Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19): From causes to preventions in Saudi Arabia

Mohammad H Alyami; Hamad S Alyami; Ansaar Warraich

doi:10.1016/j.jsps.2020.09.014

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and novel coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19): From causes to preventions in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Pharm J. 2020 Nov;28(11):1481-1491. doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2020.09.014. Epub 2020 Sep 24.

Authors

Mohammad H Alyami¹, Hamad S Alyami¹, Ansaar Warraich²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, Najran University, Najran 11001, Saudi Arabia.
² Life and Health Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, United Kingdom.

Abstract

Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that has been affected by COVID-19. At the beginning of March 2020, it revealed a steadily rising number of laboratory-confirmed cases. By 20th May 2020, 59,854 infected cases had been confirmed, with 329 deaths. To prevent a further outbreak of COVID-19, this article discusses the current understanding of COVID-19 and compares it with the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2012 in Saudi Arabia. It also discusses the causes, transmission, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments and prevention measures to identify an applicable measure to control COVID-19.

Keywords: Causes; Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19); Diagnosis; Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS); Prevention measures; Saudi Arabia; Symptoms; Transmission; Treatments.

Publication types

Review