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MERS patients according to age

The Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) situation is taking a disturbing new turn with the death of a 62-year-old patient with no history of chronic illness, and new cases reported among younger patients in their thirties and twenties.

The fatality rate climbed into the double digits with the deaths of several patients over the weekend.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s central MERS management and response headquarters held a briefing at the Government Complex in Sejong on June 14 to confirm the number of infections to date.

“As of now, a total of 145 have received confirmed MERs diagnoses, including seven new cases, some of which included Samsung Medical Center ambulance personnel,” the headquarters said.

The death toll climbed to fifteen, raising the fatality rate to 10.3%. Ten patients, or 6.9% of confirmed cases, have been discharged as fully recovered, but the situation remains uncertain for 16 others (11%), including the thirty-fifth patient, a 38-year-old physician at Samsung Medical Center.

A total of 5,208 suspected patients had undergone examinations as of June 14, while 4,856 are currently in isolation at their homes or in hospitals.

One reason for the continued MERS fears in South Korea is the evidence of the virus’s spread with each passing day. Four of the seven new confirmed cases, or over half, were among relatively young patients in their thirties and forties. Patients aged 10 to 49 currently account for 54 of the 145 confirmed cases, or 37%.

The younger patients added to the rolls were not found in patients with a history of illness. The 141th patient, a 42-year-old, had only accompanied another patient during an outpatient visit to Samsung Medical Center, while the 142nd, a 31-year-old, was confirmed to have visited a patient at the hospital. The 143rd patient, another 31-year-old who was infected at Dae-Chung Hospital in Daejeon, and the 145th, a 37-year-old infected while transporting a patient to Samsung Seoul Hospital, had only been present at the facilities for their jobs and did not have any other health issues at the time.

The virus’s spread to younger people has fears escalating from early on, when cases were chiefly among less hardy elderly patients. There is a growing sense that no one is totally safe.

The common wisdom that people with chronic illness are most at risk was shattered with news of the death of the 81st patient, a 62-year-old with no history of health problems who had been undergoing treatment in a sound pressure room. The patient, who contracted MERS after visiting an acquaintance under treatment at Samsung Seoul Hospital, had reportedly been suffering problems with liver function, but had no other history of disease.

For now, most of the deaths from MERS have been among elderly patients in their sixties to eighties. Fourteen other patients who died had chronic health problems such as asthma or lung disease or were suffering from serious conditions such as bile duct cancer and lung cancer.

By Um Ji-won, staff reporter

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