COVID-19 in South Korea.

A novel coronavirus (severe acute respiratory syndrome-CoV-2) that initially originated from Wuhan, China, in December 2019 has already caused a pandemic. While this novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) frequently induces mild diseases, it has also generated severe diseases among certain populations, including older-aged individuals with underlying diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. As of 31 March 2020, a total of 9786 confirmed cases with COVID-19 have been reported in South Korea. South Korea has the highest diagnostic rate for COVID-19, which has been the major contributor in overcoming this outbreak. We are trying to reduce the reproduction number of COVID-19 to less than one and eventually succeed in controlling this outbreak using methods such as contact tracing, quarantine, testing, isolation, social distancing and school closure. This report aimed to describe the current situation of COVID-19 in South Korea and our response to this outbreak.

Managing sources of error during pandemics.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted important considerations for modeling future pandemics.

Heterogeneity in COVID-19 infection among older persons in South Africa: Evidence from national surveillance data.

Background: The 2021 World Health Organization study on the impact of COVID-19 on older people (≥60 years) in the African region highlighted the difficulties they faced as the virus spread across borders and dominated the way of life. These difficulties included disruptions to both essential health care services and social support, as well as disconnections from family and friends. Among those who contracted COVID-19, the risks of severe illness, complications, and mortality were highest among near-old and older persons. Objective: Recognizing that older persons are a diverse group including younger- and older-aged individuals, a study was conducted to track the epidemic among near-old (50-59 years) and older persons (≥60 years) in South Africa covering the 2 years since the epidemic emerged. Methods: Using a quantitative secondary research approach, data for near-old and older persons were extracted for comparative purposes. COVID-19 surveillance outcomes (confirmed cases, hospitalizations, and deaths) and vaccination data were compiled up to March 5th, 2022. COVID-19 surveillance outcomes were plotted by epidemiological week and epidemic waves to visualize the overall growth and trajectory of the epidemic. Means for each age-group and by COVID-19 waves, together with age-specific rates, were calculated. Results: Average numbers of new COVID-19 confirmed cases and hospitalizations were highest among people aged 50-59- and 60-69-years. However, average age-specific infection rates showed that people aged 50-59 years and ≥80 years were most vulnerable to contracting COVID-19. Age-specific hospitalization and death rates increased, with people aged ≥ 70 years most affected. The number of people vaccinated was slightly higher among people aged 50-59 years before Wave Three and during Wave Four, but higher among people aged ≥ 60 years during Wave Three. The findings suggest that uptake of vaccinations stagnated prior to and during Wave Four for both age groups. Discussion: Health promotion messages and COVID-19 epidemiological surveillance and monitoring are still needed, particularly for older persons living in congregate residential and care facilities. Prompt health-seeking should be encouraged, including testing and diagnosis as well as taking up vaccines and boosters, particularly for high-risk older persons.

[Rt or RDt, that is the question!] / Rt or RDt, that is the question!

The article compares two of the most followed indices in the monitoring of COVID-19 epidemic cases: the Rt and the RDt indices. The first was disseminated by the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) and the second, which is more usable due to the lower difficulty of calculation and the availability of data, was adopted by various regional and local institutions.The rationale for the Rt index refers to that for the R0 index, the basic reproduction number, which is used by infectivologists as a measure of contagiousness of a given infectious agent in a completely susceptible population. The RDt index, on the other hand, is borrowed from the techniques of time series analysis for the trend of an event measurement that develops as a function of time. The RDt index does not take into account the time of infection, but the date of the diagnosis of positivity and for this reason it is defined as diagnostic replication index, as it aims to describe the intensity of the development of frequency for cases recognized as positive in the population.The comparison between different possible applications of the methods and the use of different types of monitoring data was limited to four areas for which complete individual data were available in March and April 2020. The main problems in the use of Rt, which is based on the date of symptoms onset, arise from the lack of completeness of this information due both to the difficulty in the recording and to the absence in asymptomatic subjects.The general trend of RDt, at least at an intermediate lag of 6 or 7 days, is very similar to that of Rt, as confirmed by the very high value of the correlation index between the two indices. The maximum correlation between Rt and RDt is reached at lag 7 with a value of R exceeding 0.97 (R2=0.944).The two indices, albeit formally distinct, are both valid; they show specific aspects of the phenomenon, but provide basically similar information to the public health decision-maker. Their distinction lies not so much in the method of calculation, rather in the use of different information, i.e., the beginning of symptoms and the swabs outcome.Therefore, it is not appropriate to make a judgment of preference for one of the two indices, but only to invite people to understand their different potentials so that they can choose the one they consider the most appropriate for the purpose they want to use it for.

