By Kim Rahn
The Ministry of Health and Welfare reported Tuesday that three more patients with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) have died, raising the death toll from the virus to 19. The three were aged 49, 58 and 65, and marks the first time someone in their 40s has died from the disease in Korea.
According to the ministry, the 49-year-old patient suffered from hepatocirrhosis and diabetes before becoming infected with MERS.
However, the other two victims were in relatively good health before contracting the virus.
The deaths of younger people in good health are contrary to widely-held assumptions about the disease among the public that infection and fatalities are only likely in the elderly and those with chronic illnesses.
The total number of confirmed cases rose by four to 154 as of Tuesday, with the fatality rate now standing at 12.3 percent.
Of the four newly confirmed cases, three patients contracted the disease from Samsung Medical Center (SMC) in Seoul, which became the new epicenter for MERS after the nation’s 14th patient stayed in its emergency room for three days from May 27 to 29.
The three new patients had carried on with their everyday lives until the infection was confirmed as they were not on the government’s monitoring list.
One of them is a civil servant at a community center in Daegu and had accompanied his mother to the emergency room with his sister.
The sister, who lives in Daejeon, was also diagnosed with the disease on June 10 and has since been hospitalized in an isolation ward. Despite his sister’s confirmation, he was excluded from the government’s list and kept working until he displayed signs of a fever on June 13.
The ministry has ordered 29 people who the man contacted to stay at home. It also shut down the community center temporarily after its disinfection.
Another of the newly-confirmed cases visited the same emergency room with his wife who received treatment there. Although the wife was included in the monitoring list, he was not, and he developed MERS symptoms on June 6.
The government only became aware of his case after he voluntarily went to Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital on Monday, more than a week after first showing symptoms, where he tested positive.
As many of these patients visited neighborhood clinics for fever and other symptoms without knowing about their MERS infection, the number of clinics and hospitals that confirmed patients visited has risen to 84.
Meanwhile, three patients recovered and were released from quarantine facilities, increasing the total number of released cases to 17; and 16 others remain in an unstable condition.
The ministry said 5,586 people have been isolated so far, but this figure is separate from those under monitoring due to possible contact with MERS patients at SMC, although these cases may overlap.
In addition, there have been several cases where people have shown MERS symptoms after the incubation period of 14 day. Regardless, the ministry said it is not considering extending the monitoring period of suspected patients from the current 14 days.
For bereaved families of deceased MERS victims, the government will provide grief counseling.
The ministry said World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan will come to Korea, Thursday, to take part in the International Council of Nurses Conference, and may announce WHO’s review on Korea’s MERS situation and recommendations during the visit.