Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37924004›Full record

ArticleBMC infectious diseases2023

Symptomatic MERS-CoV infection reduces the risk of future COVID-19 disease; a retrospective cohort study.

Aiman El-Saed, Fatmah Othman, Henry Baffoe-Bonnie, Rawabi Almulhem, Muayed Matalqah, Latifah Alshammari, Majid M Alshamrani

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 25% of its field
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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Aiman El-SaedInfection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Fatmah OthmanKing Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Henry Baffoe-BonnieInfection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Rawabi AlmulhemInfection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Muayed MatalqahInfection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Latifah AlshammariInfection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdullah Specialist Children Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Majid M AlshamraniInfection Prevention and Control Department, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Alshamranima2@ngha.med.sa.
King Abdulaziz Medical City · SAKing Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences · SA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe general human immune responses similarity against different coronaviruses may reflect some degree of cross-immunity, whereby exposure to one coronavirus may confer partial immunity to another. The aim was to determine whether previous MERS-CoV infection was associated with a lower risk of subsequent COVID-19 disease and its related outcomes.

methodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study among all patients screened for MERS-CoV at a tertiary care hospital in Saudi Arabia between 2012 and early 2020. Both MERS-CoV positive and negative patients were followed up from early 2020 to September 2021 for developing COVID-19 infection confirmed by RT-PCR testing.

resultsA total of 397 participants followed for an average 15 months during COVID-19 pandemic (4.9 years from MERS-CoV infection). Of the 397 participants, 93 (23.4%) were positive for MERS-CoV at baseline; 61 (65.6%) of the positive cases were symptomatic. Out of 397, 48 (12.1%) participants developed COVID-19 by the end of the follow-up period. Cox regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, and major comorbidity showed a marginally significant lower risk of COVID-19 disease (hazard ratio = 0.533, p = 0.085) and hospital admission (hazard ratio = 0.411, p = 0.061) in patients with positive MERS-CoV. Additionally, the risk of COVID-19 disease was further reduced and became significant in patients with symptomatic MERS-CoV infection (hazard ratio = 0.324, p = 0.034) and hospital admission (hazard ratio = 0.317, p = 0.042).

conclusionsThe current findings may indicate a partial cross-immunity, where patients with symptomatic MERS-CoV have a lower risk of future COVID-19 infection and related hospitalization. The present results may need further examination nationally using immunity markers.

Indexed as

COVID-19Middle East Respiratory Syndrome CoronavirusHumansPandemicsRetrospective StudiesRiskSaudi ArabiaCOVID-19Cross-immunityCross-protectionMERS-CoVSaudi Arabia

Identifiers

PMID37924004
PMCPMC10623690
OpenAlexW4388293553

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.