Second UK case of deadly novel coronavirus

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Second UK case of deadly novel coronavirus


A second case of a SARS-like virus - which appears to have a 50 per cent
chance of death - has been identified in the UK.








The novel coronavirus is from
the family as that which causes SARS and the common cold. Photo: ALAMY






By Stephen Adams, Medical
Correspondent

3:34PM GMT 11 Feb 2013


33 Comments




The individual, believed to be a middle-aged man of Pakistani origin from
northern England, is being treated in intensive care at a Manchester hospital.



He is thought to have contracted the virus, currently called the ‘novel
coronavirus’, on a visit to Saudi Arabia in January.


The man, described as a UK resident, presented to hospital on January 31 with
severe respiratory illness. He had just returned from visiting family in
Pakistan. On his way back he stopped for a short stay in Saudi Arabia.



Globally, there have now been 10 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus
since it emerged last year. Five people have died.


Experts do not believe the virus, which could have originated in bats, is
able to pass from person to person, although there is a chance it might mutate.




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All cases have been linked to the Arabian peninsula, in that the patients
either lived there or had recently visited there.

Last September a Qatari man was flown to the UK for treatment, after
contracting the mystery virus.

He was treated at St Thomas’s Hospital in London, where he was kept alive
thanks to an ‘artificial lung’. He has recovered enough to be taken off it, but
remains in intensive care.

The case followed the identification of the virus that month, after the death
of a 60-year-old man in Saudi Arabia in June.

Coronaviruses are extremely common: they cause colds. However, occasionally a
new one develops which is far more serious.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) which caused nearly 800 deaths in
2002 and 2003, was a coronavirus. The death rate of those confirmed with SARS
infection was about 10 per cent.

This novel virus produces similar symptoms to SARS - serious respiratory
illness, breathing difficulties, shortness of breath, fever, and cough.

Professor John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the
HPA, emphasised the risk to the public was "extremely low".

He said: "The HPA is providing advice to healthcare workers to ensure the
patient under investigation is being treated appropriately and that healthcare
staff who are looking after the patient are protected.”

Those who know the man are also being seen “to check on their health”.

He added: “Our assessment is that the risk associated with novel coronavirus
to the general UK population remains extremely low and the risk to travellers to
the Arabian peninsula and surrounding countries remains very low.

“No travel restrictions are in place but people who develop severe
respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath, within 10 days of returning
from these countries should seek medical advice and mention which countries they
have visited.”

Professor Maria Zambon, director of reference microbiology services at the
HPA, said: “A battery of laboratory tests have been developed by the HPA to test
for coronavirus infection when cases of severe respiratory illness are
identified, which are not explained by other infectious causes.

“These tests, which detect the presence of virus in the body, are available
for use by selected frontline HPA laboratories.”

Experts believe this version of coronavirus could originate in bats, which
harbour a wide variety of strains. However, even if it was from bats, it could
have moved to another animal, which is the source of infection.

So far, evidence seems to suggest it cannot be passed from person to person.


Eight out of the 10 cases were in people who did not know each other, while
healthcare workers who have been in contact with the patients have not become
infected with the novel virus.

LETS HOPE IT DOESN'T BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD.

Sars-Like Virus Spreads To Family Member


A man is critically ill after catching the new coronavirus
from a relative, although experts say infection risk is very low.


12:13pm UK,
Wednesday 13 February 2013

Coronaviruses cause the common cold and more severe
illness such as Sars

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

Doctors have confirmed the first case of known human-to-human
spread of a deadly new respiratory virus in Britain.

The Health Protection
Agency (HPA) said the man had been in close contact with a relative
who had picked up the infection while travelling in the Middle East and
Pakistan.

The so-called "novel" coronavirus causes severe breathing problems and has
killed five of the 11 confirmed cases around the world.

The HPA announced on Monday the first case in a UK resident, and said the
critically ill man was being treated in isolation at the Wythenshawe Hospital in
Manchester.

A third case involves a man from Qatar who is receiving treatment in the
UK.

The new case is receiving intensive care at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in
Birmingham. It is understood that he has an existing medical condition that may
have made him more susceptible to respiratory infections.

