'COVID-19 or Not' Debate Pushes Critical Patients to the Backseat

Confusion in Medical Field Seen Through Death of 17-Year-Old Boy
Only Antipyretics Prescribed Despite Multiple Tests... Controversy Over Laboratory Contamination

On the afternoon of the 18th, medical staff are busy moving around in the emergency room of Yeungnam University Hospital in Nam-gu, Daegu.

[Asia Economy Reporters Choi Dae-yeol, Kim Heung-soon] The 17-year-old boy who died after his pneumonia worsened while receiving treatment at Yeungnam University Hospital in Daegu starkly illustrates the confusion experienced in medical settings since the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The structural problem of urgent patients being sidelined due to the focus on COVID-19 became apparent. After the quarantine authorities conducted retests on the boy’s specimens and raised the possibility of laboratory contamination, controversy over the reliability of the tests is also expected to arise.

◆High fever of 39 degrees Celsius but only antipyretics prescribed = According to quarantine authorities and medical circles on the 20th, the boy underwent 13 COVID-19 diagnostic tests from the time he first showed fever symptoms on the 10th until his death. At Gyeongsan Central Hospital, which he first visited on the 12th, it was reported that he was prescribed antipyretics without diagnostic testing as COVID-19 infection was considered unlikely. At that time, the boy had a high fever of 39 degrees Celsius.

The next day, the boy visited the hospital’s screening clinic and pneumonia symptoms were confirmed. The test taken at that time later came back negative. Although pneumonia symptoms were confirmed, he was not admitted. As his condition worsened, he returned to the hospital that afternoon and, following medical staff recommendations, was transferred to Yeungnam University Hospital. At Yeungnam University Hospital, COVID-19 infection was suspected and he was moved to an isolation room for treatment. From the time of admission, his condition deteriorated and he was placed on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, an artificial heart-lung machine) used for critical patients. He was treated there for about six days but ultimately passed away.

The reason for conducting diagnostic tests more than ten times is unclear. The quarantine authorities regarded it as a "unique medical domain" based on medical staff judgment during treatment. In Daegu, as confirmed cases surged rapidly, diagnostic tests were conducted on all patients with pneumonia of unknown cause, and this patient also appeared to have the same progressing pneumonia. However, given that diagnosis was delayed at the screening clinic of the first hospital visited and that he was not admitted for treatment early despite worsening pneumonia, there is a possibility that responsibility for failing to treat a severe patient in a timely manner may be raised. It is known that in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, patients unrelated to COVID-19 often fail to be admitted on time or have surgeries indefinitely postponed.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters has established detailed guidelines on how to allocate beds and treat patients according to severity for confirmed COVID-19 cases, which frontline medical institutions are instructed to apply. The focus of the guidelines is on quarantine, specifically preventing further spread of infectious diseases. When asked by reporters whether the treatment process for the patient was appropriate, the quarantine authorities responded, "Since it is a situation not directly related to COVID-19 quarantine, we did not seek judgment," but left open the possibility that the Central Clinical Committee or others may review the matter comprehensively later.

◆Confusion worsened by contamination at Yeungnam University Hospital = To expedite diagnostic testing, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and provincial health and environmental research institutes expanded testing to private institutions, but as questions about test reliability have been raised, concerns about increased confusion at the frontline have also emerged.

The quarantine authorities found suspicious cases, including positive reactions in negative control samples submitted by Yeungnam University Hospital, and from the day before, ordered Yeungnam University Hospital to halt testing while sending experts to assess laboratory quality control. The hospital stated, "If there had been contamination or technical errors in the testing room, there would have been problems in other tests as well, but there were not," adding, "The truth will be revealed through quality control and reinspection."

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