Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection medical therapy: Difference between revisions
Joao Silva (talk | contribs) |
Joao Silva (talk | contribs) |
||
Line 20: | Line 20: | ||
===Supportive Care=== | ===Supportive Care=== | ||
The supportive medical care aims to minimize as much as possible the damages caused by [[MERS]]. It is divided into 4 categories, according to the clinical management steps required for the current health status of the [[MERS]] patient. These categories include: | The supportive medical care aims to minimize as much as possible the damages caused by [[MERS]]. It is divided into 4 categories, according to the clinical management steps required for the current health status of the [[MERS]] patient. These categories include: | ||
*''Section 1'' - focuses on the early recognition and management of patients with severe acute respiratory infections and includes early initiation of supportive and infection prevention | *''Section 1'' - focuses on the early recognition and management of patients with severe acute [[respiratory infections]] and includes early initiation of supportive and [[infection]] [[prevention]], control measures and [[therapeutics]] | ||
*''Section 2'' - focuses on management of patients who deteriorate and develop severe respiratory distress and ARDS | *''Section 2'' - focuses on management of patients who deteriorate and develop severe [[respiratory distress]] and [[ARDS]] | ||
*''Section 3'' - focuses on the management of patients who deteriorate and develop septic shock | *''Section 3'' - focuses on the management of patients who deteriorate and develop [[septic shock]] | ||
*''Section 4'' - focuses on ongoing care of the critically ill patient and best practices to prevent complications | *''Section 4'' - focuses on ongoing care of the critically ill patient and best practices to prevent [[complications]] | ||
==References== | ==References== |
Revision as of 02:59, 18 June 2014
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection Microchapters |
Differentiating Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infection from other Diseases |
---|
Diagnosis |
Treatment |
Case Studies |
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection medical therapy On the Web |
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection medical therapy |
FDA on Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection medical therapy |
CDC on Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection medical therapy |
Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection medical therapy in the news |
Blogs on Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection medical therapy |
Directions to Hospitals Treating Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: João André Alves Silva, M.D. [2]
Overview
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory illness. It is caused by an emerging coronavirus, specifically a betacoronavirus called MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus), first discovered in 2012. Being a relatively novel virus, there is no virus-specific prevention or treatment options for MERS patients. Outbreaks of MERS-CoV represent a great social challenge due to the fact that there is very limited time to develop and test new pharmaceutical drugs. The common clinical presentations documented so far include Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), renal failure, pericarditis and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Therefore the supportive care should focus mainly in the prevention and monitoring of these conditions. Until now, supportive medical care has been the only treatment option, however, repurpose of drugs for other viruses and illnesses is presenting as an attractive alternative for MERS-CoV.[1]
Medical Therapy
MERS represents a great challenge in terms of treatment because it is caused by a relatively novel virus to which there is no approved therapy yet. According to the International Severe Acute Respiratory & Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC), supportive medical care continues to be the approved treatment for MERS. The search for broad-spectrum inhibitors aiming to minimize the impact of coronavirus infection remains the major goal. Recent studies are showing the potential use of other drugs and therapies to treat the MERS-CoV, which are based on the experience of treatment of other coronaviruses like the SARS virus. This repurposing of drugs has advantages such as: better availability, lower cost and known safety and tolerability profiles. However, lack of evidence makes these new therapies uncertain.[1]
Cell and animal studies have shown conflicting results: the combination of ribavirin with interferon α-2b in a cell study reduced viral replication[2]; another study in rhesus monkeys with combination of intramuscular ribavirin and interferon α-2b, the group that received the treatment did not develop breathing abnormalities nor radiographic evidence of pneumonia[3]; however, when tried in 5 critically ill patients in Saudi Arabia, this combination was inefficient in all cases, leading to a fatal outcome.[4]
Despite the absence of a specific therapy, some approaches are considered to be more worth of experimentation than others. These include:[5][6][7][8][9]
- Convalescent plasma - this therapy, along with others that involve antibodies for the MERS-CoV has the strongest evidence for intervention. Plasma from patients who recovered from MERS-CoV infection contains neutralizing antibodies, which represents the best therapy to neutralize the extracellular virus.
