Background. There is a paucity of data regarding the differentiating characteristics of patients with laboratory-confirmed and those negative for Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Methods. This is a hospital-based case-control study comparing MERS-CoV-positive patients (cases) with MERS-CoV-negative controls. Results. A total of 17 case patients and 82 controls with a mean age of 60.7 years and 57 years, respectively (P =. 553), were included. No statistical differences were observed in relation to sex, the presence of a fever or cough, and the presence of a single or multilobar infiltrate on chest radiography. The case patients were more likely to be overweight than the control group (mean body mass index, 32 vs 27.8; P =. 035), to have diabetes mellitus (87% vs 47%; odds ratio [OR], 7.24; P =. 015), and to have end-stage renal disease (33% vs 7%; OR, 7; P =. 012). At the time of admission, tachypnea (27% vs 60%; OR, 0.24; P =. 031) and respiratory distress (15% vs 51%; OR, 0.15; P =. 012) were less frequent among case patients. MERS-CoV patients were more likely to have a normal white blood cell count than the control group (82% vs 52%; OR, 4.33; P =. 029). Admission chest radiography with interstitial infiltrates was more frequent in case patients than in controls (67% vs 20%; OR, 8.13; P =. 001). Case patients were more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit (53% vs 20%; OR, 4.65; P =. 025) and to have a high mortality rate (76% vs 15%; OR, 18.96; P <. 001). Conclusions. Few clinical predictors could enhance the ability to predict which patients with pneumonia would have MERS-CoV. However, further prospective analysis and matched case-control studies may shed light on other predictors of infection. © 2014 The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
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