Acute Respiratory Infections in Travelers Returning from MERS-CoV–Affected Areas
Respiratory tract infections, Air travel, MERS, MERS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome, travel
We examined which respiratory pathogens were identified during screening for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in 177 symptomatic travelers returning to Ontario, Canada, from regions affected by the virus. Influenza A and B viruses (23.1%) and rhinovirus (19.8%) were the most common pathogens identified among these travelers.
Matthew German, Romy Olsha, Erik Kristjanson, Alex Marchand-Austin, Adriana Peci, Anne-Luise Winter, Jonathan B. Gubbay
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Infectious and parasitic diseases, Medicine
Use of Plasma Therapy for Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Encephalopathy
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, encephalopathy, Plasmapheresis, investigational therapies, Viruses, Republic of Korea
Se Yoon Park, Woo Young Choi, Yong Pil Chong, Sun-Whan Park, Eun Byeol Wang, Won-Ja Lee, Youngmee Jee, Seog-Woon Kwon, Sunghan Kim
Theoretical study for the inhibition ability of some bioactive imidazole derivatives against the Middle-East respiratory syndrome corona virus (MERS-Co)
The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a serious viral life-threatening and mortal respiratory illness caused by SARS-CoV. SARS-CoV plays an essential role in the viral replication cycle. It is considered a potential target for SARS inhibitor development. A series of twenty eight bioactive imidazole compounds as possible SARS-CoV inhibitors were designed and evaluated using computational calculations. Possible binding interaction modes were proposed by molecular docking studies. Among all studied compounds, compounds 5, 15 and 22 showed most potent inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV. These results indicated that these inhibitors could be potentially developed into anti-SARS drugs.
Zanco Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences
Patient Contact Recall after SARS Exposure
dispatch, SARS, Occupational Exposure, Intensive care unit, RECALL, reliability
We reinterviewed healthcare workers who had been exposed to a patient with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in an intensive care unit to evaluate the effect of time on recall reliability and willingness to report contact activities and infection control precautions. Healthcare workers reliably recalled events 6 months after exposure.
Popy Dimoulas, Karen A. Green, Altynay Shigayeva, Michael Aquino, Allison McGeer, Damon C Scales
SARS virus, Staphylococcus aureus, Transmission, Letter
Stefano Bassetti, Werner E. Bischoff, Robert J. Sherertz
Antibodies against MERS Coronavirus in Dromedary Camels, Kenya, 1992–2013
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, MERS-CoV, Viruses, coronavirus, Dromedary camels, reservoir
Dromedary camels are a putative source for human infections with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus. We showed that camels sampled in different regions in Kenya during 1992–2013 have antibodies against this virus. High densities of camel populations correlated with increased seropositivity and might be a factor in predicting long-term virus maintenance.
Victor M. Corman, Joerg Jores, Benjamin Meyer, Mario Younan, Anne M. Liljander, Mohammed Y. Said, Ilona Gluecks, Erik Lattwein, Berend-Jan Bosch, Jan Felix Drexler, Set Bornstein, Christian Drosten, Marcel A. Müller
Outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome at Tertiary Care Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2014
coronavirus infections, Saudi Arabia, infection control, Outbreak, Transmission, nosocomial
During March–May 2014, a Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak occurred in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that included many persons who worked or received medical treatment at King Fahd General Hospital. We investigated 78 persons who had laboratory-confirmed MERS during March 2–May 10 and documented contact at this hospital. The 78 persons with MERS comprised 53 patients, 16 healthcare workers, and 9 visitors. Among the 53 patients, the most probable sites of acquisition were the emergency department (22 patients), inpatient areas (17), dialysis unit (11), and outpatient areas (3). Infection control deficiencies included limited separation of suspected MERS patients, patient crowding, and inconsistent use of infection control precautions; aggressive improvements in these deficiencies preceded a decline in cases. MERS coronavirus transmission probably was multifocal, occurring in multiple hospital settings. Continued vigilance and strict application of infection control precautions are necessary to prevent future MERS outbreaks.
Deborah L. Hastings, Jerome I. Tokars, Inas Zakaria A.M. Abdel Aziz, Khulud Z. Alkhaldi, Areej T. Bensadek, Basem M. Alraddadi, Hani Jokhdar, John A. Jernigan, Mohammed A. Garout, Sara M. Tomczyk, Ikwo K. Oboho, Andrew I. Geller, Nimalan Arinaminpathy, David L. Swerdlow, Tariq A Madani
Illness in Intensive Care Staff after Brief Exposure to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
Damon C Scales, Karen Green, Adrienne K. Chan, Susan M Poutanen, Donna Foster, Kylie Nowak, Janet M. Raboud, Refik Saskin, Stephen E. Lapinsky, Thomas E Stewart
Serologic and Molecular Biologic Methods for SARS-associated Coronavirus Infection, Taiwan
SARS-CoV, Serodiagnostic methods, Neutralization test, IFA, ELISA, Immunochromatographic test
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has raised a global alert since March 2003. After its causative agent, SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), was confirmed, laboratory methods, including virus isolation, reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and serologic methods, have been quickly developed. In this study, we evaluated four serologic tests ( neutralization test, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA], immunofluorescent assay [IFA], and immunochromatographic test [ICT]) for detecting antibodies to SARS-CoV in sera of 537 probable SARS case-patients with correlation to the RT-PCR . With the neutralization test as a reference method, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 98.2%, 98.7%, 98.7%, and 98.4% for ELISA; 99.1%, 87.8%, 88.1% and 99.1% for IFA; 33.6%, 98.2%, 95.7%, and 56.1% for ICT, respectively. We also compared the recombinant-based western blot with the whole virus–based IFA and ELISA; the data showed a high correlation between these methods, with an overall agreement of >90%. Our results provide a systematic analysis of serologic and molecular methods for evaluating SARS-CoV infection.
Ho-Sheng Wu, Shu-Chun Chiu, Tsan-Chang Tseng, Szu-Fong Lin, Jih-Hui Lin, Yu-Fen Hsu, Mei-Ching Wang, Tsuey-Li Lin, Wen-Zieh Yang, Tian-Lin Ferng, Kai-Hung Huang, Li-Ching Hsu, Li-Li Lee, Jyh-Yuan Yang, Hour-Young Chen, Shun-Pi Su, Shih-Yan Yang, Ting Hsiang Lin, Ih-Jen Su
Human Metapneumovirus Detection in Patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
Metapneumovirus, coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, virus isolation, Hong Kong
We used a combination approach of conventional virus isolation and molecular techniques to detect human metapneumovirus (HMPV) in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Of the 48 study patients, 25 (52.1%) were infected with HMPV; 6 of these 25 patients were also infected with coronavirus, and another 5 patients (10.4%) were infected with coronavirus alone. Using this combination approach, we found that human laryngeal carcinoma (HEp-2) cells were superior to rhesus monkey kidney (LLC-MK2) cells commonly used in previous studies for isolation of HMPV. These widely available HEp-2 cells should be included in conjunction with a molecular method for cell culture followup to detect HMPV, particularly in patients with SARS.
Rickjason C. W. Chan, John S. Tam, Ching-Wan Lam, Edward Chan, Alan Wu, Chi-kong Li, Thomas A. Buckley, King-Cheung Ng, Gavin M. Joynt, Frankie W. T. Cheng, Ka-Fai To, Nelson Lee, David S.C. Hui, Jo L.K. Cheung, Ida Chu, Esther Liu, Sydney S.C. Chung, Joseph J. Y. Sung