• 시큐리티연구
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• 제52호
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• pp.145-162
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• 2017

2015년 대한민국은 중동호흡기증후군(Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus; MERS; 메르스) 유행으로 큰 사회적 문제를 겪었다. 한국 정부는 그 대처 과정에서 한국정부의 재난대응체제의 문제점을 드러내며 많은 비판을 받은 바 있다. 국가위기관리와 감염병 대응체계와 관련하여 이와 비근한 외국의 사례로 1999년부터 시작된 미국의 웨스트 나일 바이러스(West Nile Virus; WNV) 사태가 있다. 이때 미 오리건(Oregon) 주(州)는 주정부와 지방 정부 및 관련 기관들 간의 긴밀한 협업을 통해 효과적으로 WNV 사태에 대처하여 위기관리의 모범적인 사례로 간주되고 있다. 이 논문에서는 한국의 메르스 사태와 미국 오리건 주의 웨스트 나일 바이러스 사태의 사례들을 정리 비교하여 정부간 조직간 협업과 정보공유를 중심으로 국가위기 관리 및 감염병 대응체계에 대한 함의점을 찾고자 하였다. 사례비교의 결과 컨트롤 타워의 역할, 정보공유 및 공개의 중요성, 기존 시스템과 사회 네트워크의 활용, 지속가능한 정부간 협업이라는 네 가지 함의점을 도출할 수 있었다.

• 한국병원경영학회지
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.144-156
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• 2017

Purpose: Crisis is inevitable to every organization and therefore, successful crisis management is critical to the organizations' survival and prosperity. With the understanding, this study aims to draw propositions for successful crisis management of hospitals when facing infectious disease outbreak. For the purpose, a case of a small and medium sized hospital's experience of crisis management during 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak was analyzed. Methodology/Approach: The detailed internal circumstances and experiences of the hospital during the MERS outbreak were identified by in-depth interview as well as the extensive material review, and analyzed under the view of the theories of accident, error, and crisis in relation of organization management Findings: Overall, nine propositions are drawn by the phase of crisis. In pre-crisis phase, for example, 'the hospital preparedness has positive influence on the effective responding to the crisis'. In detection phase, 'the mindfulness of the hospital organizations' as well as the individuals' has positive influence on detecting the crisis signals'. In crisis phase, for example, 'improvising naturally occurs in crisis by the unknown disease, therefore, a component site supervisor coordinating such improvision is important'. Lastly, in post-crisis phase, 'successful crisis responding experience facilitates the positive hospital culture'. Practical implication: From the experience of a small and medium size hospital, it is suggested that proactive system approach oriented by safety is beneficial for effective crisis management.

• 한국학교보건학회지
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.150-157
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to survey male high school students on their MERS(Middle East Respiratory Syndrome)-related knowledge, risk perception, and health behaviors and to identify the factors affecting health behaviors during the MERS outbreak in Korea. Methods: The subjects in this study were 144 students in a male high school. Data were collected through self-reported questionnaires in July, 2015. The collected data were analyzed by ANOVA, Pearson's correlation and multiple regression using SPSS/WIN 21.0. Results: The proportion of correct answers to questions testing MERS-related knowledge was 71.6% among male high school students; their health behaviors were rated at 48.9%; and their risk perception rate was 1.8 out of 4. There was a positive correlation between knowledge, risk perception, and health behaviors. Knowledge and risk perception explained 15.1% of the variance in health behaviors. Conclusion: To improve students' health behaviors, their risk perception and knowledge over MERS should be strengthened. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and implement efficient and feasible MERS education programs for high school students.

