• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제48권6호
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• pp.274-276
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• 2015

Since the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea) began on May 11, 2015, a total of 186 persons have been infected by the MERS coronavirus, 38 of whom have died. With this number, Korea becomes second only to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the ranking of cumulative MERS cases. In this paper Korea's unique experience of an outbreak of MERS will be summarized and discussed briefly.

• 대한한방내과학회지
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.335-347
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• 2015

Objectives This study aims to overview traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment guidelines for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in order to facilitate the use of Korean medicine (KM) treatment in pandemic diseases. Methods We compared the characteristics between SARS and MERS, and overviewed the Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment guidelines for SARS and MERS. We assessed the efficacy of simultaneous administration of herbal medicine and Western medicine on SARS by studying Cochranes 2012's Systematic Review Studies. Results and Conclusions Based on wen bing (warm diseases) of KM as well as TCM, KM treatment can be an alternative for pandemic diseases such as SARS and MERS considering the Korean's characteristic environment.

• 한국보건간호학회지
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• 제33권1호
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• pp.33-46
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• 2019

Purpose: Individuals suspected Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) are continuously surfacing in Korea. study the Korean public's knowledge, attitude, and preventive behaviors related to MERS as well as the factors that affect preventive behaviors for MERS. Methods: The study used a descriptive research design, and included 196 men and women aged 20 to 65 years. Data were collected through Internet surveys and self-reported questionnaires from December 1 to 30, 2017. Results: Among the participants, 88.7 percent knew cough etiquette, 84.7 percent had education about cough etiquette, and 52.6 percent had received education on MERS. The average scores for knowledge of MERS was $73.60{\pm}18.78$; attitude of MERS, $2.22{\pm}0.92$; and preventive behaviors for MERS, $62.43{\pm}16.11$. egression analysis showed that higher knowledge of MERS (${\beta}=.34$, p<.001) and higher attitude of MERS (${\beta}=.05$, p=<.001) resulted in increased preventive behaviors, people with MERS education increased preventive behaviors (${\beta}=.21$, p=.003). Conclusion: the awareness and knowledge of MERS for promoting related preventive behaviors. Therefore, education content that considers the characteristics of the target population should be organized and expanded multiple channels.

• 신경정신의학
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• 제56권1호
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• pp.28-34
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• 2017

Objectives The purpose of this study was to evaluate psychological effects of an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), a newly emerged infectious disease, on doctors. Methods After the MERS outbreak was over, we conducted an online survey of doctors who worked at the hospitals in which exposure to MERS cases had been confirmed or who were directly involved in MERS diagnosis and treatment. The Patient Health Questionnaires-9 (PHQ-9) and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) assessment methods were used to assess the severity of depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms among the 64 doctors participating in the survey. Results The results of the survey indicate that 26.6% (n=17) of participants exhibited depressive symptoms and 7.8% (n=5) had post-traumatic stress symptoms. The doctors employed at hospitals with MERS cases had higher PHQ-9 and IES-R mean scores than those in doctors were not so employed. In contrast, there was no significant difference in those test scores between doctors who participated directly in MERS diagnosis and treatment and those doctors who did not. Conclusion The survey demonstrated that 28.1% (n=18) of doctors involved in MERS care suffered from depressive or posttraumatic stress symptoms, even though the MERS infection was being controlled. Working at a hospital with MERS cases was the primary determinant of the adverse psychological outcomes among doctors ; however, direct participation in the diagnosis and care of MERS patients was not significantly related to such outcomes.

• 정신신체의학
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.111-119
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• 2017

연구목적 본 연구는 메르스(Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, MERS(Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, 이하 MERS) 사태 발생 당시에 받은 스트레스가 사회심리적 건강에 미치는 영향을 알아보고, 회복탄력성이 매개효과로서 사회심리적 건강에 영향을 주는지를 알아보고자 하였다. 방 법 MERS가 발생한 병원의 병원종사자 156명과 일반인 127명을 대상으로 스트레스 자각척도, 사회심리적 건강측정 도구, 코너-데이비슨 리질리언스 척도를 시행하였다. 스트레스가 사회심리적 건강에 미치는 영향 및 회복탄력성의 매개효과를 확인하기 위해 피어슨 상관관계분석과 위계적 다중회귀분석을 실시하였다. 결 과 병원종사자와 일반인 모두에서 지각된 스트레스가 높을수록 사회 심리적 건강이 좋지 않음을 보였고, 지각된 스트레스가 높을수록 낮은 회복탄력성을 나타냈으며, 스트레스와 사회심리적 건강 사이의 관계에서 회복탄력성이 부분 매개를 하는 것으로 나타났다. 결 론 본 연구는 MERS 사태로 인해 받은 스트레스가 사회심리적 건강에 영향을 미침에 있어서 개인의 회복탄력성의 정도가 간접적으로 사회심리적 건강에 긍정적 효과를 끼칠 수 있고, 회복탄력성 강화를 목표로 한 임상적 개입 및 사회심리적 접근방법이 위기 발생시 정신건강을 유지하는데 중요함을 시사한다.

