Korean MERS Patient Reported to Have Recovered and Discharged from Hospital

While MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) is shaking up Korea with anxiety, the first patient to recover from MERS during the current outbreak has been reported.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on June 6, the 63-year-old wife of the index case of MERS was discharged from the hospital after recovering from MERS. Her fever dropped and conditions improved, and virus tests were negative. She was discharged from isolated wards on June 5.

Earlier, she was diagnosed with MERS on May 20 after taking care of her husband, who was the one to bring the first case of MERS into Korea. She was transported to hospital and treated.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare also reported that she isn’t the only one to have recovered. The fifth patient to get the disease, who is in his/her 50s, and the seventh patient, 28 years old, are also preparing for discharge.

Meanwhile, MERS currently has no preventative vaccines or definitive cure; only supportive treatment is available. If the patient already has an underlying disease, their organ functions could quickly decline and it could threaten the patient’s life. Currently, four patients out of 41 cases of MERS have passed away from the virus.

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