Professor John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the
HPA, said: "Confirmed novel coronavirus infection in a person without travel
history to the Middle East suggests that person-to-person transmission has
occurred, and that it occurred in the UK.

"This case is a family member who was in close personal contact with the
earlier case and who may have been at greater risk of acquiring an infection
because of their underlying health condition.

"To date, evidence of person-to-person transmission has been limited.
Although this case provides strong evidence for person-to-person transmission,
the risk of infection in most circumstances is still considered to be very
low."

Coronaviruses can cause the common cold, but can also result in more severe
illness such as Sars (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome).

Anyone who develops a fever, cough, and breathing difficulties within 10 days
of travelling to the Arabian peninsula or surrounding countries should seek
medical advice and mention their travel itinerary.

• Related Stories
  

The amount off immigrants entering the country now it doesn't surprise that measles has yet again become an epidemic .


How do we know if the children off immigrants have had their jabs, we don't .

Coronavirus Patient Dies In Birmingham


11:43am UK,
Tuesday 19 February 2013

A microscopic view of the new Coronavirus

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
  
  
  
  A patient who was being treated for a Sars-like coronavirus at
  the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham has died.
  
  The man, who was already undergoing treatment for a "long-term complex
  unrelated health condition" before contracting the so-called novel coronavirus,
  passed away on Sunday morning in the hospital's critical care unit, University
  Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said.
  
  He is the sixth person to die from the illness worldwide.
  
  The victim had problems with his immune system and is believed to have
  contracted the coronavirus from a relative who is being treated for the
  condition in a Manchester hospital. It was the first case of human-to-human
  transition of the virus in the UK.
  
  He was one of three people in the same family with the virus, which appeared
  to have been caught by one of the family members during a recent visit to the
  Middle East and Pakistan.
  
  Sky News Health Correspondent Thomas Moore described coronavirus as "a family
  of viruses - at one end it is a relatively mild disease which causes the common
  cold, but it also causes diseases such as Sars, which is that really nasty
  respiratory disease that broke out in the Far East a few years back."
  
  "This seems to be much the same kind of serious lung disease, with breathing
  difficulties, fever and so on," he said.
  
  Moore warned that doctors were "concerned".
  
  He added: "At the moment its origins seem to be largely in the Arabian
  peninsular and surrounding countries but the fact that it has come back to the
  UK and spread not only to the man who has died but also another relative in the
  family, who is in a mild condition and being treated at home with antibiotics
  and being told not to see other people, (is concerning)."
  
  The Health Protection
  Agency has said the UK population in general is not at risk from
  the virus at the moment.
  
  A total of 12 cases of the virus have so far been reported to the World
  Health Organisation with five previous fatalities - three in Saudi Arabia and
  two in Jordan.
  
  In 2003 Sars killed about 800 people worldwide
  

IT WAS SAID IN AN ARTICLE I READ THAT VICTIMS WERE EITHER CAMEL OR GOAT OWNERS,ONE VICTIM WAS SUPPOSEDLY FROM THE ABU DHABI RULING FAMILY.
EARLIEST CASES APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN IN JORDAN.

Badboy wrote:IT WAS SAID IN AN ARTICLE I READ THAT VICTIMS WERE EITHER CAMEL OR GOAT OWNERS,ONE VICTIM WAS SUPPOSEDLY FROM THE ABU DHABI RULING FAMILY.
EARLIEST CASES APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN IN JORDAN.

This latest victim was living in the U.K. and it was believed he contracted the virus from a relative in a Manchester Hospital.

THERE HAVE BEEN TWO MORE DEATHS,VICTIMS COME FROM DUBAI.

Badboy wrote:THERE HAVE BEEN TWO MORE DEATHS,VICTIMS COME FROM DUBAI.

The way things are going Badboy, we will all have to wear face masks.

Panda wrote:

Badboy wrote:THERE HAVE BEEN TWO MORE DEATHS,VICTIMS COME FROM DUBAI.

The way things are going Badboy, we will all have to wear face masks.

I think they died in Saudi Arabia,not sure,was in a science magazine I read,methinks