Determining the correlation between comorbidities and MERS-CoV mortality in Saudi Arabia

Objective

As of January 2020, there were 2,519 confirmed Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases with 866 deaths across 27 countries. Most of these cases (2,121) were reported in Saudi Arabia. Since the initial identification of MERS, few studies have investigated the role of comorbidities that could potentially lead to mortality in cases of the infectious disease. This study aimed to examine the association between comorbidities and MERS mortality in Saudi Arabia.

Methods

This is a retrospective descriptive study. We retrieved the data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) between January 2017 and November 2019, and analysed the association between comorbidities and mortality.

Results

We found 572 MERS-CoV cases reported by WHO in Saudi Arabia during the defined period. Of these, 387 (68%) had a history of chronic illness. The overall mortality rate was found to be 25%. Diabetes mellitus was the most prevalent comorbidity—the mortality rate in the diabetics was 32% as opposed to 12% in the non-diabetics (p-value <0.01). Hypertension was second, with a mortality rate of 35%, as opposed to 15% in the non-hypertensive patients (p-value <0.001). The mortality rate in cases with cardiovascular disease was 39% as opposed to 21% in those without cardiovascular disease (p-value <0.05).

Conclusion

Our study shows that MERS-CoV had a significant case fatality rate in patients with comorbidities. Thus, it will be beneficial if future clinical trials for MERS-CoV examine the impact of improved societal infection control measures such as social distancing and masks, in the context of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, on the prevalence and incidence of MERS and its clinical outcomes.

The demographic and clinical characteristics of leprosy in Saudi Arabia

Leprosy is a chronic disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. Although the occurrence of leprosy has declined in Saudi Arabia, it has not yet been eradicated. To our knowledge, this descriptive retrospective study is the first to assess the clinical presentation of leprosy at the time of diagnosis in Saudi Arabia. All study subjects were leprosy patients admitted to Ibn Sina hospital, the only referral hospital for leprosy in Saudi Arabia, between January 2000 and May 2012. A total of 164 subjects, the majority of whom (65%) were between 21 and 50 years of age, were included, and the male-to-female ratio was 2.8:1. Of these 164 patients, 63% were Saudis, and 77% of all admitted patients were from the western region. Lepromatous leprosy was observed most frequently (33%), and 31% of cases had a positive history of close contact with leprosy. At the time of diagnosis, 84% of all subjects presented with skin manifestation. The prevalence of neurological deficit at the time of diagnosis was 87%. Erythema nodosum leprosum (E.N.L.) developed in only 10% of all subjects. Further studies are needed to determine the clinical characteristics pertaining to each type of leprosy in the region, and training courses in caring for and diagnosing patients with leprosy should be organized for health workers.