Effectiveness of Emergent Ad Hoc Coordination Groups in Public Health Emergencies.

Whether emergent groups positively or negatively influence a disaster response remains inconclusive in the literature. We analyzed the effect of an emergent group on two interorganizational networks for information communication and resource coordination during a public health emergency response. Using the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Coronavirus in Korea as a study case, we identified an ad hoc entity that appeared in both networks.

Interorganizational Coordination and Collaboration During the 2015 MERS-CoV Response in South Korea.

Objectives: This study examined the way organizations were involved in the response to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV, MERS) outbreak that occurred in Korea in 2015.

Data And Methods: We collected organizational network data through a content analysis of online news articles and the government's white paper. Social network analysis was used to analyze the key organizations and their connections in crucial response tasks.

Public risk perceptions and preventive behaviors during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Objective: This study examines the public perception of the 2009 H1N1 influenza risk and its association with flu-related knowledge, social contexts, and preventive behaviors during the second wave of the influenza outbreak in Arizona.

Methods: Statistical analyses were conducted on survey data, which were collected from a random-digit telephone survey of the general public in Arizona in October 2009.

Results: The public perceived different levels of risk regarding the likelihood and their concern about contracting the 2009 H1N1 flu.

Community knowledge, risk perception, and preparedness for the 2009 influenza A/H1N1 pandemic.

Objective: To examine public knowledge, perceptions, and preparedness for the 2009 influenza A/H1N1 pandemic.

Design: We conducted a telephone survey of selected households in Arizona during the month of October 2009.

Results: Among the 727 households interviewed, one-third (34%) were not aware that the terms swine flu and H1N1 refer to the same virus.