Will the MERS Nightmare Repeat... COVID-19 Driving Hospital Infection Crisis

[Asia Economy Reporter Seolgina Jo] The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which has spread to local communities, is heading toward the most feared 'hospital-acquired infection' crisis. As infections among medical staff, including nurses, have been continuously confirmed at Cheongdo Daenam Hospital, which has emerged as a major hotspot for large-scale infections, the nightmare of the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is being reenacted.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 21st, among the 156 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Korea, 16 were infected at Cheongdo Daenam Hospital. It is known that more than five of these were medical staff, including nurses. Just like the mass infections that occurred at Pyeongtaek St. Mary's Hospital and Samsung Seoul Hospital during the 2015 MERS outbreak, hospital infections have been confirmed once again.

Accordingly, concerns have grown that COVID-19 could escalate to the worst-case scenario. In hospitals and other medical institutions, hospitalized patients with significantly weakened immune systems are mixed in narrow and enclosed spaces, making them inevitably more vulnerable to COVID-19. This is also the reason why health and quarantine authorities have been most concerned about hospital infections since the appearance of confirmed cases in Korea.

Daenam Hospital is effectively home to four institutions within one building: Cheongdo County Health Center, National Cheongdo Nursing Hospital, Edenwon (nursing home), and Daenam Hospital itself. When combining the medical staff, employees, and hospitalized patients of these institutions, the total reaches about 600 people. Since the 19th, quarantine authorities have been isolating patients and medical staff in the closed ward of Daenam Hospital and conducting a full investigation, but there is a high possibility that additional confirmed cases will emerge.

During the MERS outbreak, 92.5% (172 out of 186) of infections were hospital-acquired, and 25 (13.4%) were medical staff. Hospital infections were also a major problem in Wuhan, China, where COVID-19 first emerged. According to a paper analyzing the clinical characteristics of the initial 138 patients at Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 41% (57 patients) were identified as hospital-acquired infections.

A health official said, "The most dangerous scenario when a new infectious disease occurs is hospital-acquired infection," adding, "During MERS, many severe patients and deaths occurred due to infections among hospitalized patients, leading to strengthened medical laws and efforts for institution-specific preparedness, but this is truly a test."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.