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Mers outbreak: Manchester Royal Infirmary A&E closes over suspected cases Mers outbreak: Manchester Royal Infirmary A&E closes over suspected cases
(about 2 hours later)
The A&E department of the Manchester Royal Infirmary has been closed after two suspected cases of the respiratory virus Mers. A city hospital’s accident-and-emergency department has been closed as tests on two patients with suspected Middle East respiratory syndrome got under way.
Ambulances were diverted to the North Manchester General Hospital while the department was closed. It re-opened a few hours later. Both victims at Manchester Royal Infirmary were isolated for treatment, while other patients were transported to the nearby North Manchester General Hospital.
Two patients have been isolated and are being examined for Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome, which can cause fever, coughing, shortness of breath, diarrhea and vomiting, amongst other symptoms. The virus, known as Mers, is an emerging viral respiratory disease from the same family as severe acute respiratory syndrome, or Sars.
Around 1,000 cases of the disease have been reported worldwide since May this year, and around 40 per cent of those infected die from it. Mers, first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012, is thought to have been passed to humans by camels, but medical research into its cause and prevention is ongoing. “We would like to reassure our patients and the public that there is no significant risk to public health,” the hospital said in a statement. “Manchester Royal Infirmary A&E department will be closed until further notice while further investigations take place.”
There is no specific vaccine or treatment for Mers, although medications for it are currently being studied. Four people have been diagnosed with the disease in Britain, the last in February 2013. Three of them have died. All had strong links to the Gulf region. The first US case had also been to Britain, but only as a transit passenger at Heathrow airport in April 2014 on his way back from Saudi Arabia, where he was a health worker.
Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said there was "no significant risk to public health". At its worst, Mers can trigger respiratory infections that lead to pneumonia and, in the rarest and most extreme cases, kidney failure. It can be passed through close contact between people but is not easily contagious. A typical case of the virus includes fever, coughing, shortness of breath and gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhoea.
While the virus can be spread between people, it requires close contact to be transmitted - meaning that healthcare workers treating Mers-affected patients often bear the brunt of it. Dr Derek Gatherer, a lecturer at the University of Lancaster, said: “There is no treatment for Mers other than a general symptomatic support for pneumonia, perhaps involving steroid drugs to widen airways and assist breathing. There is no vaccine at present.”
This article will be updated Last year, Public Health England (PHE) issued a warning to travellers to and from the Middle East urging them to avoid contact with camels.
Dr Rosemary McCann, the North-west deputy director for PHE, said the risk of contracting the infection in the UK “remains very low”. “We are aware of two individuals being tested for Mers in Manchester,” she said. “Although cases continue to be reported from the Middle East, no new cases have been detected in the UK since February 2013.
“There is presently no evidence of sustained person-to-person transmission, and the risk of contracting infection in the UK remains very low.
“The risk to UK residents travelling to Middle Eastern countries may be slightly higher than within the UK, but is still very low.
According to the World Health Organisation, Mers has been detected in 26 countries, including the UK, China, Germany, Iran, Oman, the Philippines, Qatar, South Korea and Saudi Arabia.