KCDC Risk Assessments on the Initial Phase of theCOVID-19 Outbreak in Korea

Objectives@#This study aims to evaluate the risk assessments of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) in the KoreaCenters for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), from the point of detection to the provision of basicinformation to the relevant public health authorities. @*Methods@#To estimate the overall risk of specific public health events, probability, and impact at thecountry-level were evaluated using available information. To determine the probability of particularpublic health events, the risk of importation and risk of transmission were taken into consideration.KCDC used 5 levels (“very low,” “low,” “moderate,” “high,” and “very high”) for each category and overallrisk was eventually decided. @*Results@#A total of 8 risk assessments were performed on 8 separate occasions between January 8th toFebruary 28th, 2020, depending on the detection and report of COVID-19 cases in other countries. Theoverall risk of the situation in each assessment increased in severity over this period: “low” (first),“moderate” (second), “high” (third), “high” (fourth), “high” (fifth), “high” (sixth), “high” (seventh), and“very high” (eighth). @*Conclusion@#The KCDC’s 8 risk assessments were utilized to activate national emergency responsemechanisms and eventually prepare for the pandemic to ensure the containment and mitigation ofCOVID-19 with non-pharmaceutical public health measures.

Estimation of the Size of Dengue and Zika Infection Among Korean Travelers to Southeast Asia and Latin America, 2016–2017

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the number and risk of imported infections resulting from people visiting Asian and Latin American countries.METHODS: The dataset of visitors to 5 Asian countries with dengue were analyzed for 2016 and 2017, and in the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, imported cases of zika virus infection were also reported. For zika virus, a single imported case was reported from Brazil in 2016, and 2 imported cases reported from the Maldives in 2017. To understand the transmissibility in 5 Southeast Asian countries, the estimate of the force of infection, i.e., the hazard of infection per year and the average duration of travel has been extracted. Outbound travel numbers were retrieved from the World Tourism Organization, including business travelers.RESULTS: The incidence of imported dengue in 2016 was estimated at 7.46, 15.00, 2.14, 4.73 and 2.40 per 100,000 travelers visiting Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, respectively. Similarly, 2.55, 1.65, 1.53, 1.86 and 1.70 per 100,000 travelers in 2017, respectively. It was estimated that there were 60.1 infections (range: from 16.8 to 150.7 infections) with zika virus in Brazil, 2016, and 345.6 infections (range: from 85.4 to 425.5 infections) with zika virus in the Maldives, 2017.CONCLUSION: This study emphasizes that dengue and zika virus infections are mild in their nature, and a substantial number of infections may go undetected. An appropriate risk assessment of zika virus infection must use the estimated total size of infections.

A Joint Exercise against Intentional Biothreats

No abstract available.

Watch Your Waistline

No abstract available.

What Matters in the Performance of a Medial Institution?

No abstract available.

Not One for All

No abstract available.

Adolescents in Multi-Ethnic Families under Korean Ethnic Nationalism

No abstract available.

To Be or Not to Be

No abstract available.

Depression among Middle-aged Persons

No abstract available.

The Story of Korean Health Insurance System

No abstract available.

Seroprevalence and Risk Factors of Brucellosis among Slaughterhouse Workers in Korea / 예방의학회지

OBJECTIVES: The incidence of zoonoses in Korea has increased recently. However, the study of high risk groups for zoonoses has not been conducted to date in Korea. Thus, we did this study to obtain data on brucellosis among slaughterhouse workers in Korea. METHODS: We evaluated the structure of slaughterhouses and the process of slaughtering by reviewing the relevant literature and doing field studies. We visited 73 slaughterhouses and 62 residual products handle houses across the country. In addition, we conducted a questionnaire survey of the work activities, and obtained blood samples in order to determine the seroprevalence and risk factors of brucellosis. The titers of brucellosis antibodies were measured using the standard tube agglutination test (SAT). We diagnosed subjects as seropositive for Brucellosis if the titers were more than 1:160. The data collected was evaluated using SPSS ver. 17.0. RESULTS: We included 1,503 subjects and obtained 1,482 blood samples among them: 849 workers involved in slaughtering, 351 handlers of residual products, 190 inspectors and their assistants, and 92 grading testers and their assistants. The seroprevalence of brucellosis among the slaughterhouse workers was 0.8% (95% CI=0.4-1.5). Broken down, the seroprevalence of brucellosis among the workers involved in slaughtering was 0.7% (95% CI=0.3-1.6), the handlers of residual products was 1.7% (95% CI=0.7-3.9) respectively. Risk factors for contracting brucellosis among slaughterhouse workers were being splashed with cattle blood around the mouth, cattle secretions around the body and not putting on protective apron while at work. CONCLUSIONS: An educational program is needed for high risk groups on zoonoses about the prevention of infection. Thus, effective working guidelines for workers who participate in the slaughter of animals must be developed in order to protect them from zoonoses.

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 Seroprevalence in Korea: Rapid Increase of HSV-2 Seroprevalence in the 30s in the Southern Part

To determine the characteristics of seroprevalence of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection among Korean people, a cross-sectional study was conducted on three groups in 2004. The three groups consisted of the general public who visited public health centers, commercial sex workers (CSWs), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected persons. Among the general public, HSV-2 seroprevalence rates for age under the 20s, in the 20s, 30s, 40s and the above 22.6%, 32.7% and 32.3%, respectively, which showed rapid increase of the rate in the 30s (p<0.0001). In case of the above of 19 yr old, women (28.0%) was higher than men (21.7%) (p<0.0001). The rate of CSWs (81.6%) was about 10 times higher than that of general women. In case of HIV-infected men (47.6%), the figure was about 2-3 times higher than that of general men. The low rate in the teens and the 20s proved that it is essential to develop sexually transmitted infections (STIs) prevention programs of education and publicity for them as a precaution measure. This study is the first major study of its kind on HSV-2 and would provide basic data for prevention of STIs including information about target groups subject to vaccination program.

Seroepidemiological Characteristics of Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome from 1996 to 2005 in Korea

Haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) caused by Hantaan viruses has been one of the principal acute febrile disease in Korea. To analysis the sero-epidemiological patterns of HFRS, 4,177 patient sera of acute febrile illness submitted for serological assay to National Institute of Health from Community Health Centers, Institutes of Health and Environment and hospitals from 1996 to 2005 were examined for antibodies against Hantaan virus by indirect immunofluorescent assay (IFA). Serum samples with greater than 1:32 antibody titer were considered positive. The results were analyzed seroepidemiologically by annual, sexual, seasonal, age and regional distribution of HFRS patients. Out of 4,177 serum samples tested, 1,415 samples (33.9%) were positive to Hantaan virus. The ratio of males (48.2%, 682/1,415) to females (38.2%, 541/1,415) was 1.3:1. Seasonal incidence showed that 69.5% (985/1,415) of cases occurred from October to December, resulting with higher prevalence in November (41.3%, 584/1,415). Regionally, seropositive rates of samples collected in Gyenggi, Gangwon and Chungbuk were 39.9% (564/1,415), 19.3% (274/1,415) and 8.5% (120/1,1415), respectively. Age distributions of seropositive of HFRS were detected from 20 to 79 years (78%).