Middle East respiratory syndrome: what we learned from the 2015 outbreak in the Republic of Korea
The Korean Journal of Internal MedicinePublished 27 February 2018Open access
Myoung‐don Oh, Wan Beom Park, Sang‐Won Park, Pyoeng Gyun Choe, Ji Hwan Bang, Kyoung‐Ho Song
Citations228
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SJR score0.74
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TL;DR
The literature on epidemiology, virology, clinical features, and prevention of MERS-CoV are reviewed, which were acquired from the 2015 Korea outbreak, which involved 186 cases, including 38 fatalities.
Abstract
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first isolated from a patient with severe pneumonia in 2012. The 2015 Korea outbreak of MERSCoV involved 186 cases, including 38 fatalities. A total of 83% of transmission events were due to five superspreaders, and 44% of the 186 MERS cases were the patients who had been exposed in nosocomial transmission at 16 hospitals. The epidemic lasted for 2 months and the government quarantined 16,993 individuals for 14 days to control the outbreak. This outbreak provides a unique opportunity to fill the gap in our knowledge of MERS-CoV infection. Therefore, in this paper, we review the literature on epidemiology, virology, clinical features, and prevention of MERS-CoV, which were acquired from the 2015 Korea outbreak of MERSCoV.
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MathematicsMedicine
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The outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in South Korea resulted in 186 infections and 36 deaths in 2015 and healthcare personnel (HCP) are one of the high-risk populations for MERS- coV infection and inadequate infection control measures have been reported to be responsible for the in-hospital acquisition of MERS.
Infection Control and Hospital EpidemiologyMiddle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Transmission in Dialysis Unit and Infection Control Interventions in Korea
5 Citations2016Soo-youn Moon, Jun Seong Son +8 more
Clinical Infectious DiseasesTransmissibility of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome by the Airborne Route
4 Citations2016Myoung‐don Oh
The isolation of MERS-CoV from multiple air samples, especially from the corridor air, raises concern about possible airborne transmission, but the characteristics of the environmental isolates seem to differ from those of the clinical isolate.
Clinical Infectious DiseasesEnvironmental Contamination and Viral Shedding in MERS Patients
2 Citations2016Myoung‐don Oh
In order to prove isolation of “viable” virus, further data, such as cytopathic effects in cell culture and electron microscopy of MERSCoV–infected cells, is needed; until these data are available, the authors should be careful to use the term “ viable’ or “isolate” of virus.
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