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A total of 150 people had contracted Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) as of June 15. Thirteen of them were physicians, nurses, or other healthcare workers.

The number of hospital workers infected with MERS jumps to 26 when caregivers and patient transport personnel are factored in. The category now represents 17% of all infections to date.

Physicians account for four of the patients with MERS. One neighborhood clinic physician who personally diagnosed patients returned to work recently after being given a clean bill of health. The other three were all exposed to the virus through direct or indirect contact with the fourteenth confirmed patient in the emergency room at Samsung Medical Center. Two are in favorable condition, but the other (Patient #35) is experiencing pneumonia and severe breathing distress.

“The emergency physicians who worked at the Samsung Medical Center emergency room were included on the list for isolation, but they were thought not to be infected with MERS,” said an emergency physician at one greater Seoul-area university hospital.

“They were relatively better prepared, compared to the doctors from other departments who were basically defenseless when they got called to the ER,” the physician explained.

Nurses face an even greater risk of infection due to their more frequent contact with patients. Nine nurses have been infected to date at Samsung Medical Center, Asan Seoul Hospital, Pyeongtaek St. Mary‘s Hospital, and Konyang University Hospital. A 39-year-old nurse whose diagnosis was confirmed on June 14 was infected while performing CPR on Patient #36. While she was wearing a mask and gloves at the time, the nurse had a high amount of contact with the patient, and the infection may have resulted from the patient’s bodily fluids on her mask or clothes.

“Apart from MERS, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare workers are routinely exposed to contagious diseases like AIDS and tuberculosis on the job,” said a representative from the Korean Medical Association (KMA).

“We need more things like masks, gloves, facilities, and equipment to prevent hospital infections, but the budgets are too small,” the representative added.

It could also be that healthcare workers are required to treat or care for too many patients in too short a time.

“With outpatient treatment at the ‘Big Five’ or one of Seoul’s big university hospitals, there are sometimes more than 200 patients in half a day,” said a professor in the infectious disease division of one Seoul-area university hospital.

“When you barely have three minutes to treat a single patient, it’s hard to observe the rule about always washing your hands before treating the next one,” the professor added.

The situation is much the same for nurses. A single nurse on night duty at a university hospital will often be looking after 15 to 20 patients.

By Kim Yang-joong, medical correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]