Airflow analysis of Pyeongtaek St Mary's Hospital during hospitalization of the first Middle East respiratory syndrome patient in Korea
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is known to be transmitted through close contact. However, epidemiological surveys of MERS in Korea indicated that some secondary patients were infected without close contact. Therefore, the possibility of other transmission routes must be identified. In this...
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2019-03-01
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doaj-f81aecdf7338421a8fa983ab5dd21ee22020-11-25T04:00:46ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032019-03-016310.1098/rsos.181164181164Airflow analysis of Pyeongtaek St Mary's Hospital during hospitalization of the first Middle East respiratory syndrome patient in KoreaSeongmin JoJinkwan HongSang-Eun LeeMoran KiBo Youl ChoiMinki SungMiddle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is known to be transmitted through close contact. However, epidemiological surveys of MERS in Korea indicated that some secondary patients were infected without close contact. Therefore, the possibility of other transmission routes must be identified. In this study, the possibility of MERS spreading through airflow was investigated on the eighth floor of Pyeongtaek St Mary's Hospital. Computational fluid dynamics was used to analyse the indoor airflow and passive tracer diffusion during the index patient's stay. Six cases were simulated for different outdoor wind directions and indoor mechanical ventilation operations. When a passive tracer was released in ward 8104, where the index patient was hospitalized, the passive tracer spread through the indoor airflow, which was created by the outdoor airflow. Ward 8109, which had the largest number of infected cases and was far distant from ward 8104, showed passive tracer concentration in all cases. This result indicates that MERS may have spread through airflow. The study results do not imply that the infection pathway of MERS is airborne. However, the results show the possibility of MERS spreading through airflow in specific environments such as poor ventilation environments.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.181164middle east respiratory syndromehospital infectionairflow analysistransmission routecomputational fluid dynamicsventilation |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Seongmin Jo Jinkwan Hong Sang-Eun Lee Moran Ki Bo Youl Choi Minki Sung |
spellingShingle |
Seongmin Jo Jinkwan Hong Sang-Eun Lee Moran Ki Bo Youl Choi Minki Sung Airflow analysis of Pyeongtaek St Mary's Hospital during hospitalization of the first Middle East respiratory syndrome patient in Korea Royal Society Open Science middle east respiratory syndrome hospital infection airflow analysis transmission route computational fluid dynamics ventilation |
author_facet |
Seongmin Jo Jinkwan Hong Sang-Eun Lee Moran Ki Bo Youl Choi Minki Sung |
author_sort |
Seongmin Jo |
title |
Airflow analysis of Pyeongtaek St Mary's Hospital during hospitalization of the first Middle East respiratory syndrome patient in Korea |
title_short |
Airflow analysis of Pyeongtaek St Mary's Hospital during hospitalization of the first Middle East respiratory syndrome patient in Korea |
title_full |
Airflow analysis of Pyeongtaek St Mary's Hospital during hospitalization of the first Middle East respiratory syndrome patient in Korea |
title_fullStr |
Airflow analysis of Pyeongtaek St Mary's Hospital during hospitalization of the first Middle East respiratory syndrome patient in Korea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Airflow analysis of Pyeongtaek St Mary's Hospital during hospitalization of the first Middle East respiratory syndrome patient in Korea |
title_sort |
airflow analysis of pyeongtaek st mary's hospital during hospitalization of the first middle east respiratory syndrome patient in korea |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
series |
Royal Society Open Science |
issn |
2054-5703 |
publishDate |
2019-03-01 |
description |
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is known to be transmitted through close contact. However, epidemiological surveys of MERS in Korea indicated that some secondary patients were infected without close contact. Therefore, the possibility of other transmission routes must be identified. In this study, the possibility of MERS spreading through airflow was investigated on the eighth floor of Pyeongtaek St Mary's Hospital. Computational fluid dynamics was used to analyse the indoor airflow and passive tracer diffusion during the index patient's stay. Six cases were simulated for different outdoor wind directions and indoor mechanical ventilation operations. When a passive tracer was released in ward 8104, where the index patient was hospitalized, the passive tracer spread through the indoor airflow, which was created by the outdoor airflow. Ward 8109, which had the largest number of infected cases and was far distant from ward 8104, showed passive tracer concentration in all cases. This result indicates that MERS may have spread through airflow. The study results do not imply that the infection pathway of MERS is airborne. However, the results show the possibility of MERS spreading through airflow in specific environments such as poor ventilation environments. |
topic |
middle east respiratory syndrome hospital infection airflow analysis transmission route computational fluid dynamics ventilation |
url |
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.181164 |
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