Days ago, three players from the France team, finalist of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, had to suspend their training due to flu symptoms. Although there is still no confirmation from the World Health Organization, they suspect the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus, known as the "Camel Virus."
The infectologist Javier Farina, head of the infectious disease service at the Cuenca Alta Hospital, in Cuañuelas, explained to the Télam agency that "the virus referred to in the infections of the French players, associated with camels, is surely the one that causes MERS (for its acronym in English), a coronavirus that generated different outbreaks in the last two decades in the Middle East, mainly due to the reservoir that camels have and was shown to have less contagious power to date, compared to what we know about SARS. -CoV-2, which causes coronavirus."
Those allegedly affected by the “camel virus” are forward Kingsley Coman, defender Dayot Upamecano and midfielder Adrien Rabiot. France coach Didier Deschamps revealed to the Spanish sports newspaper AS that Coman "had a fever in the morning" and had to remain isolated in the hotel, in addition to trying to take "all possible care so that the virus does not spread to the rest of the squad."
Asked about the virus, Farina - also a member of the Argentine Society of Infectious Diseases (SADI) - explained that "it can cause severe pneumonia or a banal respiratory illness, like the flu, but it has greater lethality than SARS COV2, mainly because "The condition is much greater in the lungs than in the upper airways of the coronavirus."
As reported on its website by the World Health Organization (WHO), a high rate of patients, around 35% of the cases of people with MERS notified to that organization, died.
Farina noted that MERS and SARS, called SARS CoV1 to distinguish it from SARS CoV2, first detected in Saudi Arabia in 2012, "are two coronaviruses that generated outbreaks in several Member States in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, although they were contents and have not had worldwide dissemination to date".
According to the WHO, human-to-human transmission of the MERS virus "is possible and occurred predominantly between direct contacts and in healthcare settings."
"The largest outbreaks occurred in health facilities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea. Outside of health care settings, sustained human-to-human transmission was not documented anywhere in the world," he detailed. the international organization.
Meanwhile, Fariña indicated that since it is a virus that is spread through the air, like SARS CoV2, "the prevention measures are the same, such as the use of a mask, social distancing and places with poor ventilation and crowding. people are the most conducive to contagion".
It is expected that the permanent exposure to air conditioning and the change in temperatures that occur in the environments in Qatar, in addition to the change in climate in recent days, caused infections of this variant of flu, which presents symptoms such as fever, cough, diarrhea and vomiting.
Likewise, the infectious disease doctor recalled that for this virus "there is no specifically effective treatment or vaccine to date."
Information from the CDC (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention): What is MERS? Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a respiratory disease. It is caused by a virus called Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus or MERS-CoV. This virus was first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. It is different from any other coronavirus that has been found in people before. What is the source of MERS-CoV? MERS-CoV likely came from an animal source in the Arabian Peninsula. In addition to humans, MERS-CoV has been found in camels in several countries. Some people may have become infected after coming into contact with camels. However, more information is needed to determine the possible role that camels and other animals may play in MERS-CoV transmission. What are the symptoms and complications that MERS can cause? Most people with confirmed MERS-CoV infection have had severe acute respiratory illness with symptoms of: • fever • cough • difficulty breathing About 3 to 4 in 10 people reported with MERS have died. Most of the people who died had an underlying medical condition . Some infected people had mild symptoms (such as cold-like symptoms) or no symptoms. How does the virus spread? MERS-CoV, like other coronaviruses, is thought to spread from the respiratory secretions of an infected person, for example through coughing. However, the precise ways in which the virus spreads are currently not well understood. MERS-CoV has spread from sick people to others through close contact, such as caring for or living with an infected person. Infected people have spread MERS-CoV to others in healthcare settings, such as hospitals. |
Figure : Zoonotic mode of transmission of MERS-CoV. All three routes of transmission (camel to camel, camel to human and human to human) were confirmed. The prevalence of MERS-CoV was recently identified in domestic animals in contact with camels. As shown in the dotted line, direct transmission of MERS-CoV from bat to camel and from bat to human has not been confirmed. Human-to-human transmission of the virus occurs after close contact with an infected case in homes and healthcare settings (red arrows). Source : Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV): State of the Science . Ahmed Mostafa, Ahmed Kandeil, Mahmoud Shehata, et al. Microorganisms 2020, 8(7), 991; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8070991
Key points
Clinical features The symptoms, signs, laboratory and imaging abnormalities associated with MERS-CoV infection are not specific to MERS and are like other respiratory tract infections (RTIs). The clinical manifestations of MERS-CoV infections range from asymptomatic infection to mild, moderate and severe disease, often complicated by severe pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), septic shock and multi-organ failure . The incubation period is 2 to 14 days. Mild cases may have low-grade fever, chills, runny nose, dry cough, sore throat, and myalgia. Some patients have gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Fever may be absent in up to 15% of hospitalized cases. Laboratory abnormalities include cytopenias and elevated transaminases. Coinfections with other respiratory viruses and bacterial pathogens have been reported. Up to half of MERS cases may have acute kidney injury and a third of very ill patients have gastrointestinal symptoms . Source : The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) . Esam I. Azhar, et al. Infectious Disease Clinics of North America. Volume 33, Issue 4, December 2019, Pages 891-905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idc.2019.08.001 |
