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UPDATED: See HPA Announcement On Novel Coronavirus Case
# 6571
On Friday, in Sometimes They Come Back I wrote a brief history of SARS, and about a ProMed Mail report on a patient in Saudi Arabia diagnosed with a novel coronavirus infection. At the time, we had no details on the patient’s condition, or on any additional cases.
Today it is emerging that there are at least three victims of this virus, and two have died. The third patient is still undergoing treatment.
With the Hajj (annual pilgrimage to Mecca) only a month away, this news takes on increased importance.
The following report comes from the Bahrain News Agency.
Saudi Health Ministry Announces Diagnosis of New Form of Coronavirus
10 : 06 AM - 23/09/2012
Riyadh, Sept. 23 (BNA) - Saudi Ministry of Health announced Sunday that a new form of the coronavirus was diagnosed in three people causing the death of two of them; the third is still undergoing treatment. The Ministry explained that, with the rapidly changing weather at this time of the year and with the start of the Hajj season a new strain of coronavirus has been recovered from three patients.Coronaviruses are considered to be one of the common etiological agents of the common cold. The first case was a Saudi patient diagnosed in one of the hospitals in Jeddah; the second was a Saudi patient and the third a Gulf State patient both diagnosed in London, England. Two of the patients passed away and the third patient is still under treatment. The Ministry said that the coronaviruses are well known and most of those who are diagnosed with it recover completely with no complications after receiving the needed supportive therapy.
Another report - Saudi Ministry of Health announcement on Coronavirus via menafn.com - corroborates the story, but doesn’t add much in details.
The reference to two patients diagnosed `in London’ is a bit ambiguous, but it may simply mean that samples were tested and identified there.
Obviously something we need clarified.
Assurances that `coronaviruses are well known’ and most people `recover completely’ are (in the strictest sense, anyway) - true, since roughly 1/3rd of common colds are attributed to various coronaviruses.
But some coronaviruses, such as SARS that emerged in late 2002, have proven that viruses in this large family can also be quite pathogenic.
We’ll be anxious to see more information on these three cases (particularly if they are epidemiologically linked) in the near future.
Stay tuned.