• 한국직업건강간호학회지
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• 제25권1호
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• pp.1-8
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• 2016

Purpose: The 2015 Korean Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreaks resulted in 186 cases, with 8% (15 persons) of these being nurses. This study aimed to examine MERS-CoV infection status of clinical nurses and to evaluate perception for infection control. Methods: We investigated the MERS-CoV infection status of nurses using MERS-CoV press release data. We examined and analysed perception for Infection control of 121 nurses of the three MERS intensive therapeutic hospitals in July 2015. Results: One to six nurses per hospital in total 8 health care facilities were infected with MERS-CoV. They mainly had short clinical careers and were unaware of infection possibility. The personal and organizational infection control levels that nurses perceive were low and the relationship between two levels was statistically significant. Conclusion: For promoting health protection and infectious disease management competency of nurses, it is necessary to prepare institutional system for controlling infectious disease.

• 임상간호연구
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.179-188
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• 2017

Purpose: This study examined post-traumatic stress (PTS) and the factors affecting it among general hospital nurses after the MERS(Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic. Methods: Data were collected from 170 nurses who worked at general hospitals since the first reported MERS outbreak. The IES-R-K assessed PTS. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: The mean PTS level was 7.80 points (range: 0~88); 7.1% of the participants were at a high risk. Nurses who had been in contact with patients suspected or diagnosed with MERS had high post-traumatic levels; those who had been quarantined during the MERS outbreak had relatively higher PTS levels. Shift-work nurses had higher PTS levels than those with fixed working hours. Above charge' nurses stress levels were higher than staff nurses' stress levels. The results showed that factors including contact with an MERS-suspected or diagnosed patient, position at work, and working status of MERS-affected nurses explained 16% of the PTS. Among the main variables, nurses' above charge position was the greatest factor affecting PTS. Discussion: It is necessary to develop intervention studies and programs considering these variables. Furthermore, development and implementation of differentiated programs should be done considering the position of above charge nurses.

• Kidney Research and Clinical Practice
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• 제36권2호
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• pp.111-116
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• 2017

The Korean Society of Nephrology participated in the task force team consisting of government authorities and civilian experts to prevent and control the spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) in 2015. The Korean Society of Nephrology MERS Task Force Team took an immediate action and drafted 'the clinical recommendation for hemodialysis facilities' to follow when the first and the only confirmed case was reported in the hemodialysis unit. Owing to the dedicated support from medical doctors, dialysis nurses, and related medical companies, we could prevent further transmission of MERS infection successfully in hemodialysis units. This special report describes the experience of infection control during MERS outbreak in 2015 and summarizes the contents of 'the clinical practice guideline for hemodialysis facilities dealing with MERS patients' built upon our previous experience.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.143-146
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• 2015

중동호흡기증후군 코로나바이러스(Middle East respiratory coronavirus, MERS-CoV)로 인한 질환은 2012년부터 보고되었다. 현재까지 대부분의 질환은 성인에서 발생하였으며 소아에 대한 보고는 매우 부족한 실정이다. 그리하여 본 연구에서는 소아에서 MERS-CoV 감염증의 역학적 특성과 임상 양상을 분석하였다. 전세계적으로 MERS-CoV에 감염된 소아는 34명이었으며(2015년 10월 29일 기준), 이는 전체 환자의 2.1%를 차지하였다. 소아 환자들의 중앙 연령은 13세(범위, 9개월부터 17세까지)이었으며, 성별이 보고된 자료(n=33) 중 57.6%가 남자였다. 전체 환자 중에서 약 반은 무증상 감염이었으며, 대부분의 증상이 있는 환자는 호흡기 증상을 동반하였다. MERS-CoV에 감염된 환자들의 예후는 대부분 양호하였으나, 사망한 환자는 4명이었으며 이 중 3명은 기저 질환이 있었다. 전세계적으로 소아에서 발생한 MERS-CoV 감염에 대한 보고 자료를 분석한 결과 MERS-CoV 감염은 소아에서 발생이 낮고 성인에 비해 예후가 좋은 것으로 나타났다.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.252-260
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the relationships between the level of knowledge, attitude and compliance of preventive behaviors of the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) among nursing students. Methods: The study sample consisted of 219 nursing students. Through the use of a structured questionnaire, data collection was conducted from June 1st to June 30th 2015. The descriptive statistics, independent t-tests and Pearson's correlation coefficient were employed to analyze the data. Results: The score of the MERS-related knowledge was 9.15 out of 13. The participants had a positive attitude toward the MERS. The level of MERS-related knowledge was high in the case of temporary school closure or break in clinical practice because of the clinical training in hospitals that MERS occurred (t= 2.42, p= .016). The compliance level of the preventive behavior for MERS was high in female students (t= -2.11, p= .036), in the case of temporary school closure or break in clinical practice due to the clinical training in hospitals that MERS occurred (t = 3.29, p= .001), and in students that had MERS-related education for prevention (t = 2.80, p= .006). The MERS-related knowledge was positively correlated with the level of compliance for preventive behavior (r= .18, p= .009). Conclusion: To prevent MERS infection in nursing students, the level of knowledge on MERS should be enhanced so that they can practice preventive behaviors against it. Additionally, the MERS infection control education should include etiology and treatment products based on the MERS response guideline issued by the Centers for Korea Disease Control and Prevention.