Airflow analysis of Pyeongtaek St Mary's Hospital during hospitalization of the first Middle East respiratory syndrome patient in Korea.

ABSTRACT: 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 indo

SUBMITTER: Jo S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6458380 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature