Utah People's Post

The Latest News from the Beehive State

Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Log in
  • National News
    • Female Caseworker Killed & Doctor Shot in Philadelphia
  • State News
    • Car Chase Leads to Drug Arrest
  • Tech & Science
  • Health
    • How to Prepare For Ticks Season
    • Magical Weight Loss Bean Scam
  • Sports
  • Business
You are here: Home / Health / Six New MERS Cases Identified in Saudi Arabia

Six New MERS Cases Identified in Saudi Arabia

October 30, 2014 Posted by Contributor

article-mers-0702

Late on Wednesday, health officials in Saudi Arabia announced that they had detected six new cases of MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). These six cases were identified in under 24 hours, which represents the biggest daily jump for several months now.

Officials are blaming lax hospital procedures for this surge in cases, which now total 32 since the beginning of October. Most cases occurred in Riyadh and Taif, however, the outbreak still isn’t as extensive as the one in April and May that ended up infecting hundreds.

MERS presents with persistent coughing, fever and can be associated with pneumonia. It has a 40% death rate, with most of the confirmed cases worldwide being found in Saudi Arabia. Here, a total of 786 people have been infected and 334 of them died.

The cases announced Wednesday included two new cases in medical personnel, which justified the health ministry’s inquiries into the standard of infection control procedures in hospitals. Currently, three different hospitals in Taif are affected.

According to a senior health ministry official, a renal clinic in a hospital in the city represents one of the treatment centers for some of the MERS patients in Taif and is believed to also be responsible for some of the transmissions.

“The secret here of success is not to prevent the cases to be introduced to the community… the success is to control the transmission within health facilities,”

Abdulaziz bin Saeed, undersecretary for public health told reporters.

As Saeed sees it, medical personnel may have been too relaxed with infection control standards after the last outbreak. At that time, the ministry had intervened in order to ensure the improvement of procedures in Taif hospitals.

The six new cases confirmed on Wednesday include three Taif residents, two in Riyadh and one in Hafr al-Batin, near Kuwait. Five other cases were diagnosed in Taif this month and six others in Riyadh since the start of October.

Ever since the virus was identified, in 2012, there have also been other countries where cases have been confirmed, all over Europe, the Middle East, Asia and even the United States, however, the common denominator in all cases was that patients had recently traveled to Saudi Arabia.

Doctors aren’t yet clear on the origin of the virus, however, many studies have connected it to camels and some experts believe that close physical contact or consumption of camel meat or milk might pass the virus onto humans.

 

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Email

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: health officials, hospitals, MERS, mers cases, mers patients, mers transmission, middle eastern respiratory syndrome, Saudi Arabia, saudi arabia mers

Woman working out at the gym

Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time

June 29, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)

June 29, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

United Airlines airplane

Passenger Mysteriously Dies on United Airlines flight Bound for Boston

June 28, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Breakfast sandwich

Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat

June 27, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Poppy flower

UN Warns of Surge in Opium-based Drugs and Cocaine Supply

June 27, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

U.S.-Canada border

French Jogger Detained 2 Weeks for Accidentally Crossing Border

June 26, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Plus size model

Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

June 25, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Giant manta ray

Unique Manta Ray Nursery Spotted off Texas Coast

June 23, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

The rainbow flag

WHO Scraps Transgenderism from List of Mental Illnesses

June 22, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

456 People Dead at U.K. Hospital after Taking too Many Painkillers

June 21, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Kenyan girls dancing

Kenyans Facing Poor Nutrition as Supermarket Shopping Is on the Rise

June 20, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Pages

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Staff
  • Terms and Conditions

Recent Posts

  • Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time
  • Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)
  • Passenger Mysteriously Dies on United Airlines flight Bound for Boston
  • Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat
  • UN Warns of Surge in Opium-based Drugs and Cocaine Supply
  • French Jogger Detained 2 Weeks for Accidentally Crossing Border
  • Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

Related Articles

  • Woman working out at the gym

    Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time

    Jun 29, 2018
  • Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)

    Jun 29, 2018
  • Breakfast sandwich

    Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat

    Jun 27, 2018
  • Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

    Jun 25, 2018
  • The rainbow flag

    WHO Scraps Transgenderism from List of Mental Illnesses

    Jun 22, 2018
  • 456 People Dead at U.K. Hospital after Taking too Many Painkillers

    Jun 21, 2018
  • Young woman affected by depression

    If You Have PTSD You Were Likely Abused as a Child

    Jun 19, 2018
  • Obese dog on a leash

    Obese Dogs Can Help Us Better Understand How Obesity Works

    Jun 18, 2018
  • Our Brains Are Craving Combinations of Fats and Carbs (Study)

    Jun 15, 2018
  • Hungry bird with beck open

    Scientists Explain Why We Get ‘Hangry’

    Jun 13, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • National News
  • Nature
  • Provo
  • Salt Lake News
  • Science
  • Sports
  • State News
  • Tech & Science
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • West Jordan
  • West Valley City
  • World

Copyright © 2023 utahpeoplespost.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Site Map · Contact