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Comparative Analysis of Eleven Healthcare-Associated Outbreaks of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (Mers-Cov) from 2015 to 2017

2019; Nature Portfolio; Volume: 9; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1038/s41598-019-43586-9

2045-2322

Sibylle Bernard-Stoecklin, Birgit Nikolay, Abdullah M. Assiri, Abdul Aziz Bin Saeed, Peter Karim Ben Embarek, Hassan El Bushra, Moran Ki, Mamunur Rahman Malik, Arnaud Fontanet, Simon Cauchemez, Maria D. Van Kerkhove,

Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research

Abstract Since its emergence in 2012, 2,260 cases and 803 deaths due to Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have been reported to the World Health Organization. Most cases were due to transmission in healthcare settings, sometimes causing large outbreaks. We analyzed epidemiologic and clinical data of laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV cases from eleven healthcare-associated outbreaks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Korea between 2015–2017. We quantified key epidemiological differences between outbreaks. Twenty-five percent (n = 105/422) of MERS cases who acquired infection in a hospital setting were healthcare personnel. In multivariate analyses, age ≥65 (OR 4.8, 95%CI: 2.6–8.7) and the presence of underlying comorbidities (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.3–5.7) were associated with increased mortality whereas working as healthcare personnel was protective (OR 0.07, 95% CI: 0.01–0.34). At the start of these outbreaks, the reproduction number ranged from 1.0 to 5.7; it dropped below 1 within 2 to 6 weeks. This study provides a comprehensive characterization of MERS HCA-outbreaks. Our results highlight heterogeneities in the epidemiological profile of healthcare-associated outbreaks. The limitations of our study stress the urgent need for standardized data collection for high-threat respiratory pathogens, such as MERS-CoV.