A REVIEW ON MIDDLE EAST RESPIRATORY SYNDROME CORONAVIRUS

                        1Dr.Kamal Singh Rathore, 2Deepti Verma

1Asso.Professor, BN Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Udaipur, INDIA

               2College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Behrampur, Orissa

                                       kamalsrathore@gmail.com

                                               +919828325713(M)

This is new epidemic disease Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) by mysterious and very dangerous virus called beta coronavirus called novel corona virus (nCoV). This spread from the Middle East in last year now also have claws in India. This is unknown till now or more information is not available on this disease therefore not effective treatment or prevention is not available. Only prevention and information whatever available is the best treatment to prevent from this dreadful disease.

This is seems to be arises from bats previously it was reported that it is spread from camels just like Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). This is corona virus similar to SARS which was spread in 2002-03 and spread like epidemic infecting around 8,000 and killing 800, or one in every 10. This virus is also having crown like surroundings (this is arises from Latin word corona means crown). Spreading of virus is from human to human by close contact for a long time. Also spread by cough and sneezing through air.

 This is dangerous to the whole world: WHO Director Margret Cham told- this is new virus which is spreading very fast and is very dangerous to whole world. First time noticed in 2012 in Saudi Arabia till now 108 patients identified out of these 47 died and most of the sufferers re men(83%). MERS has a 65 percent mortality rate among known cases. And it could conceivably acquire a few crucial mutations that would allow it to transmit efficiently among humans. No case is found in USA yet. Clusters of cases in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UK, France, Tunisia, and Italy are being investigated.

Historical part of this disease:

June 2012: first incident and information from Saudi Arabia (The Al-Hasa outbreak)

Sept.2012: one person in Qatar is admitted with this disease and then shifted to London.

March 2013: One person from Abu Dhabi died at Munich hospital

May 2013: one person identified in France with the symptoms

June 2013: one patient in Italy identified with MERS

July2013: death toll reached to 49

Sept.2013: death toll reached to 58 from 130 cases yet and situation is still evolving.

Symptoms:

1.      Initial symptoms

·         High fever (104 or more)

·         Acute respiratory illness

·         Vomiting  

·         Malaise

·         Breathlessness or shortness of breath

·         cough

2.      After

·         Ataxia

·         Pneumonia

·         Severe diarrhea

3.      Last stage

·         Lung and kidney failure

·         Death

Things unclear yet

·         How people infected and when by virus is unknown, sources still eludes scientists

·         How patients really spread this disease

·         No sure shot cure for this disease      

·         No vaccine is available yet, Medical care is supportive and to help relieve symptoms.

·         Variety and variant of virus is not known yet.

Precautions                                                                                                                                       

CDC advises that people follow these tips to help prevent respiratory illnesses:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, and help young children do the same. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact, such as kissing, sharing cups, or sharing eating utensils, with sick people.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces, such as toys and doorknobs.

Detection tests:      

Lab tests (polymerase chain reaction or PCR) for MERS-CoV are available at state health departments, CDC, and some international labs. Otherwise, MERS-CoV tests are not routinely available. There are a limited number of commercial tests available, but these are not FDA-approved.

Indian scenario

India is high prone to this virus because pilgrimage got to Hajj is more than 2, 00,000 every year to Saudi Arabia from where is virus spread. Most of the pilgrimages from under developed or developing countries where this virus is spreading fast and easily. Total 16% patients are now from India in the total MERS population. In India Mumbai and Kozhikode is highly affected by this disease, these are considered red zone areas for this disease. Every year more than 3, 50,000 passengers travelled to gulf countries which are more prone to this disease.

Some patients showed signs of being infected more than once from different sources, further complicating how people can contract the virus. Causing concern for Saudi officials is the upcoming Hajj from Oct. 13-18, 2013. It is a mass pilgrimage to the Saudi city of Mecca by Muslims from all over. The Saudi government has asked the elderly, pregnant women, children under 12 and those with chronic illnesses not to make the trip. The Indian and U.S. government has made similar warnings to Muslims.

Conclusion

Medical experts strongly advise travelers journeying on the annual Hajj pilgrimage in October to take all necessary precautions. The annual pilgrimage draws millions of Muslim to Saudi Arabia every autumn. Prevention is only alternative for escape of this disease.

References

1. Guery, B.; Poissy, J.; El Mansouf, L.et al., (2013). "Clinical features and viral diagnosis of two cases of infection with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus: a report of nosocomial transmission". Lancet (Elsevier Ltd): S0140-6736(13)60982–4.

2.  Müller, MA.; Raj, VS.; Muth, D.; Meyer, B.; Kallies, S.; Smits, SL.; Wollny, R.; Bestebroer, TM. et al. (11 December 2012). "Human coronavirus EMC does not require the SARS-coronavirus receptor and maintains broad replicative capability in mammalian cell lines". MBio 3 (6): e00515–12.

3. "Coronavirus Diversity, Phylogeny and Interspecies Jumping". Ebm.sagepub.com. 2008-06-26. Retrieved 2013-07-09.