• 의학교육논단
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.99-105
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• 2016

The purpose of this study was to inquire into the knowledge of medical students on the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and evaluate whether infection prevention education impacts students' level of knowledge and individual hygiene practices. This study also investigated the route by which medical students obtain disease-related information. The study involved a survey conducted in August of 2015 at two medical schools in Busan. In the first year to fourth year, a total of 345 students are enrolled (111 students in A school and 234 students in B school). Before the study was carried out, university A performed infection prevention education related to MERS, but B did not. We used self-developed questionnaires to survey the demographic characteristics, routes of acquisition of MERS information, degree of knowledge of MERS, educational satisfaction, and personal hygiene practices before and after education. Knowledge level differences according to gender and year in school were not statistically significant. Students obtained their information about MERS from various news media sources and the Internet, and through social network sites. Students practiced sanitary control behaviors in an average of 2.2 manners (standard deviation=0.95). The level of knowledge of MERS revealed a positive correlation with the frequency and total numbers of personal hygiene practices. This finding suggests that the infection prevention education program played a role in knowledge acquisition and personal hygiene practices for the medical students. In order to provide accurate and reliable knowledge of disease and preventive health behavior to medical students, continuous and well-planned education programs are necessary.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• 제29권8호
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• pp.1316-1323
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• 2019

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is a newly emerging coronavirus which is zoonotic from bats and camels. Its infection in humans can be fatal especially in patients with preexisting conditions due to smoking and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Among the 25 proteins encoded by MERS-CoV, 5 accessory proteins seem to be involved in viral evasion of the host immune responses. Here we report that ORF4a, ORF4b, and ORF8b proteins, alone or in combination, effectively antagonize nuclear factor kappa B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) activation. Interestingly, the inhibition of $NF-{\kappa}B$ by MERS-CoV accessory proteins was mostly at the level of pattern recognition receptors: melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA5). ORF4a and ORF4b additively inhibit MDA5-mediated activation of $NF-{\kappa}B$ while that of retinoic acid-inducible gene 1 (RIG-I) is largely not perturbed. Of note, ORF8b was found to be a novel antagonist of MDA5-mediated $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation. In addition, ORF8b also strongly inhibits Tank-binding kinase 1 (TBK1)-mediated induction of $NF-{\kappa}B$ signaling. Taken together, MERS-CoV accessory proteins are involved in viral escape of $NF-{\kappa}B$-mediated antiviral immune responses.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제22권5호
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• pp.41.1-41.16
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• 2022

The human antimicrobial peptide LL-37 has chemotactic and modulatory activities in various immune cells, including dendritic cells. Because of its characteristics, LL-37 can be considered an adjuvant for vaccine development. In this study, we confirmed the possible adjuvant activity of LL-37 in mucosal vaccine development against Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (MERS-CoV) by means of intranasal immunization in C57BL/6 and human dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (hDPP4)-transgenic (hDPP4-Tg) mice. Intranasal immunization using the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of MERS-CoV spike protein (S-RBD) recombined with LL-37 (S-RBD-LL-37) induced an efficient mucosal IgA and systemic IgG response with virus-neutralizing activity, compared with S-RBD. Ag-specific CTL stimulation was also efficiently induced in the lungs of mice that had been intranasally immunized with S-RBD-LL-37, compared with S-RBD. Importantly, intranasal immunization of hDPP4-Tg mice with S-RBD-LL-37 led to reduced immune cell infiltration into the lungs after infection with MERS-CoV. Finally, intranasal immunization of hDPP4-Tg mice with S-RBD-LL-37 led to enhanced protective efficacy, with increased survival and reduced body weight loss after challenge infection with MERS-CoV. Collectively, these results suggest that S-RBD-LL-37 is an effective intranasal vaccine candidate molecule against MERS-CoV infection.

