Demographic Variations of MERS-CoV Infection among Suspected and Confirmed Cases: An Epidemiological Analysis of Laboratory-Based Data from Riyadh Regional Laboratory
Introduction. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus was first recognized in September 2012 in Saudi Arabia. The clinical presentations of MERS and non-MERS SARI are often similar. Therefore, the identification of suspected cases that may have higher chances of being diagnosed as cases of MERS...
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doaj-8f425387020c47c3818265cdf47b03dd2020-11-25T01:27:39ZengHindawi LimitedBioMed Research International2314-61332314-61412020-01-01202010.1155/2020/96297479629747Demographic Variations of MERS-CoV Infection among Suspected and Confirmed Cases: An Epidemiological Analysis of Laboratory-Based Data from Riyadh Regional LaboratoryAsmaa Altamimi0Raghib Abu-Saris1Ashraf El-Metwally2Taghreed Alaifan3Aref Alamri4College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaNational Health Laboratory, Saudi Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Saudi CDC), Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaDepartment of Virology and Cytogenetics, Riyadh Regional Laboratory, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaIntroduction. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus was first recognized in September 2012 in Saudi Arabia. The clinical presentations of MERS and non-MERS SARI are often similar. Therefore, the identification of suspected cases that may have higher chances of being diagnosed as cases of MERS-CoV is essential. However, the real challenge is to flag these patients through some demographic markers. The nature of these markers has not previously been investigated in Saudi Arabia, and hence, this study aims to identify them. Methods. It was a surveillance system-based study, for which data from a total of 23,646 suspected patients in Riyadh and Al Qassim regions were analyzed from January 2017 until December 2017 to estimate the prevalence of MERS-CoV among suspected cases and to determine potential demographic risk factors related to the confirmation of the diagnosis. Results. Of 23,646 suspected cases, 119 (0.5%) were confirmed by laboratory results. These confirmed cases (67.2% of which were males) had a mean age of 43.23 years (SD ± 22.8). Around 42.2% of the confirmed cases were aged between 41 and 60 years and about 47% of confirmed cases had their suspected specimen tested in the summer. The study identified three significant and independent predictors for confirmation of the disease: an age between 41 and 60 years, male gender, and summer season admission. Conclusion. The study provides evidence that the MERS-CoV epidemic in the subject regions has specific characteristics that might help future plans for the prevention and management of such a contagious disease. Future studies should aim to confirm such findings in other regions of Saudi Arabia as well and explore potential preventable risk factors.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/9629747 |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Asmaa Altamimi Raghib Abu-Saris Ashraf El-Metwally Taghreed Alaifan Aref Alamri |
spellingShingle |
Asmaa Altamimi Raghib Abu-Saris Ashraf El-Metwally Taghreed Alaifan Aref Alamri Demographic Variations of MERS-CoV Infection among Suspected and Confirmed Cases: An Epidemiological Analysis of Laboratory-Based Data from Riyadh Regional Laboratory BioMed Research International |
author_facet |
Asmaa Altamimi Raghib Abu-Saris Ashraf El-Metwally Taghreed Alaifan Aref Alamri |
author_sort |
Asmaa Altamimi |
title |
Demographic Variations of MERS-CoV Infection among Suspected and Confirmed Cases: An Epidemiological Analysis of Laboratory-Based Data from Riyadh Regional Laboratory |
title_short |
Demographic Variations of MERS-CoV Infection among Suspected and Confirmed Cases: An Epidemiological Analysis of Laboratory-Based Data from Riyadh Regional Laboratory |
title_full |
Demographic Variations of MERS-CoV Infection among Suspected and Confirmed Cases: An Epidemiological Analysis of Laboratory-Based Data from Riyadh Regional Laboratory |
title_fullStr |
Demographic Variations of MERS-CoV Infection among Suspected and Confirmed Cases: An Epidemiological Analysis of Laboratory-Based Data from Riyadh Regional Laboratory |
title_full_unstemmed |
Demographic Variations of MERS-CoV Infection among Suspected and Confirmed Cases: An Epidemiological Analysis of Laboratory-Based Data from Riyadh Regional Laboratory |
title_sort |
demographic variations of mers-cov infection among suspected and confirmed cases: an epidemiological analysis of laboratory-based data from riyadh regional laboratory |
publisher |
Hindawi Limited |
series |
BioMed Research International |
issn |
2314-6133 2314-6141 |
publishDate |
2020-01-01 |
description |
Introduction. Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus was first recognized in September 2012 in Saudi Arabia. The clinical presentations of MERS and non-MERS SARI are often similar. Therefore, the identification of suspected cases that may have higher chances of being diagnosed as cases of MERS-CoV is essential. However, the real challenge is to flag these patients through some demographic markers. The nature of these markers has not previously been investigated in Saudi Arabia, and hence, this study aims to identify them. Methods. It was a surveillance system-based study, for which data from a total of 23,646 suspected patients in Riyadh and Al Qassim regions were analyzed from January 2017 until December 2017 to estimate the prevalence of MERS-CoV among suspected cases and to determine potential demographic risk factors related to the confirmation of the diagnosis. Results. Of 23,646 suspected cases, 119 (0.5%) were confirmed by laboratory results. These confirmed cases (67.2% of which were males) had a mean age of 43.23 years (SD ± 22.8). Around 42.2% of the confirmed cases were aged between 41 and 60 years and about 47% of confirmed cases had their suspected specimen tested in the summer. The study identified three significant and independent predictors for confirmation of the disease: an age between 41 and 60 years, male gender, and summer season admission. Conclusion. The study provides evidence that the MERS-CoV epidemic in the subject regions has specific characteristics that might help future plans for the prevention and management of such a contagious disease. Future studies should aim to confirm such findings in other regions of Saudi Arabia as well and explore potential preventable risk factors. |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/9629747 |
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