High reproduction number of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in nosocomial outbreaks: mathematical modelling in Saudi Arabia and South Korea

摘要

Background: Effective countermeasures against emerging infectious diseases require an understanding of transmission rate and basic reproduction number (R-0). R-0 for severe acute respiratory syndrome is generally considered to be 1, whereas that for Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is considered to be 1. However, this does not explain the large-scale outbreaks of MERS that occurred in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and South Korean hospitals.