oo nga basta eager naman matuto din hahaha para di na ako ma-OP kapag nag-uusap si hubby at Father In Law
Agnes ang name ko. Nice to meet you Sis Joyce & Mommy Fritz.
Ito yun nakarating na e-mail sa akin from a friend. Sabi nila galing daw ng saudi ang virus.
Medical Alert
14 Nov 2013
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Kuwait: MERS-CoV cases
In Brief
Cases of Middle East respiratory coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have been reported for the first time in Kuwait. Two men aged 47 and 52, are under medical supervision at a hospital south of Kuwait city. Overall the risk to travellers remains low. International SOS is monitoring the situation closely.
Advice
Although it is uncertain how the coronavirus is being transmitted, travellers are reminded that good hygiene measures can help prevent respiratory illnesses:
• Wash your hands frequently.
• Avoid touching your face.
• Keep some distance from people who are coughing, sneezing or appear sick.
• Avoid unnecessary direct contact with live animals and their environment.
• Ensure any food or drink for consumption is safe - thoroughly washed, peeled, boiled, cooked through etc.
Anyone who develops a fever and respiratory symptoms (such as cough) which are more than mild should seek medical attention and mention their travel history, especially if they have recently been in the Middle East.
More Detail
The patients are two men aged 47 and 52. The 47-year-old has chronic illnesses and is in a critical condition in intensive care. The 52-year-old had recently returned from abroad and is reported to be in a stable condition. Health officials indicate that these cases are separate incidents and are not related to each other. Contacts of the 47-year-old have been followed up and so far no secondary cases of the patient have been detected.
In response to the first MERS-CoV cases in Kuwait, the Ministry of Health has heightened surveillance activities and preventative measures in the country.
There is very limited information on how the sporadic infections are occurring. The virus may have an animal origin as investigations have shown it is closely related to a virus found in bats. This suggests that it may have been transmitted from an animal to humans. Several clusters (cases that are linked to each other) have been identified. The virus can spread from one person to another, however to date this has only happened in a limited fashion, to people who have been in close contact with an infected person.
Globally, more than 150 cases have been confirmed, and almost half of them have died. So far almost all patients have acquired their infection in the Middle East. Clusters of human-to-human transmission have occurred - within health care facilities, and amongst household and work contacts. Local transmission has occurred in the United Kingdom and Tunisia, amongst family members, in France, to a patient who shared a hospital room, and in Italy, where the illness was transmitted to a relative and a co-worker.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is working to determine the public health implications of this new virus. WHO is encouraging health practitioners to consider testing for the new virus in patients with unexplained pneumonia who have "residence in or a history of travel to the Arabian Peninsula or neighbouring countries within 14 days before onset of illness."
What are coronaviruses?
In humans, these viruses cause respiratory illness ranging from the common cold to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome). They spread from one person to another through infected respiratory droplets. The sick person expels these when they cough, sneeze, or talk. Others can get the disease via contact with these contaminated droplets.
Coronaviruses can also cause diarrhoeal illness, with the virus present in the stool. In those others can catch the disease if they accidentally ingest it from contaminated hands and objects. There are no specific medications to treat coronaviruses. No vaccine is available to prevent infection.
For more information:
• See the dedicated MERS-CoV pages of the International SOS Pandemic Preparedness website.
• Contact any International SOS assistance centre.
