Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30550839›Full record

SynthesisTravel medicine and infectious disease

Asymptomatic Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection: Extent and implications for infection control: A systematic review.

Jaffar A Al-Tawfiq, Philippe Gautret

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Travel medicine and infectious disease. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 58 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
58citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

58 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. The incidence of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic patients: A systematic review.International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases · 2020
    Pooled it
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  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. What is the burden of asymptomatic coronavirus infections?New microbes and new infections · 2023
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. From Pandemicity to Endemicity: The Journey of SARS-CoV-2.Journal of epidemiology and global health · 2022
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Systematic Screening for SARS-CoV-2 to Detect Asymptomatic Infections: An Epitome of Taiwan's Outbreak.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2022
    Article
  18. Lessons from SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 Infections: What We Know So Far.The Canadian journal of infectious diseases & medical microbiology = Journal canadien des maladies infectieuses et de la microbiologie medicale · 2022
    Review
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Jaffar A Al-TawfiqSpecialty Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: jaffar.tawfiq@jhah.com.
Philippe GautretAix Marseille Univ, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Marseille (AP-HM), Service de Santé des Armées (SSA), Microbes Vecteurs Infections Tropicales et Méditerranéennes (VITROME), Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire-Méditerranée Infection (IHU-Méditerranée Infection), Marseille, France.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) emerged in 2012 and attracted an international attention as the virus caused multiple healthcare associated outbreaks. There are reports of the role of asymptomatic individuals in the transmission of MERS-CoV, however, the exact role is not known.

methodThe MEDLINE/PubMed and Scopus databases were searched for relevant papers published till August 2018 describing asymptomatic MERS-CoV infection.

resultsA total of 10 papers were retrieved and included in the final analysis and review. The extent of asymptomatic MERS infection had increased with change in the policy of testing asymptomatic contacts. In early cases in April 2012-October 2013, 12.5% were asymptomatic among 144 PCR laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV cases while in 2014 the proportion rose to 25.1% among 255 confirmed cases. The proportion of asymptomatic cases reported among pediatric confirmed MERS-CoV cases were higher (41.9%-81.8%). Overall, the detection rate of MERS infection among asymptomatic contacts was 1-3.9% in studies included in this review. Asymptomatic individuals were less likely to have underlying condition compared to fatal cases. Of particular interest is that most of the identified pediatric cases were asymptomatic with no clear explanation.

conclusionsThe proportion of asymptomatic MERS cases were detected with increasing frequency as the disease progressed overtime. Those patients were less likely to have comorbid disease and may contribute to the transmission of the virus.

Indexed as

Infection ControlAnimalsAsymptomatic InfectionsCoronavirus InfectionsCross InfectionDisease OutbreaksHumansMiddle East Respiratory Syndrome CoronavirusTravelHealthcare associated outbreaksMERSMiddle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus

Identifiers

PMID30550839
PMCPMC7110966

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.