- Interferon - there is supporting evidence from in vitro (SARS virus and MERS-CoV) and in vivo (SARS virus) studies that interferon inhibits viral replication, especially when administered in the early course of the disease. Additionally it is commonly more available than plasma.
- Corticosteroids - there is no evidence of the benefit in the mortality rate and their use is only recommended in a planned treatment regimen or when the benefits of the drug outweigh the potential harms. When used, constant monitoring is mandatory and the ideal timing is the early course of the disease, during the period of maximal inflammatory response.
- Ribavirin - the most commonly used drug in the treatment of SARS. Due to the controversial results of clinical trials relating to the use of ribavirin for MERS and its high level of toxicity in humans, some experts recommend the withhold of the drug.
Supportive Care
The supportive medical care aims to minimize as much as possible the damages caused by MERS. It is divided into 4 categories, according to the clinical management steps required for the current health status of the MERS patient. These categories include:
- Section 1 - focuses on the early recognition and management of patients with severe acute respiratory infections and includes early initiation of supportive and infection prevention, control measures and therapeutics
- Section 2 - focuses on management of patients who deteriorate and develop severe respiratory distress and ARDS
- Section 3 - focuses on the management of patients who deteriorate and develop septic shock
- Section 4 - focuses on ongoing care of the critically ill patient and best practices to prevent complications
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dyall J, Coleman CM, Hart BJ, Venkataraman T, Holbrook MR, Kindrachuk J; et al. (2014). "Repurposing of clinically developed drugs for treatment of Middle East Respiratory Coronavirus Infection". Antimicrob Agents Chemother. doi:10.1128/AAC.03036-14. PMID 24841273.
- ↑ Falzarano D, de Wit E, Martellaro C, Callison J, Munster VJ, Feldmann H (2013). "Inhibition of novel β coronavirus replication by a combination of interferon-α2b and ribavirin". Sci Rep. 3: 1686. doi:10.1038/srep01686. PMC 3629412. PMID 23594967.
- ↑ Falzarano D, de Wit E, Rasmussen AL, Feldmann F, Okumura A, Scott DP; et al. (2013). "Treatment with interferon-α2b and ribavirin improves outcome in MERS-CoV-infected rhesus macaques". Nat Med. 19 (10): 1313–7. doi:10.1038/nm.3362. PMID 24013700.
- ↑ Al-Tawfiq JA, Momattin H, Dib J, Memish ZA (2014). "Ribavirin and interferon therapy in patients infected with the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus: an observational study". Int J Infect Dis. 20: 42–6. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2013.12.003. PMID 24406736.
- ↑ "Treatment of MERS-CoV: Decision Support Tool".
- ↑ Guery B, van der Werf S (2013). "Coronavirus: need for a therapeutic approach". Lancet Infect Dis. 13 (9): 726–7. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(13)70153-1. PMID 23782860.
- ↑ Ren Z, Yan L, Zhang N, Guo Y, Yang C, Lou Z; et al. (2013). "The newly emerged SARS-like coronavirus HCoV-EMC also has an "Achilles' heel": current effective inhibitor targeting a 3C-like protease". Protein Cell. 4 (4): 248–50. doi:10.1007/s13238-013-2841-3. PMID 23549610.
- ↑ "WHO-ISARIC joint MERS-CoV Outbreak Readiness Workshop: Clinical management and potential use of convalescent plasma" (PDF).
- ↑ Momattin H, Mohammed K, Zumla A, Memish ZA, Al-Tawfiq JA (2013). "Therapeutic options for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)--possible lessons from a systematic review of SARS-CoV therapy". Int J Infect Dis. 17 (10): e792–8. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2013.07.002. PMID 23993766.