Pinay nurse from Saudi tests positive for MERS-CoV

MANILA, Philippines - A Filipina nurse from Saudi Arabia has tested positive for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the Department of Health said.

President Aquino yesterday directed acting Health Secretary Janette Garin to ensure that necessary preventive measures are being taken after the first case of MERS-CoV was recorded in the country.

The 32-year-old patient was tested thrice for MERS-CoV at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa. All tests yielded positive results, the DOH said.

The nurse arrived in the country with her husband on a Saudia plane, with 225 other passengers and flight crew on Feb. 1.

She could not recall being exposed to any MERS-CoV patient at work as she was not assigned to handle such a case.

DOH Undersecretary Nemesio Gako noted that the patient did not manifest any symptoms during the flight so the possibility of passing the virus to other passengers is low.

Gako said the patient passed through the airport’s thermal scanner undetected.

In a hastily called press conference yesterday, DOH spokesman Lyndon Lee Suy said the patient manifested fever, body aches, cough and difficulty in breathing – symptoms of MERS-CoV – a day after she returned to the country.

The patient and her husband, who was not manifesting MERS-CoV symptoms as of yesterday, are confined in separate “negative pressure rooms” at the RITM.

“As far as diagnosing MERS-CoV in the Philippines, this is the first case because the two previous cases were diagnosed in the Middle East. But this one, it was diagnosed here. She contracted the virus in the Middle East but was diagnosed here,” Lee Suy explained.

Two other Filipino nurses from Saudi Arabia, who arrived in the country in September last year, had been diagnosed with MERS-CoV in the Middle East but turned out negative for the virus.

Contact tracing

The DOH is conducting contact tracing of all the people who came in contact with the patient, especially those on Saudia Flight 860.

Lee Suy urged passengers on the flight to come forward, even if the likelihood of the spread of the virus is low. “The possibility is still there,” he said.

“Our appeal is that they do not make it hard for us to locate them. We are doing this for their protection and their families as well. There’s always that ‘what if’,” he added.

He urged the passengers of Flight 860 to call DOH Hotline 711-1001 and 711-1002 so they could be examined for MERS-CoV.

Since her arrival, the nurse had stayed mostly at home so the contact tracing of the DOH focuses more on her family members and relatives.

Lee Suy added that while the nurse’s husband is undergoing quarantine, her other contacts have been advised to isolate themselves at home and to undergo MERS-CoV testing.

“The incubation period is 14 days so since it’s Feb. 11, that gives us four more days. After Feb. 16, the 14th day after exposure, if no case will surface, then we will assume that there is no problem as far as the other passengers are concerned,” he said.

The patient will be staying at the RITM until she is completely rid of the virus.

‘No cause for alarm’

Lee Suy assured the public that there is no cause for alarm as precautionary measures against the disease have long been in place.

The DOH notified World Health Organization (WHO) country representative Julie Hall upon confirming the first case of MERS-CoV in the Philippines.

Hall told reporters that swab specimens collected from the nurse would be sent to a collaborating laboratory of the WHO in Hong Kong.

“Although the laboratory at the RITM has a high level of capacity for confirming these cases, as part of international protocol for MERS-CoV, we asked the DOH to send samples to one of the WHO collaborating laboratories for further confirmation,” she said.

She added that sharing the samples with WHO is “very important as part of the global efforts” to combat the virus.

Hall said that Filipinos should not be alarmed as the government “is taking precautionary measures in terms of contact tracing on the plane and contact tracing in the community.”

Precautionary measures

The Department of Labor and Employment advised anew Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East to take the necessary preventive measures against MERS-CoV.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said she has instructed the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices in the Middle East to advise Filipinos to undergo testing and wait for results before returning home.

Baldoz stressed that OFWs are required to undergo a 21-day quarantine before returning home and wait another 21 days upon arrival.

She added that OFWs, particularly nurses and other health workers, must strictly follow infection control measures in their work and visit a health facility immediately if they experience symptoms of the virus.

“If you were in close contact with a confirmed MERS-CoV patient, comply with local health regulations and postpone any trip abroad until after test results are negative,” Baldoz said.

With the threat posed by MERS-CoV, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. has come up with benefit packages for the disease.

Quarantine officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport said all returning OFWs, especially from Middle East countries, are strictly monitored. – With Mayen Jaymalin, Rudy Santos