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KMID : 0904520160420010039
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Health and Medical Sociology
2016 Volume.42 No. 1 p.39 ~ p.57
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Disparities in Infectious Diseases : the Case of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS) in Korea
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Kim Su-A
Shim Jae-Mahn
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Abstract
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How disproportionate are the sufferings from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) among different social groups in Korea in 2015? This paper answers this question, by collecting individual-level data of 186 people who were confirmed to contract MERS. After excluding 3 cases that have missing values for some of the key variables in the analysis, this paper investigates the experiences of 183 people. Regarding the disparities in the disease contraction, the paper finds that the elderly, males, people with other medical conditions, and residents in the Seoul metropolitan area are more likely to be affected by the MERS virus. With regard to the treatment outcomes after hospitalization, people with existing medical conditions, the elderly, residents outside the Seoul metropolitan area, and medical service users (vs. hospital staff) are found to be more likely to die of the infectious disease. These results suggest that there are disparities between social groups in suffering from the infectious disease. Policy efforts should consider these disparities in revising the national health care system.
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KEYWORD
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Infectious diseases, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Health disparity
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