rofile and spatial distribution of COVID-19 deaths in the municipality of Rio Grande/RS in 2020 / Perfil e distribuição espacial de óbitos por COVID-19 no município de Rio Grande/RS em 2020

Objetivo: Descrever o perfil de óbitos por COVID-19 no município de Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Metodologia: Trata-se de um estudo transversal, descritivo, com dados oriundos do banco de óbitos da Vigilância Epidemiológica, registrados no período de março a dezembro de 2020. Resultados: Dos 194 óbitos, a maioria era do sexo masculino (63,4%), com 60 anos ou mais (82,5%), de cor da pele branca (82,5%), residentes na região central histórica do município (11,3%). Quanto à ocupação, a maior ocorrência de óbitos foi entre os aposentados (69,5%), seguido por comerciante ou autônomo (17,7%). Com relação às morbidades, 38,7% tinha cardiopatias, 29,4% hipertensão arterial sistêmica, 28,0% diabetes mellitus e praticamente a metade dos indivíduos tinha multimorbidade (49,0%). Conclusões: Com a identificação do perfil de óbitos por COVID-19 no município de Rio Grande no período de março a dezembro de 2020, esses dados podem contribuir para auxiliar os gestores no planejamento de ações estratégicas e educativas de prevenção e combate à COVID-19, principalmente no direcionamento de grupos prioritários nas campanhas de vacinação (AU)

Objective: Describe the COVID-19 death profile in the city of Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study using data from the Epidemiological Surveillance service deaths database of deaths notified from March to December 2020. Results: Of the 194 deaths, most were male (63.4%), aged 60 years or more (82.5%), of white skin color (82.5%), and living in the central historic district of the city (11.3%). With regard to occupation, the highest occurrence of deaths was among retirees (69.5%), followed by tradesmen or the self-employed (17.7%). Regarding morbidities, 38.7% had heart disease, 29.4% hypertension, 28.0% diabetes mellitus, and practically half of the individuals had multiple morbidities (49.0%). Conclusions: We identified the profile of COVID-19 deaths in the city of Rio Grande in the period from March to December 2020. These data can help health service managers to plan strategic and educational actions to prevent and combat COVID-19, mainly by targeting priority groups in vaccination campaigns

rofile and spatial distribution of COVID-19 deaths in the municipality of Rio Grande/RS in 2020 / Perfil e distribuição espacial de óbitos por COVID-19 no município de Rio Grande/RS em 2020

Objetivo: Descrever o perfil de óbitos por COVID-19 no município de Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Metodologia: Trata-se de um estudo transversal, descritivo, com dados oriundos do banco de óbitos da Vigilância Epidemiológica, registrados no período de março a dezembro de 2020. Resultados: Dos 194 óbitos, a maioria era do sexo masculino (63,4%), com 60 anos ou mais (82,5%), de cor da pele branca (82,5%), residentes na região central histórica do município (11,3%). Quanto à ocupação, a maior ocorrência de óbitos foi entre os aposentados (69,5%), seguido por comerciante ou autônomo (17,7%). Com relação às morbidades, 38,7% tinha cardiopatias, 29,4% hipertensão arterial sistêmica, 28,0% diabetes mellitus e praticamente a metade dos indivíduos tinha multimorbidade (49,0%). Conclusões: Com a identificação do perfil de óbitos por COVID-19 no município de Rio Grande no período de março a dezembro de 2020, esses dados podem contribuir para auxiliar os gestores no planejamento de ações estratégicas e educativas de prevenção e combate à COVID-19, principalmente no direcionamento de grupos prioritários nas campanhas de vacinação (AU)

