Abstract
The Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in Korea in 2015 may be attributable to poor nosocomial infection control procedures implemented. Strict infection control measures were taken in the hospital where an imported case with MERS was treated in southern China and 53 health care workers were confirmed to be MERS-CoV negative. Infection control in healthcare settings, in which patients with emerging infectious diseases such as MERS, Ebola virus disease, and the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) are diagnosed and treated, are often imperfect. When it comes to emerging or unknown infectious diseases, before the imported case was finally identified or community transmission was reported, cases have often occurred in clusters in healthcare settings. Nosocomial infection control measures should be further strengthened among the workers and inpatients in designated healthcare settings that accommodate suspected cases suffering from emerging or unknown infectious diseases.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40249-016-0118-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Which intervention and control measures should be immediately taken when suspected Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) case(s) are imported from abroad? High priority should be given to the prevention of nosocomial infections among the workers and inpatients in the healthcare settings
The majority of cases occurred in countries in the Arabian Peninsula, international spread of MERS due to travel has been reported in at least 20 other countries, with many cases emerging in the healthcare settings [4]
Poor nosocomial infection control may play an important role in emerging infectious disease outbreaks, including MERS The first imported case of MERS in Korea was reported on May 20, 2015
Summary
High priority should be given to the prevention of nosocomial infections among the workers and inpatients in the healthcare settings. The majority of cases occurred in countries in the Arabian Peninsula, international spread of MERS due to travel has been reported in at least 20 other countries, with many cases emerging in the healthcare settings [4].
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