Identify a public health concern that interests you. Examples of such a concern are tobacco, coronary disease, or SARs. Describe what data would be important to know about this concern and how study

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS Cov) is a dangerous public concern which is known to cause severe acute respiratory illness. On August and September 2014, 15 cases of infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) including four deaths were reported in Saudi Arabia (SA) (de Groot et al., 2013). There was a sudden increase of mortality rate reported to be approximately 30 to 40% (Oboho, 2013). Public health programs including MERS Cov guidelines, infection prevention and control measures were implemented under the supervision of Ministry of Health (MOH) for strict compliance and adherence (MOH, 2014).

MERS-CoV epidemiology is a global need which requires data collection (Majumder, Rivers, Lofgren & Fisman, 2014). Also, data addressing outbreak case fatality and mortality rates are important. Moreover, description of the spectrum of infection and clinical course of disease are significant data to be collected. In addition to, assessment of the effectiveness of infection control measures (World health organization, 2015). Data collection and analysis are important to healthcare settings, MOH, World health organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These data have significant values to national and international research centers to develop the best prevention guidelines and to keep tracks of MERS Cov cases. Also, it is important to formulate good public health policies (Majumder, Rivers, Lofgren & Fisman, 2014).

MERS Cov is a public health concern which requires national and international public health responses (WHO, 2015). Studying public health and conducting public health awareness programs about the benefits of performing good hygiene and preventive actions when eating meat or drinking camel milk can avoid MERS Cov infection (Banerjee, Rawat & Subudhi, 2015). Public health awareness can be done by addressing the public through television advertisements, mobile messages, and different social media modalities (Al-Mohrej, 2016). Public health education is a method of prevention to orientate the community about MERS Cov.

There are many effective surveillance methods of MERS Cov including risk assessments, investigations, laboratory testing, infection prevention and clinical management (WHO, 2017). These surveillance methods are recommended by WHO and encouraged to be enhanced in SA and other countries. The effectiveness of these surveillance methods can be seen in many healthcare settings in SA where safety standards are maintained and MERS Cov is prevented.

Constant sharing of experiences and data among facilities in SA caring for MERS Cov patients with the public health community will ultimately lead to evidence based guidelines and standards that will promote safety culture (Al-Mohrej et al., 2016).

References:

Al-Mohrej, O. A., Al-Shirian, S. D., Al-Otaibi, S. K., Tamim, H. M., Masuadi, E. M., &

Fakhoury, H. M. (2016). Is the Saudi public aware of Middle East respiratory syndrome?.

Journal of infection and public health, 9(3), 259-266.

Banerjee, A., Rawat, R., & Subudhi, S. (2015). Outbreak Control Policies for Middle East

Respiratory Syndrome (MERS): The Present and the Future. Journal of Tropical Diseases

& Public Health, 3(3), 1- 4.

de Groot, R. J., Baker, S. C., Baric, R. S., Brown, C. S., Drosten, C., Enjuanes, L., Fouchier,

R.A., Galiano, M., Gorbalenya, A.E., Memish, Z.A. & Perlman, S. (2013). Middle East

respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV): announcement of the Coronavirus

Study Group. Journal of virology, 87(14), 7790-7792.

Majumder, M. S., Rivers, C., Lofgren, E., & Fisman, D. (2014). Estimation of MERS-

coronavirus reproductive number and case fatality rate for the spring 2014 Saudi Arabia

outbreak: insights from publicly available data. PLoS Currents, 6. DOI:

10.1371/currents.outbreaks.98d2f8f3382d84f390736cd5f5fe133c

MOH. (2014). Health Staff Guidelines - Coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Retrieved from:

http://www.moh.gov.sa/en/CCC/StaffRegulations/Corona/Pages/StaffRegulations.aspx

Oboho, I. K., Tomczyk, S. M., Al-Asmari, A. M., Banjar, A. A., Al-Mugti, H., Aloraini, M. S.,

Alkhaldi, K.Z., Almohammadi, E.L., Alraddadi, B.M., Gerber, S.I. & Swerdlow, D. L.

(2015). 2014 MERS-CoV outbreak in Jeddah—a link to health care facilities. New

England Journal of Medicine, 372(9), 846-854.

WHO. (2015). Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-

CoV): summary of current situation, literature update and risk assessment. Retrieved

from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/179184/2/WHO_MERS_RA_15.1_eng.pdf

WHO. (2017). Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Retrieved from:

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/mers-cov/en/