Saudi ER Closed To Contain Nosocomial MERS Spread.

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Saudi hospital MERS cases prompt temporary ER closure
Filed Under: 
MERS-CoV
Robert Roos | News Editor | CIDRAP News
  | Apr 08, 2014
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EyeMark / iStockphoto
A spate of MERS-CoV cases in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, prompted the decision to close the emergency department at King Fahd Hospital (not shown here) temporarily.
In the wake of several cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) at a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, worries about spread of the virus have prompted temporary closure of the hospital's emergency department, according to reports from the country today.
Also today, news services reported a MERS case in a 59-year-old man in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Machine translations of a statement from the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) cited 11 MERS cases in Jeddah, including 6 at King Fahd Hospital. It appears that at least some of these were announced previously.
The King Fahd emergency department was closed for 24 hours for disinfection, according to a machine translation posted today on Avian Flu *****, an infectious disease news blog. It said three contacts of MERS patients at the hospital have tested positive for the virus and are sick, while others have tested positive but have no symptoms.
"This brings the number of confirmed cases and [those] previously announced in the governorate of Jeddah to 11, of whom 2 have died, 6 have recovered, and 3 are still receiving medical care," said an edited translation of the MOH statement provided by ProMED-mail, the disease reporting service of the International Society for Infectious Diseases.
A King Fahd Hospital official said six of the patients were at King Fahd, two were at King Abdul Aziz Hospital, and three others, all doctors, were at three other hospitals, according to a Gulf Newsreport today. The other hospitals are King Faisal, University, and National Guard. The report was based on a story in the newspaper Al Madinah.
The story mentioned rumors that 15 people at King Fahd, including 3 doctors and 4 nurses, were sick with the virus.
Patients were being referred to other hospitals in the city during the closure, according to the MOH statement.
Yesterday the MOH reported four new MERS cases in Jeddah, all of them involving young adults, including one healthcare worker. One patient was in critical condition and two were asymptomatic.
Today's reports did not give any information on infection prevention practices used at King Fahd or on how the virus might have been transmitted there. Previous hospital outbreaks of MERS have been stopped with careful infection prevention steps. But the World Health Organization recently said that transmission of the virus from primary case-patients seems to be occurring in hospitals.
The MOH's MERS-CoV count remained at 175 cases today, including 66 deaths.

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jdljr1 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: June 05 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 1621	Post Options Post Reply Quote jdljr1 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Saudi ER Closed To Contain Nosocomial MERS Spread. Posted: April 08 2014 at 5:09pm
	From cidrap: Saudi hospital MERS cases prompt temporary ER closure Filed Under: MERS-CoV Robert Roos \| News Editor \| CIDRAP News \| Apr 08, 2014 Share Tweet Email Print & PDF emergency_dept.jpg EyeMark / iStockphoto A spate of MERS-CoV cases in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, prompted the decision to close the emergency department at King Fahd Hospital (not shown here) temporarily. In the wake of several cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) at a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, worries about spread of the virus have prompted temporary closure of the hospital's emergency department, according to reports from the country today. Also today, news services reported a MERS case in a 59-year-old man in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Machine translations of a statement from the Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) cited 11 MERS cases in Jeddah, including 6 at King Fahd Hospital. It appears that at least some of these were announced previously. The King Fahd emergency department was closed for 24 hours for disinfection, according to a machine translation posted today on Avian Flu ****, an infectious disease news blog. It said three contacts of MERS patients at the hospital have tested positive for the virus and are sick, while others have tested positive but have no symptoms. "This brings the number of confirmed cases and [those] previously announced in the governorate of Jeddah to 11, of whom 2 have died, 6 have recovered, and 3 are still receiving medical care," said an edited translation of the MOH statement provided by ProMED-mail, the disease reporting service of the International Society for Infectious Diseases. A King Fahd Hospital official said six of the patients were at King Fahd, two were at King Abdul Aziz Hospital, and three others, all doctors, were at three other hospitals, according to a Gulf Newsreport today. The other hospitals are King Faisal, University, and National Guard. The report was based on a story in the newspaper Al Madinah*. The story mentioned rumors that 15 people at King Fahd, including 3 doctors and 4 nurses, were sick with the virus. Patients were being referred to other hospitals in the city during the closure, according to the MOH statement. Yesterday the MOH reported four new MERS cases in Jeddah, all of them involving young adults, including one healthcare worker. One patient was in critical condition and two were asymptomatic. Today's reports did not give any information on infection prevention practices used at King Fahd or on how the virus might have been transmitted there. Previous hospital outbreaks of MERS have been stopped with careful infection prevention steps. But the World Health Organization recently said that transmission of the virus from primary case-patients seems to be occurring in hospitals. The MOH's MERS-CoV count remained at 175 cases today, including 66 deaths.
	John L