The Most Effective Therapeutic Regimen for Patients with Severe Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) Infection

Copyright: © 2015 Al-Qaseer et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Background: More than two years after its discovery, the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) continues to have a high case-fatality rate. A specific therapy with proven effectiveness for MERS-CoV infections still does not exist. Method: MERSCoV-positive patients were treated with different suggested treatment options. The virological and clinical progress of these patients in response to the treatment was evaluated. Results: Both patients had co-morbidities and were critically ill with acute respiratory distress syndrome on mechanical ventilation at the time of diagnosis. Even though low dose ribavirin / pegylated interferon α combination was started early for the first patient, it was provided late for the second patient. Both patients recovered from their infection. Conclusion: By evaluating the clinical and virological response of the patients to the different treatment options implicated, it seems that currently the most effective therapy against severe MERS-CoV infection is the low dose ribavirin / pegylated interferon α combination