HEALTH-MERS/SOUTH KOREA-NEWSER South Korea conducts experimental plasma therapy on MERS patients

Record ID: 151684

  • Title: HEALTH-MERS/SOUTH KOREA-NEWSER South Korea conducts experimental plasma therapy on MERS patients
  • Date: 16th June 2015
  • Summary: SEJONG, SOUTH KOREA (JUNE 16, 2015) (REUTERS) NEWS BRIEFING AT MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND WELFARE IN PROGRESS JOURNALISTS AND CAMERAMEN AT NEWS BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY AT MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND WELFARE, KWON JUN-WOOK, SAYING: "There is insufficient clinical basis in regards to the effectiveness of plasma treatment among exper
  • Embargoed: 1st July 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA27FA1OGJ7F9Z543Z8KUWPYDHU
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Two South Korean hospitals are conducting experimental treatment for infected people with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) the country's health ministry said on Tuesday (June 16), as four new cases were reported.
    The procedure involves injecting blood plasma drawn from recovering patients into infected people, the ministry added. The procedure has been conducted on two consenting MERS patients in addition to existing care, the ministry's head of public health policy, Kwon Jun-wook, told a media briefing.
    "There is insufficient clinical basis in regards to the effectiveness of plasma treatment among experts in the country," Kwon said, but added that "the ministry has deep confidence in the medical staff on the direction of the treatment."
    Plasma treatment was previously used in SARS patients with some positive results in seriously ill patients that led to a decrease in the death rate by up to 23 percent, Kwon said.
    Plasma therapy has not been widely tried for MERS patients, with little clinical study results reported, Eom Joong-sik, professor of infectious diseases at Hallym University's medical college.
    Three years after the MERS virus first emerged in humans, there is no cure or vaccine that can protect people from falling sick with it, and little work has been done in develop a vaccine, despite considerable available scientific detail.
    The four new cases reported on Tuesday brings the total to 154 in an outbreak that is the largest outside Saudi Arabia. The ministry also said three more patients infected with the MERS virus had died, taking the total fatality to 19.
    The World Health Organization (WHO) has called the South Korean outbreak "large and complex" and all MERS cases have been traced to healthcare facilities.
    The health ministry has put more than 5,500 people in quarantine, at home or in health facilities.
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