After 1 RN was infected with MERS-CoV in a Saudi Arabian hospital in 2015, investigators determined that 4.6% of healthcare worker (HCW) contacts eventually contracted the virus.
September 27th, 2017Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus transmission among health care workers: Implication for infection control
Alfaraj, Sarah H. et al.
American Journal of Infection Control
“…..During the study period in 2015, the index case was a 30-year-old Filipino nurse who had a history of unprotected exposure to a MERS-CoV–positive case on May 15, 2015, and had multiple negative tests for MERS-CoV. Weeks later, she was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and MERS-CoV infection. A total of 73 staff were quarantined for 14 days, and nasopharyngeal swabs were taken on days 2, 5, and 12 postexposure. Of those contacts, 3 (4%) were confirmed positive for MERS-CoV. An additional 18 staff were quarantined and had MERS-CoV swabs. A fourth case was confirmed positive on day 12. Subsequent contact investigations revealed a fourth-generation transmission. Only 7 (4.5%) of the total 153 contacts were positive for MERS-CoV….”