MERS Countermeasures as One of Global Health Security Agenda

Lee, Jong Koo

doi:10.3346/jkms.2015.30.8.997

Cited by 5 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…In view of these analyses, R 0 of MERS‐CoV before the effective intervention can be much higher than the threshold level in the healthcare‐associated environment. This result suggests that MERS‐CoV is not only severe but also highly contagious at least under the Korean healthcare culture …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Because of no zoonotic infection in the ROK outbreak, we only consider the human‐to‐human transmission. Although all transmissions occurred within hospitals, the affected hospitals were distributed across the ROK so we assume the ROK population of size N=51 413 925 in mid‐2015 are involved in the outbreak. On 4th May, all the people are assumed to be susceptible ( S ) except the index case who carried the virus but was not ill until 11th May.…”

Section: Methods and Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All cases in the outbreak, including healthcare workers, patients and visitors, were linked to healthcare settings; it is thus appropriate to assume that the transmission only acts on the people in the healthcare facilities as did in Lee et al . However, it should be noticed that the people in the ROK can freely visit any hospitals they want and relatives and friends have the tradition to visit the patients in hospitals . This may indicate that the infection can actually spread on a wide and large population.…”

Section: Methods and Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different from Westernised culture, Koreans have the tradition to visit relatives and friends in hospitals and can choose the hospitals that they think are the best for their treatment. This culture‐associated behaviour along with increased infectivity in hospital environment may have facilitated the spread of MERS‐CoV in the ROK …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…used dynamics models to identify the main determinants of transmission in the ROK outbreak. Both assume that the hospitalised patients can transmit infection to others, which is not true in the ROK outbreak where no infection was caused by confirmed cases as they were all isolated after the confirmation . Further, they both fixed the transition rates so that the stage durations (e.g incubation period and delay from symptom onset to hospitals) were implicitly assumed to be exponential.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Estimating and modelling the transmissibility of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus during the 2015 outbreak in the Republic of Korea

Zhang

Pebody

Charlett

et al. 2017

Influenza Resp Viruses

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BackgroundEmerging respiratory infections represent a significant public health threat. Because of their novelty, there are limited measures available to control their early spread. Learning from past outbreaks is important for future preparation. The Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus (MERS‐CoV ) 2015 outbreak in the Republic of Korea (ROK) provides one such opportunity.ObjectivesWe demonstrated through quantitative methodologies how to estimate MERS‐CoV's transmissibility and identified the effective countermeasures that stopped its spread.MethodsUsing the outbreak data, statistical methods were employed to estimate the basic reproductive number R 0, the average number of secondary cases produced by a typical primary case during its entire infectious period in a fully susceptible population. A transmission dynamics model was also proposed to estimate R 0 and to identify the most effective countermeasures. The consistency between results will provide cross‐validation of the approaches.Results R 0 ranged from 2.5 with 95% confidence interval (CI): [1.7, 3.1] (using the sequential Bayesian method) to 7.2 with 95% CI: [5.3, 9.4] (using the Nowcasting method). Estimates from transmission model were higher but overlapped with these. Personal protection and rapid confirmation of cases were identified as the most important countermeasures.ConclusionsOur estimates were in agreement with others from the ROK outbreak, albeit significantly higher than estimates based on other small outbreaks and sporadic cases of MERS‐CoV. The large‐scale outbreak in the ROK was jointly due to the high transmissibility in the healthcare‐associated setting and the Korean culture‐associated contact behaviour. Limiting such behaviour by rapidly identifying and isolating cases and avoiding high‐risk contacts effectively stopped further transmission.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Methods and Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methods and Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Estimating and modelling the transmissibility of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus during the 2015 outbreak in the Republic of Korea

Zhang

Pebody

Charlett

et al. 2017

Influenza Resp Viruses

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Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Virus—Pathophysiological Axis and the Current Treatment Strategies

et al. 2021

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Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a lethal respiratory disease with its first case reported back in 2012 (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia). It is a novel, single-stranded, positive-sense RNA beta coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that was isolated from a patient who died from a severe respiratory illness. Later, it was found that this patient was infected with MERS. MERS is endemic to countries in the Middle East regions, such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. It has been reported that the MERS virus originated from bats and dromedary camels, the natural hosts of MERS-CoV. The transmission of the virus to humans has been thought to be either direct or indirect. Few camel-to-human transmissions were reported earlier. However, the mode of transmission of how the virus affects humans remains unanswered. Moreover, outbreaks in either family-based or hospital-based settings were observed with high mortality rates, especially in individuals who did not receive proper management or those with underlying comorbidities, such as diabetes and renal failure. Since then, there have been numerous reports hypothesising complications in fatal cases of MERS. Over the years, various diagnostic methods, treatment strategies and preventive measures have been strategised in containing the MERS infection. Evidence from multiple sources implicated that no treatment options and vaccines have been developed in specific, for the direct management of MERS-CoV infection. Nevertheless, there are supportive measures outlined in response to symptom-related management. Health authorities should stress more on infection and prevention control measures, to ensure that MERS remains as a low-level threat to public health.

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Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Superspreading Event Involving 81 Persons, Korea 2015

Choe

et al. 2015

J Korean Med Sci

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Since the first imported case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection was reported on May 20, 2015 in Korea, there have been 186 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infection with 36 fatalities. Ninety-seven percent (181/186) of the cases had exposure to the health care facilities. We are reporting a superspreading event that transmitted MERS-CoV to 81 persons at a hospital emergency room (ER) during the Korean outbreak in 2015. The index case was a 35-yr-old man who had vigorous coughing while staying at the ER for 58 hr. As in severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreaks, superspreading events can cause a large outbreak of MERS in healthcare facilities with severe consequences. All healthcare facilities should establish and implement infection prevention and control measure as well as triage policies and procedures for early detection and isolation of suspected MERS-CoV cases.

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MERS Countermeasures as One of Global Health Security Agenda

Cited by 5 publications

References 2 publications

Estimating and modelling the transmissibility of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus during the 2015 outbreak in the Republic of Korea

Estimating and modelling the transmissibility of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus during the 2015 outbreak in the Republic of Korea

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Virus—Pathophysiological Axis and the Current Treatment Strategies

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Superspreading Event Involving 81 Persons, Korea 2015

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