According to AORN, surgical procedures for patients with a confirmed or suspected MERS infection should be taken on a case-by-case basis. Perioperative professionals should screen for the following prior to surgery:
- Fever
- Symptoms of respiratory illness like pneumonia, cough or shortness of breath
- Close contact with someone who had a confirmed MERS case
- Travel to a country with ongoing MERS transmission — like South Korea and countries in the Arabian Peninsula — in the last two weeks
When caring for patients with MERS, perioperative professionals should follow standard, contact and airborne precautions, according to AORN guidelines.
More articles on MERS:
Purdue researchers discover weakness of MERS virus
7 lessons from the MERS outbreak in South Korea
MERS outbreak in South Korea: 9 things to know
