Superpurifier in Seoul patient infected 82 people with Mers virus

Mers-Superverbreiter: Patient infected 82 people in South Korea
The dangerous Mers virus, which claimed hundreds of lives, especially in the Middle East, had been transported by travelers to other parts of the world in recent years. South Korea was particularly affected. Researchers have now discovered that a single patient in the capital Seoul infected at least 82 people.

Deadly virus was introduced by travelers
The dangerous Mers virus (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), which claimed hundreds of lives, especially in the Middle East, has been repeatedly carried by travelers to other regions of the world in recent years. Also in Germany the deadly virus was diagnosed. The largest outbreak outside the Arabian Peninsula is a wave of infection in South Korea. The first Mers case was reported there in May 2015, and in July it was said that Mers in South Korea had been overcome. A total of 36 out of 186 people in the East Asian country where the virus was detected died. The World Health Organization (WHO) attributed the rapid spread of the virus to a lack of knowledge about the disease and overcrowded emergency services. A new study by South Korean scientists now shows that the experts were correct in their assumption.

The Mers epidemic last year in South Korea was the largest outside the Arabian Peninsula. Now it became known that almost half of the infections went back to a so-called "superverbreiter". (Image: napatcha / fotolia.com)

Patient infected at least 82 people
In the South Korean Mers epidemic last year, a single patient infected 82 people with the dangerous coronavirus. This is shown in a study recently published in the journal "The Lancet". According to the researchers, the researchers reconstructed the epidemic using camera images and medical records and identified the so-called super spreader. It was "Patient 14", 35 years old and bed neighbor of the 68-year-old patient, who had introduced the virus from the East.

Overcrowded emergency room and lack of communication
It was reported that "Patient 14" visited the emergency room of the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul in May 2015 - a facility that was hopelessly overcrowded that day. There he got infected with the dangerous virus when he was in a room with the 68-year-old. This was isolated later, after it was known that he carried the pathogen in itself. So it was not "Patient 1" but his bed neighbor, who infected 41 visitors, 33 other patients and eight hospital staff within three days. "Overcrowding played a major role in this outbreak and is typical of modern medicine," said study author Doo Ryeon Chung, according to a report from the Internet portal "medicalxpress.com". Inadequate ventilation of the emergency room, the lack of isolation rooms and the lack of communication between clinics have also contributed to the problem. "Emergency preparedness and vigilance in hospitals, laboratories, and government agencies are critical to preventing further major outbreaks not only of Mers infections, but also of other emerging infectious diseases," said the scientist.

Infection can be fatal
Mers-CoV was first identified in September 2012 in Saudi Arabia by a 60-year-old patient with severe respiratory infection, who died soon afterwards. Presumably, there were previously previously due to the virus diseases, but were not examined more closely. According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the pathogen was detected in more than 1,700 people worldwide, over 600 of them died. It is similar to the SARS virus and can cause flu-like symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath and coughing, as well as severe pneumonia. Frequently, however, the disease is almost symptom-free. According to health experts, severe cases occur predominantly in people with chronic pre-existing conditions.

Also with SARS there was a Superverbreiter
Also in the related SARS virus at that time had been reported on a so-called super-widener. In 2002 and 2003, around 800 people died of the pathogen within a few months, and thousands became infected. The WHO later calculated that about half of the approximately 8,000 SARS cases recorded worldwide were attributed to a physician from Guangdong Province, southern China, who traveled to Hong Kong and was already living in a hotel, already seriously ill. (Ad)