Patient-to-Patient Transmission of the MERS Coronavirus

After sharing a room with a patient with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection, a second patient developed respiratory failure caused by the same virus.

In France, a 64-year-old renal-transplant recipient who had recently visited Dubai was hospitalized with fever, chills, myalgia, and diarrhea. He subsequently developed pneumonia, respiratory failure (which was treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation [ECMO]), and renal failure and died of multiple organ failure. A 51-year-old man who had not traveled abroad but had shared a hospital room with patient 1 for 3 days during the acute illness developed fever, chills, and myalgia 9 to 12 days after this contact. He subsequently developed renal failure and respiratory failure, which — as of May 29 (day 21 after symptom onset) — was being managed with ECMO.

Detailed virologic studies identified the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavir…

Reviewing Author

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine

Patient-to-Patient Transmission of the MERS Coronavirus

Topics

Reviewing Author