A lesson learned from the MERS epidemic in Korea: an essay on MERS

Meng, Kwang-Ho

The damage that Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) had inflicted on us in the two months since mid-May is severe. It has caused not only enormous economic loss, but also discomfort and anxiety felt by everyone in the country. But, most of all, it took the precious lives of 36 people. Nobody suspected that a virus too small to be seen with a regular microscope could cause this much fear in the 21st century, with cutting-edge technology available. This may even be referred to as the virus’ revolt. This incident will likely cause the Korean government to strengthen the public health measures that prevent and control infectious diseases, and cause hospitals to put more effort into treating individuals who are in quarantine. Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that these measures will eliminate the risk posed by infectious viral diseases. This is because, no matter how small it may be, a virus is still a “living organism” which has an innate disposition for self-growth and development, and even if science hurries to develop vaccines and drugs, viruses are able to mutate at any time, to appear as a more fearful disease.