Health officials spray disinfectant solution in a bus in Seoul’s Seongdong Ward on June 15, 2015, as a precaution against the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). South Korea reported one more death from MERS on the day, along with five new cases that brought the total number of people diagnosed with the disease here to 150. The latest fatality raised the number of MERS-related deaths in South Korea to 16. (Yonhap)
Hopefully the spread of MERS is contained so the people in Pyeongtaek can get back to normal lives. Fortunately the ROK Air Force servicemember who tested positive for MERS recently has recovered:
A truck emits disinfectant smoke around Saint Mary’s Hospital in Pyeongtaek on Wednesday. South Korea’s first MERS patient spent three days in the hospital, spreading the disease to at least 30 others. Photo: European Pressphoto Agency
PYEONGTAEK, South Korea—A city best known by many for its nearby U.S. military base and surrounding rice paddies became ground zero as a deadly virus rarely seen outside the Middle East began to spread through South Korea.
At St. Mary’s Hospital in a newly developing industrial area of Pyeongtaek, about 35 miles south of Seoul, doctors puzzled for three days in mid-May over the flulike condition of a 68-year-old man, who hadn’t disclosed at that point that he had recently returned from the Middle East.
The man left St. Mary’s and was later admitted to a larger hospital in Seoul, where he was ultimately diagnosed with Middle East respiratory syndrome and was quarantined. But during that time in St. Mary’s, the man spread the MERS virus to more than 30 people. (…………………………)
A South Korean Defense Ministry official said one Korean man stationed at the Osan Air Base near Pyeongtaek who tested positive for MERS would be released on Thursday. The air base is close to the main U.S. military base of Camp Humphreys for which Pyeongtaek is known.
St. Mary’s was the first hospital named by the government as being part of the MERS outbreak. All patients, including MERS sufferers, have been moved to other hospitals. [Wall Street Journal via reader tip]
You can read more at the link, but it is going to be interesting to learn why MERS spread so widely in various hospitals as well as why so few people have died compared to outbreaks in the Middle East.
Hopefully these two USFK servicemembers under quarantine will eventually test negative for the MERS virus:
U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan said Monday evening that two others in Seoul — a servicemember stationed at K-16 Air Base and the family member of another servicemember stationed at Yongsan — are under quarantine, though neither has shown MERS symptoms and are not contagious. The garrison said USFK health officials are closely monitoring both, and the quarantines are a precautionary measure.
The K-16-based troop is under isolation in off-post quarters, while the family member is under quarantine at on-post quarters.
The three are the first members of the military community acknowledged by USFK to have been tested for MERS since an outbreak of the potentially deadly virus began in South Korea last month, with 150 cases reported as of Monday evening.
Sixteen people have died since the initial patient — a man who had traveled to the Middle East — was diagnosed, Yonhap News Agency has reported. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but fortunately the USFK servicemember who was quarantined on Camp Humphreys was ultimately found to have tested negative for the virus which was good to hear.
I wonder what was so unique about this 14th patient that caused him to spread the virus to so many people? Was it because that he was a medical worker and not properly washing his hands before treating other patients?:
Samsung Medical Center in Seoul was partially shut down Sunday as more cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome were confirmed in the hospital. Meanwhile, the death toll across the country reached 15 and the number of those infected 145.
Hospital officials said they would stop receiving outpatients, suspend operations and restrict the visitors of hospitalized patients until June 24 as part of its efforts to contain the virus.
As of Sunday afternoon, 19 new cases were reported, according to the Health and Welfare Ministry. Of them, 11 occurred at Samsung Medical Center, putting the total number of MERS patients from the hospital at 72.
The hospital’s move to temporarily close came after the authorities confirmed that an emergency worker who transferred patients to the hospital was infected with MERS. The 55-year-old was suspected of having been infected by the 14th patient, who is considered the “super spreader” for spreading the virus to more than 70 people. [Korea Herald]
You can read more at the link, but Samsung Medical Center is definitely taking a huge hit to their reputation with the spread of the MERS virus coming from their hospital.