Objective: Describe the COVID-19 death profile in the city of Rio Grande, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study using data from the Epidemiological Surveillance service deaths database of deaths notified from March to December 2020. Results: Of the 194 deaths, most were male (63.4%), aged 60 years or more (82.5%), of white skin color (82.5%), and living in the central historic district of the city (11.3%). With regard to occupation, the highest occurrence of deaths was among retirees (69.5%), followed by tradesmen or the self-employed (17.7%). Regarding morbidities, 38.7% had heart disease, 29.4% hypertension, 28.0% diabetes mellitus, and practically half of the individuals had multiple morbidities (49.0%). Conclusions: We identified the profile of COVID-19 deaths in the city of Rio Grande in the period from March to December 2020. These data can help health service managers to plan strategic and educational actions to prevent and combat COVID-19, mainly by targeting priority groups in vaccination campaigns

Consumer-Based Activity Trackers as a Tool for Physical Activity Monitoring in Epidemiological Studies During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Development and Usability Study.

BACKGROUND: Consumer-based physical activity trackers have increased in popularity. The widespread use of these devices and the long-term nature of the recorded data provides a valuable source of physical activity data for epidemiological research. The challenges include the large heterogeneity between activity tracker models in terms of available data types, the accuracy of recorded data, and how this data can be shared between different providers and third-party systems. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to develop a system to record data on physical activity from different providers of consumer-based activity trackers and to examine its usability as a tool for physical activity monitoring in epidemiological research. The longitudinal nature of the data and the concurrent pandemic outbreak allowed us to show how the system can be used for surveillance of physical activity levels before, during, and after a COVID-19 lockdown. METHODS: We developed a system (mSpider) for automatic recording of data on physical activity from participants wearing activity trackers from Apple, Fitbit, Garmin, Oura, Polar, Samsung, and Withings, as well as trackers storing data in Google Fit and Apple Health. To test the system throughout development, we recruited 35 volunteers to wear a provided activity tracker from early 2019 and onward. In addition, we recruited 113 participants with privately owned activity trackers worn before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown in Norway. We examined monthly changes in the number of steps, minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and activity energy expenditure between 2019 and 2020 using bar plots and two-sided paired sample t tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. RESULTS: Compared to March 2019, there was a significant reduction in mean step count and mean activity energy expenditure during the March 2020 lockdown period. The reduction in steps and activity energy expenditure was temporary, and the following monthly comparisons showed no significant change between 2019 and 2020. A small significant increase in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was observed for several monthly comparisons after the lockdown period and when comparing March-December 2019 with March-December 2020. CONCLUSIONS: mSpider is a working prototype currently able to record physical activity data from providers of consumer-based activity trackers. The system was successfully used to examine changes in physical activity levels during the COVID-19 period.

Main etiological agents of childhood acute diarrheal diseases in Chimborazo, Ecuador / Principales agentes etiológicos de las enfermedades diarreicas agudas infantiles en Chimborazo, Ecuador

