title: Risk assessment and laboratory investigation of respiratory illness in travellers returning to Singapore 2012-2015: experience from the MERS-CoV Surveillance Programme.
abstract: Since the emergence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Singapore has enhanced its national surveillance system to detect the potential importation of this novel pathogen. Using the guidelines from the Singapore Ministry of Health, a suspect case was defined as a person with clinical signs and symptoms suggestive of pneumonia or severe respiratory infection with breathlessness, and with an epidemiological link to countries where MERS-CoV cases had been reported within the preceding 14 days. This report describes a retrospective review of 851 suspected MERS-CoV cases assessed at the adult tertiary-care hospital in Singapore between September 2012 and December 2015. In total, 262 patients (31%) were hospitalized. All had MERS-CoV infection ruled out by RT-PCR or clinical assessment. Two hundred and thirty (88%) of the hospitalized patients were also investigated for influenza virus by RT-PCR. Of these, 62 (27%) tested positive for seasonal influenza. None of the patients with positive influenza results had been vaccinated in the year prior to hospital admission. Ninety-three (36%) out of the 262 hospitalized patients had clinical and/or radiological evidence of pneumonia. This study demonstrates the potential benefits of pre-travel vaccination against influenza and pneumococcal disease.
authors: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors: M K
authors: MK
authors: Win
authors: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Chow
authors: Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors: H J
authors: HJ
authors: Ho
authors: Emergency Department, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors: S Y
authors: SY
authors: Tay
authors: Infectious Disease Department, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
authors: Y S
authors: YS
authors: Leo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D062665:Epidemiological Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009975:Orthomyxoviridae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012846:Singapore / Q000453:epidemiology; D014195:Travel; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Influenza (seasonal); surveillance