The condition of the three patients is improving..."Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - The health condition of three patients suspected to have contracted the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection at a hospital here is improving, claimed the doctors.
"The condition of the three patients is improving and their body temperature has returned to normal. One of them can even check out today," Lung specialist Azizman remarked here on Thursday.
Earlier, according to the Health Service of Riau Province, three people with the initials AT (42), Z (65), and MS (48) were suspected to have contracted the MERS-CoV infection.
The three were given special medical treatment in isolated rooms, Head of the provincial health service Zainal Arifin reported here on Wednesday.
The condition of AT, who was admitted to the Awal Bros Hospital, has improved and he can be discharged from the hospital on Thursday.
According to Azizman, Z and MS were still undergoing treatment at the Arifin Ahmad Hospital. The two patients are being treated in an isolated room to prevent the infection from spreading to the other patients.
However, the results of a laboratory test are yet to come from Jakarta to confirm the disease suffered by the three patients.
They have just returned from a minor Hajj (Umroh) pilgrimage and were showing symptoms of MERS-CoV infection.
The deadly MERS-CoV virus has infected over 400 victims and killed 100 of them in Saudi Arabia.
Several patients in Sumatra after returning from the Umroh pilgrimage have developed symptoms similar to those of MERS-CoV infection and one of them died on Tuesday.
It was reported on Tuesday that a 54-year-old patient, known by the initials KS, died at a general hospital in Medan, North Sumatra. He was suspected of having contracted the infection.
Lung specialist Prof Dr Luhur Soeroso SpP of the H Adam Malik General Hospital informed newsmen that the patient is suspected to have died of the MERS coronavirus.
"The patient died at around 1:30 p.m. on Sunday after being admitted at 12 noon," Prof Dr Luhur Soeroso SpP stated.
Meanwhile, a fifty-year-old patient with the initials AS, who was suspected of suffering from the MERS-CoV disease, died at the Sanglah General Hospital in Denpasar, Bali, on Wednesday.
"We are still awaiting confirmation from the local health services if the test result of the patient was positive or negative," reported the hospitals Chief of medical support Dr Ken Wirasandhi.
He pointed out that the patient had a history of chronic obstructive lung disease and heart conditions, and had complained of breathing problems and cough a month ago.
The result of an X-ray confirmed the presence of chronic obstructive lung disease, but in April the patient went for an Umroh pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, where the disease was first reported, and was in that country for a week. On April 10, he went to a lung clinic at the Sanglah Hospital.
"A laboratory examination was carried out on the patient and based on its result there was no sign of the MERS corona virus infection," he reiterated.
Based on an X-ray examination, a chronic lung disease was detected causing impaired lung functioning, Ken explained. ***3***
(A014/INE/B003)
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(T.A014/A/KR-BSR/B003) 08-05-2014 16:36:10
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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