PHWR Public Health Weekly Report

Vol.15 No.10, March 10, 2022 Article TypeEpidemiology and SurveillanceNoncommunicable Disease StatisticsPolicy Notes

• Policy Notes 2022-03-10

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  Necessity and improvement plan for the revision of laboratory biosafety guidelines for biorisk assessment and risk management

  Seunghyun Lim, Minwoo Park, Haengseop Shin, Won-Jong Jang

  Public Health Weekly Report 2022; 15(10): 638-646

  

  

  Abstract

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  As the importance of ensuring biosafety has been emphasized in domestic as well as international community relevant laws and guidelines are being revised. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the national disease prevention and response system can not be overstressed. It needs to address major issues such as the scientific basis of infectious disease pathogens which is essential for developing effective policy, and main principles and procedures of biosafety, risk assessment conducted with respect to domestic situation, designation of risk groups based on those risk assessment conducted. These matters should be addressed and reorganized in accordance with related international guidance of the World Health Organization and related domestic laws. The Korea Laboratory Biosafety Guidelines, first established by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006 for any biomedical institution that operated laboratory to facilitate compliance with voluntary biosafety standards and establishment of risk management system. It has been revised in line with changes in the policy environment, including related laws and regulations. In this study, it was confirmed that laboratory biosafety guidelines need to be revised according to recent changes in the domestic and international biosafety environment, and improvement should be made in terms of direction and contents as proposed in this article. These findings can be used to improve national system and guidelines for enhancing laboratory biosafety, and ultimately contribute to national health security.

• Epidemiology and Surveillance 2022-03-10

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  Current status of parasitic diseases through clinical infection cases in Korea between 2016 and 2021

  Jung-Won Ju, Hyun-Il Shin, Myoung-Ro Lee, Sung-Hee Hong, Hyun-Jung Kim, Hee-Il Lee

  Public Health Weekly Report 2022; 15(10): 647-658

  

  

  Abstract

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  In Korea, 22 kinds of parasitic infectious diseases have been designated and managed as legal infectious diseases. Class 3 malaria is fully monitored through a mandatory surveillance system, and 6 kinds of intestinal parasites, 4 kinds of intestinal protozoa, and 11 kinds of imported parasites belonging to class 4 legal infectious diseases are passively monitored by a sentinel surveillance system. Although the infection rate of parasitic diseases, such as intestinal parasites, has decreased significantly in Korea, intermittent and/or imported parasitic infections have been reported as clinical cases. As a result, the need for active monitoring was raised for these risk factors. This article introduced the status of parasitic diseases reported as clinical infections in Korea and discussed management measures. Among the papers published from 2016 to September 30, 2021, 49 articles in Pubmed and an additional 35 articles in Google were identified by “parasite infection, case report, Korea” as main indices. Clinical reports showed cases of 24 kinds of parasitic disease infections. When classified according to the route of infection, various cases such as food-borne, soil-borne, vector-borne, water-borne, and contact infection were identified. Among them, food-borne infections were the most common with 52 reports. Conversely, 14 kinds of nondesignated parasitic diseases as legal infectious diseases were identified in this survey on clinical reports. Cases of overseas infections were also confirmed, including cases of simultaneous infection with Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium ovale, as well as cases of infection with schistosomiasis bladder, hydatidosis, cutaneous larva migrans, and myiasis. As a clinical case report, although the degree of occurence was not statistically significant, there were relatively many case reports of toxocariasis, paragonimiasis, and sparganosis. In addition, cases of amoebic encephalitis infection caused by protozoa infection were also confirmed in clinical practice, and it was determined that the detection of tissue-infected parasites has become more possible as technologies such as imaging diagnosis have significantly advanced in accuracy.
  The major parasitic diseases identified in this study were food-borne infections transmitted through eating raw foods. This article cautioned that, to prevent infection, it is important to avoid eating raw foods and to maintain a healthy diet habit. When symptoms appear, diagnostic imaging examinations, antibody testing, genetic testing, and microscopy can be performed, but it is important that food experience and travel history are well communicated and considered for an accurate diagnosis.

• Noncommunicable Disease Statistics 2022-03-10

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  Trends in prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia, 2011-2020

  Public Health Weekly Report 2022; 15(10): 659-660

  

  

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