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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Main Authors: Seongmin Jo, Jinkwan Hong, Sang-Eun Lee, Moran Ki, Bo Youl Choi, Minki Sung
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 2019-03-01
Series:Royal Society Open Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.181164
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spelling 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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