MERS transmission and risk factors: a systematic review

MERS transmission and risk factors: a systematic review

Ji Eun Park, Soyoung Jung, Ae-Ran Kim

Abstract Background Since Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) infection was first reported in 2012, many studies have analysed its transmissibility and severity. However, the methodology and results of these studies have varied, and there has been no systematic review of MERS. This study reviews the characteristics and associated risk factors of MERS. Method We searched international (PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane) and Korean databases (DBpia, KISS) for English- or Korean-language articles using the terms “MERS” and “Middle East respiratory syndrome”. Only human studies with > 20 participants were analysed to exclude studies with low representation. Epidemiologic studies with information on transmissibility and severity of MERS as well as studies containing MERS risk factors were included. Result A total of 59 studies were included. Most studies from Saudi Arabia reported higher mortality (22–69.2%) than those from South Korea (20.4%). While the R0 value in Saudi Arabia was

2018

MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome, infectivity, Severity, Mortality

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-018-5484-8

BMC Public Health

BMC

Public aspects of medicine

EN