Analyses of Confirmed COVID-19 Cases Among Korean Military Personnel After Mass Vaccination

Background@#The military was one of the first groups in Korea to complete mass vaccination against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to their high vulnerability to COVID-19.To confirm the effect of mass vaccination, this study analyzed the patterns of confirmed cases within Korean military units. @*Methods@#From August 1 to September 15, 2021, all epidemiological data regarding confirmed COVID-19 cases in military units were reviewed. The number of confirmed cases in the units that were believed to have achieved herd immunity (i.e., ≥ 70% vaccination) was compared with the number of cases in the units that were not believed to have reached herd immunity (< 70% vaccination). Additionally, trends in the incidence rates of COVID-19 in the military and the entire Korean population were compared. @*Results@#By August 2021, 85.60% of military personnel were fully vaccinated. During the study period, a total of 174 COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the 39 units. More local transmission (herd immunity group vs. non-herd immunity group [%], 1 [0.91] vs. 39 [60.94]) and hospitalizations (12 [11.01] vs. 13 [27.08]) occurred in the units that were not believed to have achieved herd immunity. The percentage of fully vaccinated individuals among the confirmed COVID-19 cases increased over time, possibly due to the prevalence of the delta variant. Nevertheless, the incidence rate remained lower in military units than in the general Korean population. @*Conclusion@#After completing mass vaccination, the incidence rates of COVID-19 infection in the military were lower than those in the national population. New cluster infections did not occur in vaccinated units, thereby suggesting that herd immunity has been achieved in these military units. Further research is needed to determine the extent to which levels of nonpharmacological intervention can be reduced in the future.

Studies on the vivax malaria readmitted in military hospital / 대한내과학회지

BACKGROUND: Vivax malaria reemerged in the Republic of Korea in 1993. Since 1993, many cases with malaria have been reported. But due to the antimalarial activities including chemoprophylaxis and repellents, the annual incidence of malaria has been decreased. Antimalarial chemoprophylaxis is effective to control disease, but will facilitate the spread of drug-resistance or drug-tolerance. Thus, it is needed to analyze the effect of treatment outcome. METHODS: We analyzed the patients diagnosed as vivax malaria who readmitted in military hospital from 1997 to 2003. All cases were confirmed as malaria by peripheral blood smear in military hospital. RESULTS: Forty-five cases were observed in second attack and three cases were observed in third attack. All cases were vivax malaria with fever, and tertian fever developed in 25 cases (55.5%) in first attack, 22 cases (48.8%) in second attack. Various distribution of the interval between first attack remission and second attack was observed (from 8 days to 37 months). Of the all cases, 41 cases (91.1%) developed malaria between May and October in first attack, 39 cases (86.6%) in second attack. Readmission rate were 0.68%. CONCLUSION: We observed that only 45 of 6,566 (0.68%) cases were readmitted. The treatment of vivax malaria in Korea Army is effective in controlling malaria and should be cotinued. But continued surveillance with veterans and with or without chemoprophylaxis are warranted to eliminate the spread of the disease.

Comparision of Results after ACL Reconstruction between Bioabsorbable Interference Screw and Metallic Interference Screw Fixation

PURPOSE: To analysis clinical results after arthroscopic ACL reconstruction between bioabsorbable interference screw fixation and metallic interference screw fixation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We evaluated the results of arthroscopic ACL reconstruction with patellar tendon autograft between two groups, of which group 1 is used metallic interference screw, group 2 is used bioabsorbable interference screw. All of 53 patients underwent arthroscopic patellar tendon auto-grafts with one incision technique. A minimum 12 months follow-up is available on 31 patients in group 1 and 22 patients in group 2. The average age was 28.4 years(19 to 47 years) in group 1 and 29.7 years(18 to 55 years) in group 2. The average period, from trauma to operation, was 20.7 months in group 1 and 24.6 months in group 2. The average follow-up period was 24.1 months in group 1 and 13.1 months in group 2. In terms of the results of pivot shift test, Lachman test, anterior drawer test, Lysholm score, Arthrometer(KT-2000), Cybex test, simlpe X-ray and MRI findings of group 1 compared with group 2. RESULTS: At the final follow-up, KT-2000 test showed that average maximum manual side-to-side dif-ference(STSD) was 2.7mm for group 1 and 2.7mm for group 2. Average muscle power of injured quadri-ceps muscle compared with normal leg by Cybex test was average 82% for group 1 and 79% for group 2. Lysholm score was average 90 for group 1 and 89 for group 2. 3 cases of group 1 and 2 cases of group 2 were showed instability in physical examination, but there were no evidence of synovitis of knee joint or rerupture of anterior cruciate ligament in the follow-up MRI. CONCLUSIONS: No statistical difference was found between the bioabsorbable interference screw fixation group and the metallic interference screw fixation group. Short-term data support that bioabsorbable interference screw is a reasonable alternative to metallic interference screw.