Jeon Min Huok, Kim Tae Hyong
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Korea.
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Infect Chemother. 2016 Jun;48(2):75-80. doi: 10.3947/ic.2016.48.2.75. Epub 2016 Jun 30.
A year has passed since the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in the Republic of Korea. This 2015 outbreak led to a better understanding of healthcare infection control. The first Korean patient infected by Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was diagnosed on May 20, 2015, after he returned from Qatar and Bahrain. Thereafter, 186 Korean people were infected with the MERS-CoV in a short time through human-to-human transmission. All these cases were linked to healthcare settings, and 25 (13.5 %) infected patients were healthcare workers. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that the MERS-CoV isolate found in the Korean patient was closely related to the Qatar strain, and did not harbor transmission efficiency-improving mutations. Nevertheless, with the same infecting virus strain, Korea experienced the largest MERS-CoV outbreak outside the Arabian Peninsula, primarily due to the different characteristics of population density and the healthcare system. We aimed to review the epidemiological features and existing knowledge on the Korean MERS outbreak, and suggest methods to prevent future epidemics.
自韩国爆发中东呼吸综合征（MERS）以来，一年过去了。2015年的这次疫情使人们对医疗保健机构的感染控制有了更深入的了解。首例感染中东呼吸综合征冠状病毒（MERS-CoV）的韩国患者于2015年5月20日被确诊，此前他从卡塔尔和巴林回国。此后，186名韩国人在短时间内通过人际传播感染了MERS-CoV。所有这些病例都与医疗保健机构有关，其中25名（13.5%）感染患者为医护人员。系统发育分析表明，在韩国患者中发现的MERS-CoV毒株与卡塔尔毒株密切相关，且未携带提高传播效率的突变。然而，尽管感染病毒株相同，但韩国却经历了阿拉伯半岛以外最大规模的MERS-CoV疫情，主要原因是人口密度和医疗保健系统的特点不同。我们旨在回顾韩国MERS疫情的流行病学特征和现有知识，并提出预防未来疫情的方法。
