Middle eastern respiratory syndrome: a brief review

Middle East respiratory syndrome is a zoonotic viral disease caused by a novel Coronavirus named Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). More than 1806 cases have been reported in human beings till the end of 2016 with a fatality rate of more than 30%. Majority of the cases have been reported from Saudi Arabia. Many healthcare associated outbreaks have been reported with the largest such outbreak being reported from Republic of Korea in 2015, where 186 cases including 36 deaths occurred. MERS is a viral pneumonia with rapidly progressive respiratory failure leading to ARDS. It presents with a wide range of clinical manifestations and associated with significant mortality rates in hospital admitted patients with comorbidities. Multiple surveillance and phylogenetic studies suggest a bat origin for this virus.A diagnostic real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) is done to detect MERS-CoV .Supportive treatment is the mainstay of management as no specific drug treatment exists for MERS. Resveratrol has shown to inhibit MERS-CoV infection and prolong cellular survival after virus infection. It is also inhibited by interferon type I in cultured cells. Adequate infection control measures are the mainstay in the management of MERS-CoV. Surveillance should be conducted on a large scale among humans and different animal species to determine the exact rate of spread of MERS-CoV.