Columbia Science Review
  • Home
  • About
    • Executive Board
    • Editorial Board
  • Blog
  • Events
    • 2022-2023
    • 2021-2022
    • 2020-2021
    • 2019-2020
    • 2018-2019
    • 2017-2018
    • 2016-2017
  • Publications
  • COVID-19 Public Hub
    • Interviews >
      • Biology of COVID-19
      • Public Health
      • Technology & Data
    • Frontline Stories >
      • Healthcare Workers
      • Global Health
      • Volunteer Efforts
    • Resources & Links >
      • FAQ's
      • Resource Hubs
      • Student Opportunities
      • Podcasts & Graphics
      • Mental Health Resources
      • Twitter Feeds
      • BLM Resources
    • Columbia Events >
      • Campus Events
      • CUMC COVID-19 Symposium
      • CSR Events
    • Our Team
  • Contact

MERS: First Confirmed Case in the US and Exciting Treatment Potentials

5/18/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Alexander Bernstein

First reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a coronavirus-caused respiratory illness that has claimed over a 100 lives in Saudia Arabia and has a deadly fatality rate of around 40%. Caused by a virus called MERS-CoV, this illness has since spread to 6 countries near the Arabian peninsula. With patients suffering from fairly generic symptoms such as cough, fever, and shortness of breath, MERS is often compared to the SARS epidemic, which infected over 8,000 people in Asia in 2013. Some of the most notable differences, however, include transmissibility and fatality rate. While MERS is more deadly (40% versus 10% fatality rate), it does not appear to have the same infectious capacity. As such, the disease has primarily been confined to the Middle East.

Such is no longer the case. Several weeks ago, as per a report from the Associated Press in New York, the first case of MERS in the United States was confirmed. As might be expected, the afflicted individual had recently returned from a trip to Saudi Arabia, where he had been in Riyadh as a healthcare worker. Flying from Riyadh to London to Chicago and then boarding a bus for Indiana, the man ended up in an Indiana hospital emergency room on April 27th.

Although the man is in a stable condition at the Indiana hospital as per a report from Dr. Anne Schuchat, the director of respiratory diseases at the CDC, there are many concerns regarding possible transmission of the disease during the man’s travels. With a typical five-day incubation period for MERS and the patient’s checking in at the hospital on April 27th, experts are still uncertain if he may have infected other individuals. Reporting as a spokesman for the CDC, Tom Skinner explains that although plane tickets can be tracked to determine who the infected man sat next to on his two flights, the “bus ride may be a challenge” since tickets aren’t recorded and monitored in the same way.

This particular likely-bat-originated coronavirus hasn’t been found to rapidly spread from person to person. However, localized outbreaks have occurred in hospitals and families where multiple healthcare workers have worked in close proximity to an infected patient.
​
While symptoms can be treated, no cure exists, and potential antibody virus-blocking treatments are still in the early stages of development. The identification of antibodies that attack the particular coronavirus does mark legitimate progress. As per a Harvard led group study, two separate antibodies have been found to interact with the surface of the MERS-CoV and prevent the spike shaped viral protein from attaching to human cells. Of further interest is the discovery that mutations allowing the virus to partially escape the antibodies also appear to result in impaired ability to replicate. Yet, despite the identification of these two antibodies, labeled as MERS-4 and MERS-27, which appear to demonstrate a synergistic effect, researchers are still far from a potential treatment. As Dr. Wayne Marasco, a leading researcher in the Harvard study explains, so far, progress on the matter is only nearing animal testing, with the lack of ideal animal models providing further hindrance to drug development.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Artificial Intelligence
    Halloween 2022

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    June 2022
    January 2022
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    July 2009
    May 2009

Columbia Science Review
© COPYRIGHT 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Photos used under Creative Commons from driver Photographer, BrevisPhotography, digitalbob8, Rennett Stowe, Kristine Paulus
  • Home
  • About
    • Executive Board
    • Editorial Board
  • Blog
  • Events
    • 2022-2023
    • 2021-2022
    • 2020-2021
    • 2019-2020
    • 2018-2019
    • 2017-2018
    • 2016-2017
  • Publications
  • COVID-19 Public Hub
    • Interviews >
      • Biology of COVID-19
      • Public Health
      • Technology & Data
    • Frontline Stories >
      • Healthcare Workers
      • Global Health
      • Volunteer Efforts
    • Resources & Links >
      • FAQ's
      • Resource Hubs
      • Student Opportunities
      • Podcasts & Graphics
      • Mental Health Resources
      • Twitter Feeds
      • BLM Resources
    • Columbia Events >
      • Campus Events
      • CUMC COVID-19 Symposium
      • CSR Events
    • Our Team
  • Contact