First Hajj flights have started....Dr. Mackay on 4 new MERS cases, 2 deaths.

First Hajj flights have started....Dr. Mackay on 4 new MERS cases, 2 deaths.HT: Crofts.

On his VDU's blog, Dr. Ian Mackay reports new cases: MERS-CoV and deaths rise.... Click through for the full post, including links and his personal comments. Excerpt:

The latest Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Ministry of Health (MOH) announcement (Arabic only for now) provides scarce detail on 4 new cases including 2 deaths.

1. 30-year old, Riyadh, health care worker (HCW), in an intensive care unit (ICU)

2. 47-year old, Hafr Al Batin, multiple comorbidities, contact ("Mkhalt") of another case, in an intensive care unit (ICU)

3. 41-year old, Riyadh, HCW, fatal infection

4. 79-year old, construction worker, multiple comorbidities, contact of another case, fatal infection

The last case on that list is particularly interesting* for their role as a contact, who died. Generally, the second "passage" of infection to a new human host has not been as severe as the first. This once again draws attention to the role of underlying disease (comorbidities) in making any infection, even one that has gone through a human host, fatal.

There are no data on the sex of cases, when the fatal cases were admitted to hospital, or any indication at all of a date of disease onset.

After Wednesday's post of the plateau that ceased after umrah, I would be very interested to know how many recent cases have recent travel with a common destination.

The MERS-CoV lab-confirmed case tally now sits at 115 with 54 deaths (proportion fatal 47%)

Related:  Via Arab News: First Indian Haj flight arrives Saturday.