YONGSAN, South Korea – A USFK service member at Camp Humphreys self-reported a potential exposure to the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome virus and is experiencing some symptoms associated with MERS. The service member previously received treatment at an affected Korean hospital before the hospital was identified as having a MERS patient. USFK is continuing to monitor the service member’s health and the individual has been isolated to on-post quarters, pending test results to assess infection. If test results establish that the service member has been infected, the individual will be placed into a special-care facility for MERS treatment and isolation.
For the most current MERS information, please go to USFK.mil and listen to AFN radio and television. [Camp Humphreys Facebook page via a reader tip]
I checked the USFK webpage for any updates and it is currently down. The USFK Facebook page however has a message on there from U.S. Forces Korea commander, Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti directing service members, civilians, and their families to contact their chain of command and healthcare providers prior to completing any off-installation hospital referrals within the Republic of Korea. Let’s all hope that if this USFK servicemember does in fact have MERS that he has a speedy recovery.
Here is an interesting read from a doctor who survived being infected with MERS by the 68 year old Korean man who initially brought the virus to South Korea after traveling in the Middle East:
Q. What were your symptoms?
A. In terms of my personal symptoms, there really isn’t much [to talk about]: a bit of muscle pain, indigestion, some coughing and a meager fever just high enough to fall after taking a few pills. The muscle pain wasn’t severe enough to take any painkillers. It hurt a little for about three to four days, but I got a lot better from the fifth. After a week, I started reading.
What was the most difficult pain to endure?
I don’t know whether my case can be comparable with that of other MERS patients. I was pretty healthy before the disease and also diagnosed pretty early, so it wasn’t as tough [as people assume]. I didn’t have trouble breathing. I’ve had the flu before, and if I were to grade the pain that ensued up to a 7, I’d say MERS was a 3 or a 4.
What was your daily schedule?
I had no sense of life during the first several days of treatment, but when I settled down later on I felt like my world was in tragedy. The television was one of my very few tools of connection with the outer world. I saw endless false rumors about MERS on the Internet, and being unable to speak up about the truth was what suffocated me the most. I was also worried about my own patients, and the false rumors that I treated them even after hearing the news I had MERS.
How are you feeling now?
I’m completely fine. I have a small cough, but I feel the same as I did before I had MERS.
As a doctor and former MERS patient, do you have anything to say about the current spread of the virus in Korea?
Fundamentally, I think doctors generally have to reflect upon their [lack of professionalism], because they were ignorant of MERS to begin with. In that sense, I think the outbreak may have been our [Korean doctors’] fault. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
A South Korean couple’s special day has become an unexpected symbol of the country’s MERS health scare, after a joke wedding photo with their guests wearing surgical face masks went viral.
The picture that flooded South Korean social networking sites showed the young couple formally posing with dozens of family and friends — with nearly everyone’s face obscured by the white masks.
It was taken at their wedding in Seoul on Saturday, as the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) gathered pace.
As of Tuesday, nearly 100 people had been infected by the virus, of whom seven have died.
“This is so scary and sad,” one Facebook user commented on the photo which was apparently taken by a guest.
But the couple’s wedding planner said the picture was not meant to be taken seriously and added that the couple — currently on honeymoon — had been taken aback by the publicity.
The wedding was held “normally” in Seoul, the planner, Hwang Myung-Hwan, told AFP.
“They had already taken normal group photos without masks when they decided to do something fun,” he said. [AFP]
Here is an interesting chart that shows where the majority of the MERS infection are coming from in Korea:
A major worry about the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak is coming true: The disease is spreading to other regions as people who visited Samsung Medical Center move from Seoul not knowing that they’re infected.
Samsung, one of Korea’s biggest and best hospitals, accepts patients from every corner of the country. The Ministry of Health and Welfare is worrying about possible fourth-generation infections, although none have been reported.
The health authority announced nine more MERS cases on Tuesday, raising the total number of patients to 95, and reported one more fatality, Patient No. 47, the country’s seventh victim. Nine MERS patients, Patients No. 12, 23, 24, 28, 42, 58, 74, 81 and 83, are in critical condition. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read the rest at the link, but it looks like the infections are happening in the emergency rooms. The lesson learned would appear to be to stay away from emergency rooms until this outbreak gets contained.
