An Appropriate Lower Respiratory Tract Specimen Is Essential for Diagnosis of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)

Lee, Jae Hoon; Lee, Chang-Seop; Lee, Heung-Bum

As on July 2, 2015, there have been 183 confirmed cases of MERS and 33 fatalities reported in the Republic of Korea (2). This national outbreak of MERS has not been controlled yet but there is a rapid decrease in the number of current infections and fatalities. All patients in Korea acquired their disease in hospital settings where they came in direct or indirect contact with MERS patients. The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have carried out strong enforcement measures including quarantine care for up to 14 days (the maximum incubation period of the disease) in cases of symptomatic travelers from the Arabian Peninsula who arrived in Korea within the past 2 weeks and individuals who came in close contact with confirmed cases of MERS (2) . Suspicious cases are transferred to an assigned hospital if symptoms occur during the observation period. Real-time reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay conducted in 48-hour-intervals using respiratory samples is the standard diagnostic tool for MERS.