Research Report on MERS Vaccine Soon
RIYADH: The Ministry of Health (MoH) announced here on Saturday that the results of the research on vaccines for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) will be released shortly.
Speaking at a press briefing, Deputy Health Minister for Public Health Abdulaziz bin Saeed said that the joint committee comprising officials from the MoH and the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) have received a number of reports from researchers and they currently are being screened to choose the suitable ones.
To get the best results, the committee contacted the US-based National Institutes of Health and the health ministries of Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom.
He said there are adequate funds to deal with the research reports. “We are very keen on finding a vaccine since there is pressing need to control the spread of the virus.”
“Winter, especially the months of December and January, is the period when young camels shed the virus which could attack humans in their vicinity,” Bin Saeed said.
The deputy minister recalled that recently the ministry conducted a survey on 160 camels in Jeddah and 50 of the juvenile camels were found carrying the virus. “This is a dangerous situation, where people could easily be affected unless they take suitable precautions,” he added.
Of the 1,283 MERS cases reported in the Kingdom since 2012, the ministry has reported 551 deaths and currently four patients are undergoing treatment at various hospitals. During the past 15 days, the MoH has reported only six new cases of infection.
Late last year, the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), in cooperation with the Ministries of Health and Agriculture, launched a joint program of comprehensive research on MERS-CoV. The agreement was signed by the president of KACST, Prince Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed Al-Saud, Health Minister Khalid Al-Falih and Minister of Agriculture Abdul Rahman Al-Fadli at the KACST headquarters on Sunday.
Following the signing ceremony, Prince Turki said that under the accord, KACST will provide the technical and financial support to conduct research in addition to harnessing the infrastructure of specialized laboratories and digital structures highly developed to create a national database for MERS, and will subsequently include all infectious diseases throughout the Kingdom.
According to WHO, infection prevention and control measures are critical to prevent the possible spread of MERS-CoV in health care facilities. It is not always possible to identify patients with MERS-CoV early because like other respiratory infections, the early symptoms of MERS-CoV are nonspecific. Therefore, health care workers should always apply standard precautions consistently with all patients, regardless of their diagnosis.