• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.45-56
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• 2016

Purpose: The MERS(Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) outbreaks in Korea highlighted dramatically the failings of traditional hospital environment for controlling or preventing infections among both patients and healthcare workers. MERS is transmitted by droplets that can be airborne over a limited area. The point should be emphasized that MERS in South Korea was predominantly a hospital-acquired (not a community-acquired) infection, because approximately 93% of MERS cases were resulted from exposure in hospital settings. This paper tries to suggest the design guidelines of negative pressured isolation ward for the sake of proper control of severe respiratory infectious diseases. Methods: Literature survey on the design guideline and regulations of airborne infection wards in Korea, Europe U.K. and CDC of U.S. have been carries out. 4 special infection wards in Hongkong, Germany, Japan and Korea have been surveyed in order to make the best use of the experiences related to facility design and operations. Results: Operating system influencing the facility design, space organizations of infectious ward including required space and zoning, and circulations of patients, staffs and materials are proposed. Implications: The results of this paper can be the basic data for the design of the airborne infection ward and relevant regulations. Afterwards in-depth study such as the development of space standards for the single bedroom, locker room and so on could be explored.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.286-295
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• 2020

Respiratory infections are very common and highly contagious. Respiratory infectious diseases affect not only the person infected but also the family members and the society. As medical sciences advance, several diseases have been conquered; however, the impact of novel infectious diseases on the society is enormous. As the clinical presentation of respiratory infections is similar regardless of the pathogen, the causative agent is not distinguishable by symptoms alone. Moreover, it is difficult to develop a cure because of the various viral mutations. Various respiratory infectious diseases ranging from influenza, which threaten the health of mankind globally, to the coronavirus disease 2019, which resulted in a pandemic, exist. Contrary to human expectations that development in health care and improvement in hygiene will conquer infectious diseases, humankind's health and social systems are threatened by novel infectious diseases. Owing to the development of transport and trading activity, the rate of spread of new infectious diseases is increasing. As respiratory infections can threaten the members of the global community at any time, investigations on preventing the transmission of these diseases as well as development of effective antivirals and vaccines are of utmost importance and require a worldwide effort.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.77-89
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• 2023

This study aimed to find out the effect of vitamins on respiratory-related viral infections, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), through the literature reviews. From January 2000 to June 2021, the studies (cohort studies, cross-sectional studies, case-control studies, randomized control trials) related to vitamins (vitamin A, D, E, C, B₆, folate, and B₁₂) and COVID-19/severe acute respiratory syndrome/Middle East respiratory syndrome/cold/influenza were selected from the PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane libraries and analyzed. The relationship between vitamins and virus-related respiratory diseases was identified. Through the review, 39 studies were selected on vitamin D, one study on vitamin E, 11 studies on vitamin C, and 3 studies on folate. Regarding COVID-19, 18 studies on vitamin D, 4 studies on vitamin C, and 2 studies on folate showed significant effects of the intake of these nutrients in preventing COVID-19. Regarding colds and influenza, 3 studies on vitamin D, 1 study on vitamin E, 3 studies on vitamin C, and 1 study on folate demonstrated that the intake of these nutrients significantly prevents these diseases. Therefore, this review suggested the intake of vitamins D, E, C, and folate is important for preventing respiratory diseases related to viruses, such as COVID-19, colds, and influenza. The relationship between these nutrients and virus-related respiratory diseases should be continuously monitored in the future.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.427-438
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• 2020

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infects the lower respiratory airway of humans, leading to severe acute respiratory failure. Unlike human dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (hDPP4), a receptor for MERS-CoV, mouse DPP4 (mDPP4) failed to support MERS-CoV infection. Consequently, diverse transgenic mouse models expressing hDPP4 have been developed using diverse methods, although some models show no mortality and/or only transient and mild-to-moderate clinical signs following MERS-CoV infection. Additionally, overexpressed hDPP4 is associated with neurological complications and breeding difficulties in some transgenic mice, resulting in impeding further studies. Here, we generated stable hDPP4-transgenic mice that were sufficiently susceptible to MERS-CoV infection. The transgenic mice showed weight loss, decreased pulmonary function, and increased mortality with minimal perturbation of overexpressed hDPP4 after MERS-CoV infection. In addition, we observed histopathological signs indicative of progressive pulmonary fibrosis, including thickened alveolar septa, infiltration of inflammatory monocytes, and macrophage polarization as well as elevated expression of profibrotic molecules and acute inflammatory response in the lung of MERS-CoV-infected hDPP4-transgenic mice. Collectively, we suggest that this hDPP4-transgenic mouse is useful in understanding the pathogenesis of MERS-CoV infection and for antiviral research and vaccine development against the virus.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.28.1-28.25
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• 2020

The recent emergence of the novel coronavirus (CoV) or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) poses a global threat to human health and economy. As of June 26, 2020, over 9.4 million cases of infection, including 482,730 deaths, had been confirmed across 216 countries. To combat a devastating virus pandemic, numerous studies on vaccine development are urgently being accelerated. In this review article, we take a brief look at the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 in comparison to SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoVs and discuss recent approaches to coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) vaccine development.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.813-819
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• 2019

