The prevalence of MERS‐CoV among military personnel and their families: A single‐center study

• Published in: Journal of medical virology Vol. 93; no. 5; pp. 2815 - 2819
• Main Authors: Alsharif, Khalaf F., Alzahrani, Abdulwahab B., Alharbi, Abdulsamad O., Algregri, Tariq O., Almuafa, Badr H., Alsulami, Mishal O., Alzahrani, Khalid J., Almuqati, Malik S., Abdel‐Moneim, Ahmed S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.05.2021
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronaviruses; Disease control; Disease transmission; epidemiology; Female; Humans; Infections; KSA; Male; MERS‐CoV; Middle Aged; Middle East respiratory syndrome; Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus - genetics; Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus - isolation & purification; Military; Military Personnel; military subjects; Polymerase chain reaction; Prevalence; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction - methods; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory Distress Syndrome - epidemiology; Respiratory tract; Respiratory tract diseases; Saudi Arabia - epidemiology; Sputum; Virology; Saudi Arabia; military subjects; KSA; epidemiology; MERS-CoV
• ISSN: 0146-6615; 1096-9071; 1096-9071
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.26642

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoV) is a Betacoronavirus that results in a severe fatal respiratory disease; however, it is also associated with mild inapparent infections. The western part of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) contains the holy places where millions of Muslims gathered from all over the world, all year round, with a high probability of mass disease transmission. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of MERS‐CoV among military personnel and their families during the period 2014–2019, in the western part of the KSA. A total of 35,203 sputum samples collected from patients with respiratory distress were screened for the presence of MERS‐CoV using real‐time reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction in the examined patients. MERS‐CoV infections were detected at a very low percentage in the examined patients. Only 42 of the examined subjects (0.12%) were found positive for MERS‐CoV. Most infected cases (32/42) cases were detected in 2014, and the rest of the cases were reported in 2015–2019. The cases with fatal consequences (n = 20) were only detected in 2014. It was concluded that there is a very low prevalence of MERS‐CoV infections among the military personnel and their families. Highlights MERS‐CoV is a severe fatal respiratory disease that is recorded in 27 countries. Most MERS‐CoV cases were reported in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Soldiers and their families are at high risk of contracting respiratory tract infections. No recent studies estimated the rate of MERS‐CoV infection among military personal. A total of 35,203 patients with respiratory disease were examined. MERS‐CoV was detected only in a very low number of the examined patients.