Impact of Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak on the use of emergency medical resources in febrile patients

Jeong, Hyunho; Jeong, Sikyoung; Oh, Juseok; Woo, Seon Hee; So, Byung Hak; Wee, Jeong Hee; Kim, Ji Hoon; Im, Ji Yong; Choi, Seung Pill; Park, Kyoungnam; Cho, Byul Nim Hee; Hong, Sungyoup

Changes in the crude volume of ED attendance were attributed to the outbreak of respiratory contagious diseases predominantly depending on age. We compared the difference in the clinical features of febrile patients according to age groups. In the OF group, the average duration of fever by ED arrival was 2.21 days in 2015, with no difference in the duration during previous years (P = 0.05). In contrast, UF patients visited the ED after an average duration of fever of 1.66 days in 2015, which was significantly longer than the average duration in previous years. The ED length of stay continuously increased to 3.48 hours for all patients so the length in 2015 was significantly longer than in 2012 and 2013 (P < 0.001). Among UF patients, the ED length of stay was 3.39 hours, representing a nearly 40% increase compared to the average ED length of stay in the previous three years (P < 0.001).