Caregivers, hospital visitors account for 42% of patients



By Jhoo Dong-chan





More than 40 percent of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) patients are caregivers and visitors to the MERS-affected hospitals.

As of June 16, the nation has reported 154 cases of MERS infection, resulting in 19 deaths, according to data released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Tuesday.

Of the 154 patients, 57, or 37 percent, reportedly contracted the disease while visiting their family members or friends in the hospital. There are also four doctors, nine nurses and seven caregivers among the confirmed MERS cases.

Hospital visitors combined with caregivers amounts to 64 people, accounting for 42 percent of the total MERS cases in Korea.

While releasing the results of a joint study alongside the Korean government, a World Health Organization (WHO) team said the country's nursing culture where family members take care of the ill contributed to the spread of the virus in a relatively short time.

"Frequent visiting hospitalized patients by friends and family members played a large part," Keiji Fukuda, the WHO's assistant director-general of health security, said during a press conference on June 13.

Experts say caregivers, who were excluded from the government's monitoring list in the initial stages of the outbreak, played a significant role in the spread of MERS. Crowded emergency rooms and multiple patient wards in the nation's hospitals also provided ideal conditions for the outbreak.

"We took out five filters from wards at Pyeongtaek St. Mary's Hospital where patient No.1 stayed," said Professor Choi Bo-yul of Hanyang University's department of medicine and a member of the joint team.

"Out of the five filters, the virus was found on three. The hospital's narrow ward structure and its ventilation boosted the virus to spread throughout different rooms."