Although human-to-human transmission occurred, this was mainly within households and medical care facilities, where healthcare personnel (HCP) were affected the most. However, super spreading events were reported in the SARS and MERS outbreak [6, 7].
Previous studies also indicated that HCP were a major high-risk population for infections with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV [8, 9], but the information was very fragmented. Here, based on a series of HCP laboratory-confirmed MERS and SARS infections obtained from the World Health Organization and Taiwan, respectively, we compared the epidemiological and clinical characteristics, and particular similarities as well as differences between the two coronavirus infections to measure the risks related to fatal outcomes in both HCP and total cases. These data will be of benefit for effective prevention and control for any future nosocomial outbreaks of novel Coronavirus, and will therefore promote occupational health.