Transmission of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infections among healthcare personnel in the Middle East: A systematic review

Abstract

Purpose: To undertake a systematic review of the high mortality rate of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infections (MERS-CoV) among healthcare personnel in the Middle East. Methods: To conduct this systematic review various electronic databases were searched for earlier recorded studies. Prisma guidelines were used to shortlist the studies based on the inclusion and exclusion criterion. Finally, twelve studies were selected and analysed for the systematic review. Results: Twelve articles were selected after filtering 184 articles on Coronavirus. The studies chosen for this systematic review which outline the transmission information of MERS-CoV among health care personnel. A majority of studies were from Saudi Arabia, as the prevalence of Mers-CoV in Saudi Arabia is higher than in other countries in the region. Mers-CoV transmission into humans was mainly expected from infected dromedary camels. Conclusion: The results indicate that the use of infection control procedures and protocols, which include ensuring that all persons with respiratory infection symptoms adhere to respiratory hygiene, hand hygiene, and cough etiquette, would minimize the infection rate among HCPs. The required consumables for maintaining hand hygiene should be readily available to all HCPs.