• Molecules and Cells
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• 제43권11호
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• pp.953-963
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• 2020

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is an infectious disease with multiple severe symptoms, such as fever over 37.5℃, cough, dyspnea, and pneumonia. In our research, microRNAs (miRNAs) binding to the genome sequences of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and SARS-CoV-2 were identified by bioinformatic tools. Five miRNAs (hsa-miR-15a-5p, hsa-miR-15b-5p, hsa-miR-195-5p, hsa-miR-16-5p, and hsa-miR-196a-1-3p) were found to commonly bind to SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2. We also identified miRNAs that bind to receptor proteins, such as ACE2, ADAM17, and TMPRSS2, which are important for understanding the infection mechanism of SARS-CoV-2. The expression patterns of those miRNAs were examined in hamster lung samples infected by SARS-CoV-2. Five miRNAs (hsa-miR-15b-5p, hsa-miR-195-5p, hsa-miR-221-3p, hsa-miR-140-3p, and hsa-miR-422a) showed differential expression patterns in lung tissues before and after infection. Especially, hsa-miR-15b-5p and hsa-miR-195-5p showed a large difference in expression, indicating that they may potentially be diagnostic biomarkers for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

• International Journal of Knowledge Content Development & Technology
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• 제11권4호
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• pp.101-111
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• 2021

The world is going through the most unprecedented time with the outbreak of novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which has become a threat to millions. A Coronavirus is a group of viruses that cause a variety of diseases in mammals and birds leading to a range of illnesses in humans including common cold and more severe forms like severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and COVID-19, which are life-threatening. The virus gets its name from its shape which takes the form of a crown with protrusions around it. In December 2019, a pneumonia outbreak was reported in the Wuhan City of China, which was later traced to a novel strain of Coronavirus and termed as Novel COVID-19. It typically causes flu-like symptoms including fever, cough and shortness of breath and is transmitted through human-to-human and there is no cure for it till now. Thus, this bibliometric study has been carried out to analyze the research progress in Coronavirus and literature published during a period of 30 years (1989-2019). Data for the study were fetched from Web of Science(WoS) multidisciplinary database and the publication trends in terms of total articles, productive countries, institutions, journals, productive authors, most cited articles and authors, etc have been analyzed. In total, 4917 articles were retrieved; these were from 711 sources and were contributed by 14442 authors. The collaboration index was 3.11, which clearly indicates that there has been a lot of collaboration in this field. The most preferred journal for the study period was "Journal of Virology" and the maximum contribution has been from the University of Hong Kong.

• 도시과학
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.13-20
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• 2020

The Recently, several countries have been affected by respiratory diseases, resulting in renewed research interest in their prevention and control. One such example was the 2015 outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in South Korea and COVID-19. In this study, we performed experiments and simulations based on concentration decay using CO2 as the tracer gas to elucidate the pollutant-removal efficiency for different inlet and exhaust locations and outdoor air-supply ratios. The wall inlet exhibited a higher pollutant-removal efficiency, owing to the upward movement of the air from the lower zone to the upper one. In conclusion, it is recommended that a total air-conditioning plan for isolation rooms be established as well as efficient system operation for pollutant removal and air-flow control to prevent the transmission of infections from the patients to others.

• 약학회지
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• 제59권6호
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• pp.245-250
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• 2015

Middle East respiratory syndrome - coronavirus infection has posed substantial threat to public health with extremely high mortality rate in 2015. Although there are no approved novel medications for coronavirus, several antiviral agents such as ribavirin and interferon have been tried to MERS patients according to the in-vitro inhibitory effect, therapeutic effect on the animal model and experience from the severe acute respiratory syndrome - coronavirus infection. The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical evidence of the antiviral treatment for MERS-CoV infection. After systematically searching the medical literature databases, I found five studies described the clinical efficacy of antiviral treatment on MERS patients. All of them were about the combination therapy of ribavirin and interferon (IFN). Two of them were retrospective cohort studies with quality of evidence (QOE) II and the others were observational study and case reports with QOE III. As a result of critical appraisal, it is concluded that none of those studies represented confirmatory clinical evidence of the efficacy of ribavirin and interferon combination therapy on MERS patients. Although Omrani et al. represented that ribavirin and IFN treatment had significantly improved survival at 14 days, it was not enough time to conclude the effect.