Pe urmele unui nou virus (On the trail of a new virus)

O echipa de cercetatori a descoperit un nou virus respirator letal care raspandeste cu usurinta in salile de spital.

Virusul este numit sindromul respirator coronavisrus al Orientului Mijlociu sau MERS, ne aminteste epidemiologul Trish Pearl de la universitatea Johns Hopkins.  Ea spune ca " cazurile sunt straniu de similare". Ea impreuna cu alti doi colegi au investigat o o eruptie SARS in Toronto acum 10 ani. In aceasta primavara, eu au ajutat la descoperirea unei infectii in lant a MERS in Arabia Saudita.

Prin examinarea dosarelor medicale si atenta urmarire a locurilor in care au fost pacientii si angajatii spitalelor, echipa lui Pearl a descoperit ca  clinicile de dializa jucau un rol important in eruptie. O persoana, desemnat  pacientul C, a infectat alti sapte, dintre care sase au fost supusi la dializa in acelasi timp cu el, au declarat membrii echipei pentru New England Journal of Medicine. Pacientul C a fost infectat cu MERS de la pacientul A, aflat in camera de spital de langa camera acestuia. Pacientul A a transmis ,in total, altor trei pacienti infectia.

Odata ce o persoana a fost infectata,dupa calculele cercetatorilor, sunt necesare 5,2 zile pentru ca simomele sa apara si 7.6 zile pana ce virusul e transmis unei alte victime. MERS pare ca se extinde mai repede in infectie decat SARS si este de asemenea mai letal.

SARS a infectat 8,098 pers si a omorat 9,5 % din ei, adica 774 pers, intre noiembrie 2002 si iulie 2003.

Pana in prezent, MERS a infectat 64 pers, omorand 59% dintre ele, adica 38 pers. In eruptia din Arabia Saudita, 65% din 23 de persoane care au preluat virusul au murit. Cei mai multi erau in varsta, sau aveau alte probleme de sanatate.

A new, deadly respiratory virus spreads easily in hospital settings, a team of investigators has found.

The virus, called the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, or MERS, reminds Johns Hopkins University epidemiologist Trish Perl of SARS. “The cases are eerily similar,” she says. Perl and two colleagues investigated a SARS outbreak in Toronto 10 years ago. This spring, they helped unravel the chain of infection of a MERS outbreak  in Saudi Arabia.

By examining medical records and carefully tracking where patients and hospital personnel had been, Perl’s team discovered that dialysis clinics played an important role in the outbreak. One man, designated Patient C, infected seven others, six of whom had undergone dialysis at the same time he did, the team reports June 19 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Patient C caught MERS from patient A, who was staying in the hospital room next door. Patient A ended up transmitting the virus to three people in total.

Once a person has been infected, it takes an average of 5.2 days for symptoms to appear and 7.6 days for MERS to spread to the next victim, the researchers calculate. MERS seems to spread earlier in the infection than SARS did. It is also more deadly.

SARS infected 8,098 people and killed 9.5 percent of them, or 774 people, between November 2002 and July 2003. To date, MERS has infected 64 people worldwide, killing 38, or about 59 percent. In the Saudi outbreak, 65 percent of the 23 people confirmed to have caught the virus died; most were elderly and had other health problems.