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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : June 2, 2015 3:43 PM IST
South Korean authorities on Tuesday confirmed death of two people from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), the country's first fatalities from the virus. The health ministry also reported six new cases of the viral disease, bringing the total to 25, Yonhap News Agency reported.
A 58-year-old woman, who had been treated as a suspected case of MERS, died on Monday due of acute respiratory failure. Tests later came back positive for the virus. The second victim was a 71-year-old man who was tested positive several days ago. He died on Tuesday, the health ministry said. The new cases included the country's first tertiary infections as two people were found to have contracted the virus from a secondarily infected patient.
The first case of MERS was identified in the year 2012, and since then it has affected about 839 people, killing 291 of them. MERS is considered a deadly but less transmissible cousin of the Severe Actue Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, which erupted in Asia in 2003 and infected thousands of people. Over 20 countries have been affected by the virus, which has no known cure or vaccine, with most cases in Saudi Arabia where it has killed more than 400 people since 2012.
What are the causes?
Earlier, it was believed that people who have been in contact with camels were likely to develop the disease. However, there was a reported case of a woman who died due to MERS without any previous history of travel and contact with animals.
It has been concluded that MERS-CoV infection has not yet met the criteria for being described as a public health emergency, but all necessary prevention strategies have been implemented, especially in hospital staff as they face the highest risk of developing the infection.
Who are at risk?
The following individuals are at a greater risk of infection:
What are the symptoms?
The main symptoms of MERS that you need to look out for include:
Other symptoms like runny nose, sore throat, headache and chills may also occur. Some people also had gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Some of them developed serious complications like pneumonia and kidney failure.
For diagnoses, treatment and prevention, click here.
With inputs from IANS
Image source: Getty Images
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