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) induces severe respiratory impairment with a reported mortality rate of ~36% in humans. The absence of clinically available MERS-CoV vaccines and treatments to date has resulted in uncontrolled incidence and propagation of the virus. In vaccine design, fusion with the IgG Fc domain is reported to increase the immunogenicity of various vaccine antigens. However, limited reports have documented the potential negative effects of Fc fusion on vaccine antigens. To determine whether Fc fusion affects the immunogenicity of MERS-CoV antigen, we constructed a Fcassociated MERS-CoV spike protein (eS770-Fc, 110 kDa), whereby human IgG4 Fc domain was fused to MERS-CoV spike protein (eS770) via a Gly/Pro linker using baculovirus as the expression system. For comparative analyses, two eS770 proteins lacking the IgG4 Fc domain were generated using the IdeS protease ($eS770-{\Delta}Fc$) or His tag attachment (eS770-His) and the immunogenicity of the above constructs were examined following intramuscular immunization in mice. Contrary to expectations, non-Fc spike proteins ($eS770-{\Delta}Fc$, eS770-His; 90 kDa) showed higher immunogenicity than the Fc fusion protein (eS770-Fc). Moreover, unlike non-Fc spike proteins, eS770-Fc immunization did not elicit neutralizing antibodies against MERS-CoV. The lower immunogenicity of Fc-fused eS770 was related to alterations in the structural conformation of the spike protein. Taken together, our results indicate that IgG Fc fusion reduces the immunogenicity of eS770 by interfering with the proper folding structure.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.175-184
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• 2017

This study was conducted to identify factors influencing turnover intention of nurses that were cohort quarantined during the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS) outbreak. Subjects of this study were 267 nurses from three hospitals that came in direct or indirect contact with diagnosed MERS and suspected MERS patients and were group quarantined during the 2015 MERS breakout. The data were collected from October 1, 2015 through November 30, 2015. The collected data were evaluated based on descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA and multivariate regression conducted using the SPSS/WIN 21.0 program. The factors influencing turnover intention were work experience and usual stress levels. While nurses tending to MERS patients had the highest stress levels (p<.001), different types of patient care during the MERS outbreak did not yield to a statistically significant turnover intention. Theresults of this study indicate that work experience and usual stress levels impact turnover intention of nurses and because the stress resulting from the MERS outbreak did not significantly affect the turnover intention, further human resource management is required to reduce the usual stress levels of nurses.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.273-287
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• 2015

This study aimed to investigate the impact of the epidemic disease including Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS) on the usage of public libraries. Such disease yields anxiety throughout the nation and discourages social activities in general. 18,711,453 records from 303 public libraries were examined with "big data retrieval & analysis platform for public libraries" located in Sejong National Library. The results are as follows. First, in 2015, when MERS was prevalent, the daily mean of books checked out was 64,645.05, showing decrease of 6,300 per day compared to that of 2014. Second, in 2014, the daily mean of books checked out from July 5th to August 19th was greater than that of from April 4th to May 19th and that of from May 20th to July 4th, implying the impact of summer vacation on the increase in books checked out in public libraries. Third, in 2015, the daily mean of books checked out from July 5th was greater than during MERS outbreak(from May 20th to July 4th), while it did not show statistically significant difference with that of before the outbreak. Fourth, the daily mean of books checked out did not show statistically significant difference between 2014 and 2015 before and during the outbreak, while it showed statistically significant difference between 2014 and 2015 after the epidemic period. The results indicate that MERS and the anxiety it brought nationwide had an impact on the daily mean of books checked out in public libraries after the epidemic period rather than during the outbreak.

• Anxiety and mood
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2019

Objective : The objective of this study is to determine the effects of fear of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) on socio-psychological health during an outbreak of MERS and the post-traumatic stress as a mediator on the relationship between stress and socio-psychological health. Methods : Visual Analog Scale, Impact of Event Scale -Revised, Psychosocial well-being index short form was implemented for 150 medical persons who worked at the hospital in which exposure to MERS cases had been confirmed and 96 ordinary people. A Pearson correlation coefficient and a hierarchical multiple regression was carried out to confirm the effect of fear of MERS and the mediating effect of post-traumatic stress between fear and socio-psychological health. Results : The higher the fear, the lower the socio-psychological health in both healthcare workers and the public (r=0.32, p<0.01) and the higher post-traumatic stress (r=0.32, p<0.01). But, the research results showed that only healthcare workers had a partially mediating effect of post-traumatic stress in the relationship between fear and socio-psychological health (${\beta}=0.45$, t=6.33 p<0.001), (${\beta}$ value : 0.39>0.26). Conclusion : This study demonstrated that the post-traumatic stress can indirectly lead to a negative effect on the socio-psychological health of healthcare workers when under the fear of MERS and shows adverse effects on psycho-social wellbeing. This suggests that clinical intervention and psycho-social approach aiming at reducing post-traumatic stress is important to maintain mental health during crisis development.

• International journal of advanced smart convergence
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2019

Coronaviruses are known respiratory pathogens. In the past, most human coronaviruses were thought to cause mild symptoms such as cold. However recently, as seen in the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), infectious diseases with severe pulmonary disease and respiratory symptoms are caused by coronaviruses, making research on coronaviruses become important. Considering previous studies, we constructed 'HCoV-IMDB (Human Corona Virus Immune Database)' to systematically provide genetic information on human coronavirus and host immune information, which can be used to analyze the interaction between human coronavirus and host immune proteins. The 'HCoV-IMDB' constructed in the study can be used to search for genetic information on human coronavirus and host immune protein and to download data. A BLAST search specific to the human coronavirus, one of the database functions, can be used to infer genetic information and evolutionary relationship about the query sequence.