Clinical Presentation and Outcomes of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in the Republic of Korea

Choi, Won Suk; Kang, Cheol-In; Kim, Yonjae; Choi, Jae-Phil; Joh, Joon Sung; Shin, Hyoung-Shik; Kim, Gayeon; Peck, Kyong Ran; Chung, Doo Ryeon; Kim, Hye Ok; Song, Sook Hee; Kim, Yang Ree; Sohn, Kyung Mok; Jung, Younghee; Bang, Ji Hwan; Kim, Nam Joong; Lee, Kkot Sil; Jeong, Hye Won; Rhee, Ji-Young; Kim, Eu Suk; Woo, Heungjeong; Oh, Won Sup; Huh, Kyungmin; Lee, Young Hyun; Song, Joon Young; Lee, Jacob; Lee, Chang-Seop; Kim, Baek-Nam; Choi, Young Hwa; Jeong, Su Jin; Lee, Jin-Soo; Yoon, Ji Hyun; Wi, Yu Mi; Joung, Mi Kyong; Park, Seong Yeon; Lee, Sun Hee; Jung, Sook-In; Kim, Shin-Woo; Lee, Jae Hoon; Lee, Hyuck; Ki, Hyun Kyun; Kim, Yeon-Sook

From May to July 2015, the Republic of Korea experienced the largest outbreak of MERS outside the Arabian Peninsula. Infection was confirmed in a 68-year-old businessman returning from the Middle East on May 20th, 2015, when he presented with atypical pneumonia and he failed to response to anti-microbial therapy for community-acquired pneumonia. Prior to the confirmation of MERS-CoV infection, he had visited three hospitals where more than 600 people (including other patients, care givers, and healthcare workers) were exposed, resulting in 36 cases of MERS-CoV infection [6] . As of December 5th, 2015, 16,693 individuals had been quarantined and 186 cases of MERS-CoV had been confirmed. All confirmed cases were associated with a total of 17 healthcare facilities, and approximately 80% of the confirmed cases were caused by 'super-spreading' events that originated from five patients in four hospitals [6] . We aimed to determine the clinical features and outcomes of Korean patients confirmed to be infected with MERS-CoV, and the risk factors contributing to mortality.