To the Editor,
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is one of the new problematic emerging respiratory viral infection originated from the Middle East [Citation1–3]. This disease becomes a new concern on its possible worldwide pandemic. Generally, the patient has acute febrile illness with respiratory symptoms [Citation1–3]. Pneumonia is common and the fatality is high [Citation1–3]. Apart from respiratory presentation, there are also uncommon presentations. Thrombocytopenia is an interesting hematological manifestation of MERS. However, the exact magnitude of the problem has never been clarified. Here, the authors try to summarize and assess the magnitude of thrombocytopenia among the patients with MERS. Based on available data on 164 published cases with MERS [Citation4–6], 125 cases had thrombocytopenia giving the prevalence rate equal to 76.2%. This rate is considerably high as compared to the newly emerging respiratory viral infections. It might conclude that thrombocytopenia is an important clinical presentation in MERS and can be a useful basic laboratory finding to support diagnosis of MERS. The pathophysiology of thrombocytopenia in MERS is the interesting topic for further study.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
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