Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Last MERS patient dies
By Kim Bo-eun
The last patient in Korea suffering from Middle East Respiratory Disease (MERS) died of complications, early Wednesday.
The 35 year-old died at Seoul National University Hospital, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. No name or the gender of the individual was provided.
The patient who died this morning also had malignant lymphoma and due to the anti-cancer drugs that were administered, the patient's immunity levels had dropped, leading to conflicting results in MERS tests conducted earlier.
The patient was initially brought to the Samsung Medical Center's emergency room, late in May and was diagnosed with MERS on June 2. The patient fought against the MERS virus for 172 days _ the longest survival period globally of all reported cases of the illness.
The MERS epidemic began on May 20 when the first case in the country was identified.
The MERS death toll in the nation currently stands at 38. The fatality rate has also risen above 20 percent to 20.4 percent.
However, the Disease Prevention Authorities are reviewing whether to declare the end of MERS in Korea.
This is because it is considered inappropriate to celebrate the end of the epidemic immediately following the final fatality.
In addition, the government previously declared a “de facto end of MERS,” and the authorities regard an additional declaration to be meaningless.
Moreover, the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier determined that the transmission period had passed in Korea.