Information sharing crucial - 정보공유가 중요하다

  The World Health Organization(WHO) and the Ministry of Health and Welfare's joint mission Saturday characterized the MERS outbreak that began here last month as "large and complex" and recommended continued vigilance. The joint mission said strengthening of contact tracing, monitoring and quarantine as well as expanded lab testing will prevent the further spread of the MERS coronavirus. There has been no mutation in the virus, the joint mission said, explaining that it shows a similar epidemiological pattern to previous hospital-related MERS outbreak in the Middle East.

  While the mission said that it found no evidence that MERS was circulating in the community, the confirmation of two cases of quaternary infection since Saturday have raised concerns that MERS is on the brink of spreading to the community. A private ambulance driver who transported a MERS patient and an accompanying person have been diagnosed with the disease, making them the first-ever quaternary infectin patiens in the world.

  Adding a sense of crisis to the situation is the partial shutdown of Samsung Medical Center, where a third wave of infection is expected following the second that was caused by a MERS patient who stayed at the emergency room for two days. An aide at the hospital who assists patients on the wheelchairs was found to have worked for nine days with MERS symptoms before being diagnosed. It is estimated that he had directly assisted 76 patients, raising the possibility of another outbreak of infection at the hospital. 

  Lee Jong-koo, head of the Seoul National University Center of Global Medicine, describing MERS as a form of cold, cautioned against overreaction, saying that the situation cannot be seen as a national emergency  

   

 

1) vigilance[vídƷələns] : 경계, 조심, 불침번 

2) mutation : 돌연변이   cf. gene mutation : 유전자 변이

3) epidemiology [_|epɪ_|di:mi^|ɑ:lədƷi] : 전염병학> 역학(疫學)  cf perform an epidemiologic investigation : 역학조사를 하다.

4) quaternary infection : 4차감염

5) brink : (the ~ of sth) : (아주 위험하거나 흥미로운 상황이 발생하기) 직전.  cf. on the brink of collapse / disaster

6) diagnose [_|daɪəg^|noʊs] : (질병, 문제의 원인으로) 진단하다.  <-> diagnosis : 진단. 

7) aide[eɪd] : 보좌관.   cf. nurse's aide : 간호조무사.  press aide : 공보비사, 언론 담당관 

8) symptom [^|sɪmptəm] : 증상, 징후/조짐   cf toxic symptom : 중독증상.   withdrawal symptom : 금단증상