Infection Prevention Measures for Surgical Procedures during a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Outbreak in a Tertiary Care Hospital in South Korea

Abstract

In 2015, we experienced the largest in-hospital Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak outside the Arabian Peninsula. We share the infection prevention measures for surgical procedures during the unexpected outbreak at our hospital. We reviewed all forms of related documents and collected information through interviews with healthcare workers of our hospital. After the onset of outbreak, a multidisciplinary team devised institutional MERS-control guidelines. Two standard operating rooms were converted to temporary negative-pressure rooms by physically decreasing the inflow air volume (−4.7 Pa in the main room and −1.2 Pa in the anteroom). Healthcare workers were equipped with standard or enhanced personal protective equipment according to the MERS-related patient's profile and symptoms. Six MERS-related patients underwent emergency surgery, including four MERS-exposed and two MERS-confirmed patients. Negative conversion of MERS-CoV polymerase chain reaction tests was noticed for MERS-confirmed patients before surgery. MERS-exposed patients were also tested twice preoperatively, all of which were negative. All operative procedures in MERSrelated patients were performed without specific adverse events or perioperative MERS transmission. Our experience with setting up a temporary negative-pressure operation room and our conservative approach for managing MERS-related patients can be referred in cases of future unexpected MERS outbreaks in non-endemic countries.The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a serious acute respiratory disease caused by the MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and the mortality rates in infected patients are estimated at 20-40% 1 . Since the first case report in Saudi Arabia in 2012 2 , MERS outbreaks have occurred mainly in Middle Eastern countries and a small number of imported cases arose in Europe, Asia, United States, and Africa 3-7 . From May to July 2015, South Korea experienced the largest MERS outbreak outside the Arabian Peninsula 8,9 . The South Korean outbreak resulted in 186 laboratory-confirmed MERS cases, 92 of which were associated with our tertiary care hospital 10,11 . According to our institutional policy during the MERS outbreak, all elective surgeries for MERS-related patients were postponed when possible. However, several MERS-related patients inevitably required emergency operations under anesthesia. Two of the 92-MERS confirmed cases and four MERS-exposed patients underwent surgery. Although there is some literature regarding infection prevention during operative procedures for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus 12,13 , guidelines or references for MERS prevention during perioperative patient care were very limited. Therefore, we developed institutional guidelines for perioperative MERS infection prevention and we set up a temporary negative-pressure operating room.In this globalized era, along with small and large outbreaks that persist in the Arabian Peninsula, MERS outbreaks may recur in any other regions, especially if a super spreader i...

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