Man being treated in a London hospital for a lethal 'Sars-like' MERS has died

From Will at THE OTHER NEWS:

Man being treated in a London hospital for a lethal 'Sars-like' MERS has died. HT: AstuteBlogger.(Telegraph).

"In the end his lungs were worn down, so secondary infection is the real problem. The virus effectively turns your lungs to jelly."

The man, a Qatari national, had been admitted to a private clinic in London in September, before being transferred to the specialist centre at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital.He was diagnosed as suffering from the Mers virus – Middle East Respiratory Syndrome – which has affected 77 people worldwide, with 43 deaths.

"Guy's and St Thomas' can confirm that the patient with severe respiratory illness due to novel coronavirus (MERS-nCV) sadly died on Friday 28 June, after his condition deteriorated, despite every effort and full supportive treatment," said Robin Wilkinson, a spokesman for the hospital.

The death of the Qatari man brings to three the number of victims who have died in the UK.

In February two members of the same family died from the virus. One, a 39-year-old man, died in Birmingham having picked up the virus from his father, who had recently travelled to Saudi Arabia. The father then died around a month later in Manchester's Wythenshaw hospital. A female relative was also treated for mild Mers symptoms, raising fears of human-to-human contact.
 The disease is spread by people coughing or sneezing and can cause breathing difficulties, lung damage and pneumonia.

"We still don't know exactly what killed him," said Dr Jon Bible, a virus expert at Guy's and St Thomas'."In the end his lungs were worn down, so secondary infection is the real problem. The virus effectively turns your lungs to jelly."

Known cases of the illness have quadrupled since April, and it is deadlier than Sars, which killed 774 people in 2003. SARS killed one in ten affected people; Mers has proved fatal in 65 per cent of cases.
The majority of the cases have been in Saudi Arabia, or in patients who have recently travelled to the region.

But with the annual Hajj pilgrimage due in October, and an estimated three million people travelling to Mecca, concerns are mounting that the deadly virus could spread swiftly."We need to get the facts clear and get the appropriate advice to all your countries where your pilgrims want to go to Mecca," said Margaret Chan, head of the World Health Organisation, in May. "It is something quite urgent."

Cases have been reported in Jordan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Britain, France, Italy, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia – the country with the most confirmed infections.
Belgian medics have warned Muslims not to travel to Mecca, because the Hajj threatens to spread the virus worldwide. Doctors expressed concerns that the mass gatherings are "ideal hotbeds for respiratory diseases" and that numbers of Mers cases are greater than actually reported in Saudi Arabia.
The unnamed man in London had been treated in a "negative pressure room" – an isolation chamber within the hospital, which means that contaminated air is not pumped back out into the hospital. All doctors treating the patient would have been equipped with protective suits, which were incinerated after use.
He had initially shown signs of improvement, but his condition deteriorated and he passed away last week. It is unclear how he contracted the disease, although there are known cases in Qatar. Read the full story here.

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