Volume 21, Number 7—July 2015
Dispatch
Evaluation of Patients under Investigation for MERS-CoV Infection, United States, January 2013–October 2014
Eileen Schneider
, Christina Chommanard, Jessica M. Rudd, Brett L. Whitaker, Luis Lowe, and Susan I. Gerber
, Christina Chommanard, Jessica M. Rudd, Brett L. Whitaker, Luis Lowe, and Susan I. Gerber
Table 1
Characteristics of 490 PUIs for MERS-CoV, United States, January 1, 2013–October 31, 2014*
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Sex, M/F | 296 (60.4)/186 (38.0) |
| Median age, y (range) |
48 (0.3–89) |
| Symptom | |
| Cough | 393(80.2) |
| Fever | 388 (79.2) |
| Shortness of breath | 220 (44.9) |
| Chills† | 153 (35.1) |
| Myalgia† | 140 (32.1) |
| Sore throat | 134 (27.4) |
| Headache† | 106 (24.3) |
| Diarrhea† | 58 (13.3) |
| Abdominal pain† |
34 (7.8) |
| Hospitalized | 292 (59.6) |
| Intensive care unit | 112 (38.4) |
| Mechanical ventilation |
61 (20.9) |
| Clinical finding | |
| Pneumonia‡ | 236 (48.2) |
| Acute respiratory distress syndrome‡ | 48 (9.8) |
| Renal failure |
22 (4.5) |
| Died |
11 (2.2) |
| Underlying condition† | |
| Immunosuppression | 55 (12.6) |
| Diabetes | 40 (9.2) |
| Hypertension | 27 (6.2) |
| Cardiac disease | 23 (5.3) |
| Asthma | 20 (4.6) |
| Chronic pulmonary disease | 11 (2.5) |
| Hyperlipidemia | 9 (2.1) |
| Pregnant | 8 (1.8) |
| Renal disease | 7 (1.6) |
| Other |
12 (2.8) |
| Specific job classification† | |
| Health care worker | 35 (8.0) |
| US military |
9 (2.1) |
| MERS-CoV rRT-PCR testing | |
| Specimen type | |
| Upper respiratory | 414 (84.5) |
| Lower respiratory | 242 (49.4) |
| Serum | 235 (48) |
| Stool | 40 (8.2) |
| MERS-CoV positive |
2 (0.4) |
| Serologic testing for MERS-CoV | |
| Tested | 67 (13.7) |
| MERS-CoV positive |
2 (0.4) |
| Other pathogens detected§ | |
| Influenza A virus | 41 (8.4) |
| Rhinovirus/enterovirus | 37 (7.6) |
| Influenza B virus | 13 (2.7) |
| Streptococcus pneumoniae | 11 (2.2) |
| Human metapneumovirus | 6 (1.2) |
| Adenovirus | 5 (1.0) |
| Coronavirus | 4 (0.8) |
| Respiratory syncytial virus | 4 (0.8) |
| Parainfluenzavirus | 3 (0.6) |
| Chlamydophila pneumoniae | 2 (0.4) |
| Legionella pneumoniae | 2 (0.4) |
| Other | 16 (3.3) |
*Data are no. (%) unless otherwise specified. MERS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus; PUI, patient under investigation; rRT-PCR, real-time reverse transcription PCR.
†Included only in 2 most recent versions of PUI short form (N = 436).
‡Forty-one PUIs had pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
§Etiologic pathogen not reported for 359 (73%) PUIs; >1 pathogen identified for some PUIs.
Page created: June 15, 2015
Page updated: June 15, 2015
Page reviewed: June 15, 2015
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