Clinical Presentation
A wide clinical spectrum of MERS-CoV infection has been reported ranging from asymptomatic infection to acute upper respiratory illness, and rapidly progressive pneumonitis, respiratory failure, septic shock and multi-organ failure resulting in death. Most MERS-CoV cases have been reported in adults (median age approximately 50 years, male predominance), although children and adults of all ages have been infected (range 0 to 99 years). Most hospitalized MERS-CoV patients have had chronic co-morbidities. Among confirmed MERS-CoV cases reported to date, the case fatality proportion is approximately 35%.
Limited clinical data for MERS-CoV patients are available; most published clinical information to date is from critically ill patients. At hospital admission, common signs and symptoms include fever, chills/rigors, headache, non-productive cough, dyspnea, and myalgia. Other symptoms can include sore throat, coryza, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, sputum production, diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Atypical presentations including mild respiratory illness without fever and diarrheal illness preceding development of pneumonia have been reported. Patients who progress to requiring admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) often have a history of a febrile upper respiratory tract illness with rapid progression to pneumonia within a week of illness onset.