Since the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) outbreak in the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea) began on May 11, 2015, a total of 186 persons have been infected by the MERS coronavirus, 38 of whom have died. With this number, Korea becomes second only to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the ranking of cumulative MERS cases. In this paper Korea's unique experience of an outbreak of MERS will be summarized and discussed briefly.
Coronavirus Infections/*economics/epidemiology ; Disease Outbreaks ; Humans ; Public Health/*economics/ethics/legislation & jurisprudence ; Quarantine ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology

The Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in South Korea in 2015 has drawn public attention regarding the legal regulation of infectious disease control in Korea. This paper discusses the interpretive and legislative concerns regarding the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act, its ordinance and enforcement regulations, as well as public statements from the relevant administrative agency. Future improvements are also proposed.
Communicable Diseases, Emerging/epidemiology/*prevention & control ; Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology/*prevention & control ; Disease Outbreaks ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Quarantine/*legislation & jurisprudence ; Republic of Korea

Contact monitoring is an essential component of the public health response to a Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreak, and is required for an effective quarantine to contain the epidemic. The timeliness of a quarantine is associated with its effectiveness. This paper provides a conceptual framework to describe the process of contact monitoring, and proposes a new measure called the "timely quarantined proportion" as a tool to assess the adequacy of a public health response.
Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology/*prevention & control/transmission ; Disease Outbreaks ; Health Personnel/ethics ; Humans ; Public Health/*ethics/legislation & jurisprudence ; Quarantine ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology

For over 100 years, controlled human infection (CHI) studies have been performed to advance the understanding of the pathogenesis, treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. This methodology has seen a resurgence, as it offers an efficient model for selecting the most promising agents for further development from available candidates. CHI studies are utilised to bridge safety and immunogenicity testing and phase II/III efficacy studies. However, as this platform is not currently utilised in Asia, opportunities to study therapeutics and vaccines for infections that are important in Asia are missed. This review examines the regulatory differences for CHI studies between countries and summarises other regulatory differences in clinical trials as a whole. We found that the regulations that would apply to CHI studies in Singapore closely mirror those in the United Kingdom, and conclude that the regulatory and ethical guidelines in Singapore are compatible with the conduct of CHI studies.
Asia ; Clinical Trials as Topic ; economics ; standards ; Communicable Disease Control ; Communicable Diseases ; epidemiology ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Ethics, Medical ; Health Policy ; Humans ; Infectious Disease Medicine ; legislation & jurisprudence ; standards ; Quarantine ; Research Design ; standards ; Singapore ; United Kingdom