Table 1.

Vignette 1.

In 2015, a patient who had travelled in the Middle East attended an emergency department in Seoul and was diagnosed as the first case of MERS-coronavirus (CoV) infection in South Korea. Local transmission led to a further 28 cases, including six HCWs. A subsequent national outbreak resulted in 186 healthcare associated cases within the first month with over one fifth of these cases being HCWs. One reason for so many HAIs has been attributed to sub-optimal use of routine protective equipment by HCWs and the potential for infected HCWs to act as vectors of infection [13].