WHO reviews the current state of MERS-CoV
August 10th, 2019WHO MERS Global Summary and Assessment of Risk
“…..Between 2012 and 30 June 2019, 2449 laboratory confirmed cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection were reported to WHO, of which 84.0% were reported by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In total, cases have been reported from 27 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, the United States of America, and Asia. Males above the age of 60 with an underlying medical conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and renal failure, are at a higher risk of severe disease, including death. To date, 845 individuals have died (crude CFR 34.5%).
Since the last global update published on 30 June 2018, 219 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV from four countries were reported to WHO (204 from Saudi Arabia, 13 from Oman, 1 from the Republic of Korea, and 1 from the United Kingdom), of whom 53 (24.2%) have died. Among these cases, 79.0% were male and the median age was 52 years old (IQR 39-65; range 16-94 years old). The median age is similar to the median age of all cases reported to WHO since 2012 (52 years old, IQR 37-65).
At the time of writing, 49 of the 219 (22.4%) patients were reported as asymptomatic or having mild disease. At least one underlying condition was reported in 145 cases (66.2%) since the last update, including chronic renal failure, heart disease, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension…….”