The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is simply a viral respiratory disease that in most instances are caused by a novel coronavirus (MERS‐CoV). This disease was first identified in Saudi Arabia in the year 2012 (Kim, 2015). Currently, most human cases of MERS are attributed to human to human infection. However, on the other hand, it is worth noting that camels have been reported to play a role in the transmission of this virus. MERS-CoV is thus considered a zoonotic virus that in most instances is transmitted from animals to man. However, research has not made it clear the origin of this virus. However, it is often believed that MERS-CoV virus originated from bats and the transmitted to camels. According to Kim (2015), the clinical spectrum of the disease has been shown to range from no potentially noticeable symptom, mild respiratory symptoms to a very acute respiratory diseases and even death. The presentation of MERS includes among others: high fever, breath shortness in addition to a cough. Further, the gastrointestinal symptoms have been identified to entail diarrhea. There are other instances where a severe illness results to respiratory failure, and this might necessitate a mechanical ventilation and support, especially in an intensive care unit. However, studies have established that there exists no possible human to human MERS transmission. Transmission from animals to man has not yet been established, but on the other hand, camels have been identified and reported to be one of the primary reservoir hosts for the virus and the major animal source of the disease infection in man. Study of MERS is very critical because research has established a potential human to human transmission especially when there is a close contact for instances when providing care to the infected patient with no adequate protection. MERS‐CoV virus has been established to circulate commonly across the Arabian Peninsula especially in Saudi Arabia. There are also several cases of the disease that have been identified outside the Middle East (Kim, 2015). There is a very close link between MERS and public health primarily because it has been established that the disease causes numerous deaths. The virus transmission has been experienced in healthcare facilities especially from patients to the healthcare providers and further between patients within a given healthcare. Further, there is no specific vaccine or even effective treatment for the diseases (Kim, 2015). The primary treatment form that has been associated with this disease is supportive, and this is founded on the clinical condition of the patient. Further research has established that person that those individual with weak immune, renal failure and even diabetes are at a high risk of contracting MERS infection. These groups of individuals should try as much to avoid any form of contact with camels, poorly cooked meat and raw camel milk.
Mortality / Cost
It is established that approximately 36 percent of the entire patients who were reported to have MERS have already died. According to Kim (2015), the virus related to MERS disease has been reported to cause severe disease among the older population and those believed to have a weak immune system in addition to those associated with chronic diseases among others including; cancer, diabetes, and even chronic lung disease. The outbreak of MERS particularly in the Republic of Korean in the year 2015 was the most catastrophic because approximately 186 people have been infected with MERS coronavirus and among them about 38 of the patients died (Kim, 2015). According to WHO, MERS is one of the riskiest diseases and costly to manage especially as a result of a huge number of infection and deaths associated with it. Lack of awareness among the public and healthcare practitioners has been established to be one of the major factors that lead to the spread of the disease (Kim, 2015). For instance, it was established that the socioeconomic impact of the MERS outbreak in Korea was very great. First, it was evident that the public’s perceived threat that was believed to have been caused by MERS was serious compared to that of the existing infectious diseases. Further, focusing on the case in Korea, the MERS epidemic besides being a public health problem, there was huge state implication where the entire economy and society were massively impacted. For instance, in Korea, the outbreak impacted negatively the tourism sector where the number of tourists decreased significantly by about 41 percent and the economy lost approximately US$10 billion cutting the GDP growth rate by about 0.1 percent (Kim, 2015).
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References
Kim, D. H. (2015). Structural factors of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreak as a public health crisis in Korea and future response strategies. Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health , 48 (6), 265-270.
