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Pregnant woman contracts MERS virus in S. Korea

June 9, 2015

A worker wearing protective gear sprays antiseptic solution in a subway car amid rising public concerns over the spread of MERS, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, virus at the subway car depot in Goyang, South Korea, Tuesday, June 9, 2015. South Korea believes its MERS virus outbreak may have peaked, and experts say the next several days will be critical to determining whether the government’s belated efforts have successfully stymied a disease that has killed seven people and infected nearly 100 in the country. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

By Kim Rahn

A pregnant woman was diagnosed with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in a primary test, Samsung Medical Center said Tuesday.

This is the first case of a pregnant woman with an infection of the deadly virus in South Korea according to health authorities.

The hospital said that the woman in her 40s had been hospitalized there ahead of childbirth expected in the middle of this month. The government is conducting a second test and if it is confirmed, this will be the 96th case.

She visited the hospital’s emergency room on May 27 as her mother went there with stomach problems. Between May 27 and 29, the nation’s 14th MERS patient was in the emergency room, spreading the disease to 36 other patients and medical staff. Her mother and father were already included in the tally.

The woman showed mild fever, severe muscular pain and mild breathing problems according to the hospital. She claimed that the hospital had refused her request for a test because she did not have a fever, but conducted the test as she later showed symptoms.

In the meantime, a MERS case has been confirmed at Asan Medical Center in eastern Seoul, the nation’s largest general hospital.

This is fueling concerns over a wider spread of the disease, although three patients have so far recovered and been released from quarantine facilities.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 96 MERS cases were confirmed as of Tuesday, seven of whom have died.

The ministry found a 27-year-old security guard at Asan Medical Center was infected with the disease on May 26 when the nation’s sixth MERS patient visited the hospital’s emergency room. The sixth patient was diagnosed with the disease at another hospital two days later, and died on June 1.

Based on surveillance camera recordings, the hospital said the sixth patient stayed in the emergency room for 28 minutes, so it means the security guard contracted the virus from him during that short encounter.

“The security guard went home on May 26, and has been ordered to stay at home since May 28 after the sixth patient was confirmed,” a hospital official said. “He did not show any symptoms until Monday morning, a day before the stay-at-home order was supposed to be lifted.”

Considering people from all over the country come to Asan Medical Center, concerns are rising that the hospital may become the third epicenter of the disease, following the first, Pyeongtaek St. Mary’s Hospital in Gyeonggi Province, and the second, Samsung Medical Center, with 37 cases each.

But the ministry said a large number of cases from the hospital are unlikely, considering the 14-day incubation period of the virus from May 26, the day of the sixth patient’s visit, ended Tuesday.

“The security guard did not show any symptoms through Monday, so we think he did not spread the disease to others as the virus is transmitted when symptoms show,” a ministry official said.

Among nine additional cases confirmed Tuesday, three were from Samsung Medical Center. The number from the hospital slowed down significantly, considering 17 new cases were found there the previous day.

Of the nine, one was confirmed at Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital and another one at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital in Seoul and two at Hallyum University Dongtan Sacred Heart Hospital in Gyeonggi Province, where no cases had been confirmed before.

The ministry is checking which hospitals the new patients had visited before being diagnosed with MERS and issuing orders to stay at home to people who had possible contact with them.

Nearly 2,890 people have been isolated at government-designated facilities or their homes, the ministry said. It added it would monitor all pneumonia patients in Seoul, Daejeon, Gyeonggi Province and Asan in South Chungcheong Province, as many symptoms of the two diseases are similar.

In the meantime, the 18th patient, who was confirmed on May 31, has recovered and tested negative, so was released from a quarantine facility.