Outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome at Tertiary Care Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2014

Abstract

Infection probably was transmitted in the emergency department, inpatient areas, and dialysis unit.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus transmission among health care workers: Implication for infection control

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] As of June 26, 2017, there have been 2,029 cases, including a total of 704 deaths, reported to the World Health Organization. [8][9][10][11][12] In addition, hemodialysis units were also highlighted as the focus of multiple documented and undocumented outbreaks in Al-Hasa and Taif, Saudi Arabia (SA). [8][9][10][11][12] In addition, hemodialysis units were also highlighted as the focus of multiple documented and undocumented outbreaks in Al-Hasa and Taif, Saudi Arabia (SA).…”

MERS coronavirus outbreak: Implications for emerging viral infections

“…Extended outbreaks of the disease have been focused on healthcare facilities, with transmission apparently dependent on close human-to-human contact (Almekhlafi et al, 2016;Assiri et al, 2013a;Balkhy et al, 2016a;Drosten et al, 2015;Fagbo et al, 2015;Oboho et al, 2015). The emergence of this disease has therefore had a profound impact on infection control and prevention procedures in KSA as outbreaks in healthcare facilities have been associated with defective or inadequate infection prevention and control measures (Balkhy et al, 2016b;Butt et al, 2016;Cotten et al, 2014;Hastings et al, 2016).…”

“…Problems which were identified included emergency room overcrowding and neglect of basic infection and prevention control measures such as handwashing (Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), 2018). The KSA Ministry of Health updated guidelines for infection prevention and control in line with WHO recommendations (Butt et al, 2016;Hastings et al, 2016). The Ministry of Health now specifies that "Standard Precautions" should be adhered to in all patient interactions within hospitals, and that these should be further supplemented with the specific precautions for suspected or confirmed MERS-CoV cases (Scientific Advisory Board, Ministry of Health, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, n.d.).…”

Healthcare-associated infections: the hallmark of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus with review of the literature

“…Involving 14 hospitals and more than 200 cases, 60% of infected cases resulted from healthcare-associated transmission [14,16,33]. Factors contributing to intrahospital transmission included inadequate separation of suspected MERS patients, crowding, and inconsistent use of infection control precautions [33]. There was no triaging or isolation of patients with respiratory illness, and patients remained in the emergency department for many days [33].…”

“…Factors contributing to intrahospital transmission included inadequate separation of suspected MERS patients, crowding, and inconsistent use of infection control precautions [33]. There was no triaging or isolation of patients with respiratory illness, and patients remained in the emergency department for many days [33]. In addition, uncontrolled patient movements and high visitor traffic contributed to the outbreak [23].…”