Las enfermedades diarreicas constituyen la principal causa de morbimortalidad en niños menores de cinco años, con alrededor de 1.700 millones de casos y 1,5 millones de muertes por año a nivel mundial. Para el año 2010, en la Sierra de Ecuador se registró un alto porcentaje de infantes fallecidos a causa de enfermedades diarreicas agudas (EDA), incluyendo la provincia de Chimborazo; mientras que, para el año 2016, se registraron en Ecuador 590.523 casos de EDA, siendo más afectados los niños de sectores de mayor pobreza. Se realizó un estudio descriptivo en pacientes pediátricos con episodios diarreicos que acudieron a centros de salud de los cantones rurales de la provincia Chimborazo. Se realizó análisis coprológico y coproparasitológico en 258 muestras; se identificaron bacterias enteropatógenas mediante pruebas bioquímicas y de susceptibilidad antimicrobiana, se realizó diagnóstico parasitológico mediante análisis macroscópico y microscópico y para detección de virus se emplearon pruebas inmunológicas. Se observó un mayor número de casos de EDA en los cantones Alausí (50%) y Chunchi (19%). De los pacientes con EDA, los rotavirus son el principal agente etiológico aislado (24,8%), seguido por Shigella (17,8%); mientras que Giardia intestinalis (8,5%) y Salmonella (10,1%) son los microorganismos que se aislaron con menor frecuencia en las muestras. Los resultados del presente estudio, permiten tener un panorama etiológico de las EDA en la provincia de Chimborazo y contribuir en la vigilancia epidemiológica, ejecución de programas sanitarios y de vacunación, para disminuir la vulnerabilidad de la población infantil ante dichas infecciones(AU)

Diarrheal diseases are the main cause of morbidity and mortality in children under five years of age, with around 1.7 billion cases and 1.5 million deaths per year worldwide. For the year 2010, in the Sierra de Ecuador a high percentage of infants died due to acute diarrheal diseases (ADD), including the province of Chimborazo; while, for the year 2016, 590,523 cases of ADD were registered in Ecuador, with children from the poorest sectors being more affected. A descriptive study was carried out in pediatric patients with diarrheal episodes who attended health centers in the rural cantons of Chimborazo province. Coprological and coproparasitological analysis was performed on 258 samples; Enteropathogenic bacteria were identified by biochemical and antimicrobial susceptibility tests, a parasitological diagnosis was made by macroscopic and microscopic analysis, and immunological tests were used to detect viruses. A greater number of ADD cases was observed in the Alausí (50%) and Chunchi (19%) cantons. Of patients with ADD, rotaviruses are the main etiological agent isolated (24.8%), followed by Shigella (17.8%); while Giardia intestinalis (8.5%) and Salmonella (10.1%) are the microorganisms that were isolated less frequently in the samples. The results of this study allow us to have an etiological panorama of EDA in the province of Chimborazo and contribute to epidemiological surveillance, execution of health and vaccination programs, to reduce the vulnerability of the child population to these infections(AU)

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance.

Investment in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing in Africa over the past year has led to a major increase in the number of sequences that have been generated and used to track the pandemic on the continent, a number that now exceeds 100,000 genomes. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries that are able to sequence domestically and highlight that local sequencing enables faster turnaround times and more-regular routine surveillance. Despite limitations of low testing proportions, findings from this genomic surveillance study underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic and illuminate the distinct dispersal dynamics of variants of concern-particularly Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron-on the continent. Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve while the continent faces many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century.

Resurgence of Influenza Circulation in the Russian Federation during the Delta and Omicron COVID-19 Era.

Influenza circulation was substantially reduced after March 2020 in the European region and globally due to the wide introduction of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against COVID-19. The virus, however, has been actively circulating in natural reservoirs. In summer 2021, NPIs were loosened in Russia, and influenza activity resumed shortly thereafter. Here, we summarize the epidemiological and virological data on the influenza epidemic in Russia in 2021-2022 obtained by the two National Influenza Centers. We demonstrate that the commonly used baseline for acute respiratory infection (ARI) is no longer sufficiently sensitive and BL for ILI incidence was more specific for early recognition of the epidemic. We also present the results of PCR detection of influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory viruses as well as antigenic and genetic analysis of influenza viruses. Influenza A(H3N2) prevailed this season with influenza B being detected at low levels at the end of the epidemic. The majority of A(H3N2) viruses were antigenically and genetically homogenous and belonged to the clade 3C.2a1b.2a.2 of the vaccine strain A/Darwin/9/2021 for the season 2022-2023. All influenza B viruses belonged to the Victoria lineage and were similar to the influenza B/Austria/1359417/2021 virus. No influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and influenza B/Yamagata lineage was isolated last season.