, we see everything from notification the same day, to as much as a week later. While 5 of the 19 cases were announced within 48 hours of testing positive, the delay for 6 cases was five days or longer (max=7). 

 

The average delay is nearly 4 days.

 

Follow the link below for the lengthy WHO update.

 

 

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) – Saudi Arabia

Disease outbreak news
21 August 2015

Between 13 and 17 August 2015, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notified WHO of 19 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including 1 death. Fifteen (15) of these reported cases are associated with a MERS-CoV outbreak currently occurring in a hospital in Riyadh.

(Continue . . . )