With 19.2 percent of all confirmed South Korean Middle East respiratory syndrome patients turning out to be health care workers as of Monday, a study last year by Dong-a University showed that more than 40 percent of nurses have been infected with diseases, including AIDS, while serving at emergency rooms at least once in their lives.

The study, organized by nursing professor Kim Yeon-ha, surveyed 200 nurses who were serving in 10 emergency facilities last year. Among the 10 medical facilities, six of them were large hospitals that housed more than 800 beds for patients.

The largest number of the surveyed nurses -– 73 of them -– were infected with tuberculosis while serving in emergency rooms, while 60 of them were infected with influenza. A total of 43 of them were infected with chicken pox and 41 with acute viral hepatitis.

Three nurses were infected with AIDS while working in emergency care.

More than 65 percent of the surveyed nurses said their hospitals aren’t equipped with an adequate stock of sterilization equipment, and that it was not always easy to grab their safety gear as it was often placed too far away from where they were working.

“It turned out that the nurses don’t wear their safety gear -- including goggles and protective apparel -- the most in emergency situations, especially when they are placing their patients on ventilators or inserting tubes into a patient’s airways,” said professor Kim in her scholarly article.

“It is critical to repeatedly educate health care workers on their safety protocol, and all of them should be given full access to protective gear.”

As of Monday, 33 health care workers, including doctors and nurses, had been infected with MERS-CoV. They account for 19.2 percent of all 172 confirmed patients in the country.

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)