High prevalence of common respiratory viruses and no evidence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus in Hajj pilgrims returning to Ghana, 2013
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Date
2015
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Tropical Medicine and International Health
Abstract
objective The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) emerged in 2012 on the
Arabian Peninsula and has caused severe respiratory disease with more than 800 laboratory confirmed
cases. The return of infected pilgrims to their home countries with a putative spread of
MERS-CoV necessitates further surveillance.
methods A cross sectional study of 839 adult African Hajj pilgrims returning to Accra in Ghana,
West Africa, was conducted in 2013 to assess the prevalence of respiratory symptoms as well as of
MERS-CoV, human rhinovirus (HRV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and influenza A virus (FLU
A) infection.
results Six hundred and fifty-one (77.6%) pilgrims had respiratory symptoms. Tests were positive
for at least one of the viruses other than MERS-CoV in 179 (21.3%) of all pilgrims, with 22.4%
detection in symptomatic vs. 17.6% detection in asymptomatic pilgrims. No MERS-CoV was
detected, although common respiratory viruses were prevalent, with positive findings for HRV in 141
individuals (16.8%), RSV in 43 individuals (5.1%) and FLU A in 11 individuals (1.3%). Results were
positive for more than one virus in 16 (1.9%) individuals, including 14 (1.7%) RSV/HRV co infections and
2 (0.2%) FLU A/HRV co-infections. A total 146 (22.4%) of the symptomatic returnees
tested positive for at least one respiratory virus compared with 33 (17.6%) of the asymptomatic
pilgrims who had at least one detectable virus in their sample.
conclusions The prevalence of viral respiratory infections among Hajj pilgrims in both
symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects was high. Although it is reassuring that MERS-CoV was not
detected in the tested population, there is a need for active surveillance of Hajj pilgrims.
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This article is published by Tropical Medicine and International Health and is also available at https://doi.org/10.1111/tmi.12482
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Citation
volume 20 no 6 pp 807–812 june 2015