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Volume 22, Number 9—September 2016
Research

Feasibility of Using Convalescent Plasma Immunotherapy for MERS-CoV Infection, Saudi Arabia

Yaseen M. ArabiComments to Author , Ali H. Hajeer, Thomas Luke, Kanakatte Raviprakash, Hanan Balkhy, Sameera Johani, Abdulaziz Al-Dawood, Saad Al-Qahtani, Awad Al-Omari, Fahad Al-Hameed, Frederick G. Hayden1, Robert Fowler, Abderrezak Bouchama, Nahoko Shindo, Khalid Al-Khairy, Gail Carson, Yusri Taha, Musharaf Sadat, and Mashail Alahmadi
Author affiliations: King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Y.M. Arabi, A.H. Hajeer , H. Balkhy, S. Johani, A. Al-Dawood, S. Al-Qahtani, A. Bouchama, K. Al-Khairy, M. Sadat, M. Alahmadi); Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA (T. Luke, K. Raviprakash); Alfaisal University, Riyadh (A. Al-Omari); King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (F. Al-Hameed); University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA (F.G. Hayden); University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (R. Fowler); World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland (N. Shindo); University of Oxford Centre for Tropical Medicine, Oxford, UK (G. Carson); King Abdulaziz Medical City, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia (Y. Taha)

Main Article

Table 1

Characteristics of participants in a study for the feasibility of collecting convalescent plasma from persons who had been infected with or exposed to MERS-CoV, Saudi Arabia, July–October 2015*

Characteristic
 Value
Healthcare workers exposed to laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV patients, N = 230
Median age, y (Q1, Q3) 35 (29, 42)
Sex
M 34 (14.8)
F 196 (85.2)
Work-associated exposure
Intubation 52 (22.6)
Bronchoscopy 22 (9.6)
Tracheal suctioning or inhalation therapy 72 (31.3)
Patient care 117 (50.9)
Reported total duration of exposure†
<24 h 66/199 (33.2)
>24 h 133/199 (66.8)
Reported exposure intensity‡
Mild 108/200 (54.0)
Moderate 60/200 (30.0)
Severe 31/200 (15.5)
Laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV infection 11 (4.8)
ELISA-reactive serum sample 4 (1.7)
Median time from exposure to testing positive, d (Q1, Q3)
 381 (246, 485)
Patients with suspected or laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV infection, N = 196
Median age, y (Q1, Q3) 65 (49, 76)
Sex
M 97 (49.5)
F 99 (50.5)
Hospitalization admission area
Intensive care unit 11 (5.8)
Emergency room 183 (88.8)
Ward 2 (0.97)
Laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV infection 5 (2.6)
ELISA-reactive serum sample 8 (4.1)
Median time to testing positive, d (Q1, Q3)
 7 (4, 12)
Household contacts of confirmed MERS-CoV patients, N = 17
Median age (range), y 37 (26, 46)
Sex
M 6 (35.3)
F 11 (64.7)
Laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV infection 0
ELISA-reactive serum sample 0
Median time to antibody testing, d (Q1, Q3) 34 (34, 34)

*Unless otherwise specified, data are no. (%). Q1 and Q3, quartiles 1 and 3, respectively; MERS-CoV, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus.
†Data from a self-administered survey question answered by 199 healthcare workers.
‡Data from a self-administered survey question answered by 200 healthcare workers.

Main Article

1This author is a member of ISARIC (the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium).

Page created: August 16, 2016
Page updated: August 16, 2016
Page reviewed: August 16, 2016
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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