Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2017 Mar;38(1):71-86.
doi: 10.1016/j.ccm.2016.11.007. Epub 2016 Dec 16.

Epidemic and Emerging Coronaviruses (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome)

David S Hui  1
Affiliations
Review

Epidemic and Emerging Coronaviruses (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome)

David S Hui. Clin Chest Med. 2017 Mar.

Abstract

Bats are the natural reservoirs of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like coronaviruses (CoVs) and likely the reservoir of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV. The clinical features of SARS-CoV infection and MERS-CoV infection are similar but MERS-CoV infection progresses to respiratory failure more rapidly. Although the estimated pandemic potential of MERS-CoV is lower than that of SARS-CoV, the case fatality rate of MERS is higher. The transmission route and the possibility of other intermediary animal sources remain uncertain among many sporadic primary cases. Clinical trial options for MERS-CoV infection include monotherapy and combination therapy.

Keywords: Clinical features; MERS-CoV; Pathogenesis; Respiratory tract infections; SARS-CoV; Treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Zumla A., Chan J.F., Azhar E.I. Coronaviruses - drug discovery and therapeutic options. Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2016;15(5):327–347. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Drosten C., Gunther S., Preiser W. Identification of a novel coronavirus in patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2003;348:1967–1976. - PubMed
    1. Ksiazek T.G., Erdman D., Goldsmith C.S., SARS Working Group A novel coronavirus associated with severe acute respiratory syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2003;348:1953–1966. - PubMed
    1. Kuiken T., Fouchier R.A., Schutten M. Newly discovered coronavirus as the primary cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Lancet. 2003;362:263–270. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lee N., Hui D.S., Wu A. A major outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Hong Kong. N Engl J Med. 2003;348:1986–1994. - PubMed

MeSH terms