Should People In South Korea Be Concerned About Contracting MERS?
According to this CNN article people should not really be all that concerned because the virus is not as contagious as believed:
The numbers sound scary as cases and deaths of MERS mount daily in South Korea.People are commuting with face masks in a densely crowded Asian capital, schools are shutting doors and mandatory quarantines are in effect. But what really are the risks and dangers to the general public?As one official said, South Korea is fighting two battles: MERS and public fear.Should I be worried about getting MERS?
Not really.
“It’s not a very contagious disease,” said Dr. Stanley Perlman, one of the authors of a comprehensive MERS review published in the journal Lancet this month. “Personally, people shouldn’t be worried, but I can understand the fear factor.” South Koreans are being told to take basic preventative measures like keeping hands clean, covering coughs and avoiding personal contact.
A person with MERS is estimated to infect less than one other person. It’s called a basic reproduction number that estimates the average number of people that a sick person will infect.
Compared with the reproduction number for Ebola, (in which one infected person is likely to spread the disease to two other people) or measles (one infected person is likely to to spread the infection to 15 other people), the rate of MERS is low indeed. [CNN]
You can read more at the link.
