Medical tests performed in South Korea.
Authorities in the East Asian region have released South Korea’s MERS outbreak report: 10 new cases confirmed. Medical experts are trying to identify how the current Middle East Respiratory Syndrome differentiates itself from the Sever Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak found in 2003.
South Korea is facing a new health challenge as authorities disclosed on early Friday morning that 10 new patients have been diagnosed with MERS. Worries began when a 44-year-old man had tested positive, thus setting China’s first confirmed case. Further investigations have been performed in order to establish whether other men living in the close vicinity of the said patient have been infected with the virus.
The 44-year-old man told doctors he had been in contact with 38 other persons ever since he began experiencing the first symptoms. He did not take the signs into consideration as he initially thought he had caught a cold sore. He only came to the hospital when things got really complicated as the man thought he developed pneumonia. Medical tests showed he had been infected with the MERS virus, one of the most dangerous viruses at present in the Asian regions.
Luckily, the other persons who have been in contact with the first MERS victim did not get infected. Nevertheless, 9 more cases were found on the South Korean territory and experts are trying to identify how the disease was spread. One thing is for sure, the newly found virus is not transmitted orally, but rather develops as an infection. Scientists are now worried that new mutant forms could appear and spread during man to man contact.
The first cases of MERS were identified in 2012 and the virus was linked to the famous SARS outbreak in 2003 responsible for approximately 800 deaths and 7,000 disease cases. The past outbreak was prevented from spreading thanks to the new vaccines that doctors developed. At present, no new remedies have been discovered, but scientists are making developing new studies each day.
Officials at the World Health Organization released new medical reports saying that the Arabian Peninsula is the main regain where the disease has reached alarming levels at present. The situation need not be neglected in South Korea, either as the Health Ministry said 1,142 cases of MERS were identified in 23 countries and 465 deaths had been reported since May 16.
Image Source: World Bulletin