The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) is a potentially fatal respiratory viral infection that has had outbreaks in the Middle East and Asia region starting in 2012. As recent as 2015, MERS had outbreaks in South Korea, resulting in 36 deaths among 186 infected patients. The purpose of this thesis is to gain an in-depth understanding of how this viral infection behaves in outbreaks and how it is spread around the globe. To gain insight, real time analysis was performed under a case study methodology based on pooled data from the Ministry of Health & Welfare of South Korea. We calculated a striated mortality rate based on gender, age, and the presence of pre-existing health conditions ranging from heart, lung, and kidney diseases. We found that MERS outbreak follows the pattern of a point source outbreak, largely spurred by the patient-referral system under the universal healthcare system in South Korea. The purpose of this case is to discuss the benefits and challenges of such patient referral system, and to offer a possible solution in improving transparency between healthcare providers and the government under a universal healthcare system to prevent future outbreaks.
The Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a novel type of coronavirus-related disease that has over 4 million confirmed cases worldwide as of May 13 th , 2020. With over 200 countries impacted by the pandemic, many countries have taken drastic measures such as temporary closure of international borders. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the South Korean response to COVID-19 and the keys to successful containment of the disease. Real time analysis was performed on data provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Comparisons of disease containment among countries with the highest confirmed cases were normalized for population size differences by taking the proportion of confirmed cases to population size. We further compared the disease outbreak in Seoul, a very urban environment, to the whole country of South Korea, to compare public health in urban and rural environments. We found that the efficient partnership between the private sector and the state led to rapid development in testing kits, which was integral to the South Korean response to COVID-19. In addition, the South Koreans' community spirit, approval of government-led interventions, and societal norm of wearing masks were also efficient social responses to the spreading disease. In this paper, we navigate the impacts of a universal healthcare system and its ability to battle infectious diseases and the efficacy of various governmental actions in response to a public health crisis.
Malawi has one of the highest rates of HIV prevalence in the world, and accounts for 4% of the total number of people living in sub-Saharan Africa with HIV. Approximately one million people in Malawi were living with HIV in 2016, with 24,000 HIV-related deaths. The Option B+ program, first implemented in Malawi, aimed to initiate ART for all pregnant women, regardless of their CD4 cell count or disease stage. This study serves to analyze and assess the effectiveness of Option B+ retention, in relation to the facilitation of how various social and cultural barriers were handled. A literature review of 29 publications was conducted. Careful evaluation of various studies indicates that although there is a myriad of reasons explaining low levels of retention, the women who were at the highest risk for low retention were young pregnant women who were treated on the same day of HIV-diagnosis. Solutions focused around women and their partners or communities showed promising evidence of success in increasing adherence, as these strategies likely provided women reliable social and emotional support to address major barriers to retention such as a lack of support from male partners, ineffective education from healthcare workers, or stigma towards their HIV disclosure statue.
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