An outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, likely stemmed from health care–associated transmission, according to Dr. Ikwo Oboho and associates.
Of the 255 patients involved in the outbreak, 191 were symptomatic, and 112 had information that could be assessed and were not health care workers. Of those, 109 had recent contact with a health care facility, a person with a confirmed case of MERS-CoV, or a person with some other severe respiratory illness.
The results “underscore the need to strengthen infection prevention and control practices throughout health care facilities, including early recognition and care of patients who are potentially infected with MERS-CoV and who present with mild disease,” the researchers noted.
Find the full study in the New England Journal of Medicine (doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1408636).