PHWR Public Health Weekly Report

Vol.14 No.29, July 15, 2021 Article TypeEpidemiology and Surveillance

• Epidemiology and Surveillance 2021-07-15

  0 809 201

  Information on ‘Quarantinable management area’ in Second of 2021

  Gu Hyo-Jin , Oh Moon-Soo, Kim Gueum-Chan

  Public Health Weekly Report 2021; 14(29): 2081-2086

  Abstract

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  Worldwide, there are numerous communicable diseases which present a risk to public health and which may require isolation or quarantine to prevent outbreaks. These ‘quarantinable diseases’ include but are not limited to cholera, polio, plague, yellow fever, avianin fluenza A, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), Ebola virus disease (EVD) and coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It is the responsibility of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) and the Korea National Quarantine Office to prevent the inflow of infectious diseases. The aim of this report was to provide an overview and an analysis of changes (effective July 1th, 2021) to current quarantine management areas. The changes include thirteen cholera countries, one plague country, forty two yellow fever countries, one avian influenza A country, eleven MERS-CoV countries, seventeen polio countries, one EVD country, and the global pandemic, COVID-19. The KDCA and the Korea National Quarantine Office designate a contaminated area or a nearby contaminated area as a quarantine management area to block the inflow and spread of infectious diseases from overseas. Therefore, quarantine is enforced for individuals entering Korea from designated quarantine management areas. Quarantine management areas are assigned twice a year according to trends in overseas outbreaks, and/or are assigned in the event of a sudden outbreak of a quarantinable disease. Designation or cancellation of an area occurs after deliberation by the Quarantine Committee (Article 5, quarantine law).

• Epidemiology and Surveillance 2021-07-15

  0 690 165

  Characteristics of HIV screening tests in public health centers in Korea, 2011-2020

  Wang Jin-Sook, Lee Yu Sang, Lee Deog-young, Han Myung-Guk

  Public Health Weekly Report 2021; 14(29): 2087-2094

  

  

  Abstract

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  As human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening test organizations, public health centers in Korea provide free HIV screening tests for residents including socially vulnerable groups. This report analyzed the characteristics of individuals who underwent HIV screening across 255 public health centers from 2011 to 2020. The HIV screening test results were analyzed according to gender, age, region, nationality, and the reason for the HIV test. The average number of HIV tests conducted at public health centers for the past 9 years was 443,609 (2011-2019). On the other hand, the number of cases in 2020 was 178,653, down 59.4% from the previous year. Key findings indicated that, annually, more females underwent HIV testing than males. The 30-39 age group had the highest percentage of HIV tests conducted, followed by, in descending order, the 20-29 age group, the 40-49 age group, the 50-59 age group, the 60 years and over group, and the 19 years and under age group. By region, HIV screening tests in Seoul City and Gyeonggi Province accounted for around 50% of the tests conducted. The main reasons for HIV screening tests were prenatal examinations (24.7%), followed by health checkups (27.0%), sexually transmitted disease (STD) checkups (20.9%), voluntary testing (10.1%), and anonymous testing (5.9%). The HIV positive rate for foreigners was 0.23% to 0.28%, which was about three times higher than that for Koreans (0.08%). High HIV positive rates were found among anonymous tests, voluntary tests, and foreign resident checkups. Notably, data indicated that the main reasons for HIV screening tests and the high positive rates in 2018 were not unlike those of 2019 and 2020. As a result of these findings, HIV prevention management is believed to require active HIV testing and HIV prevention measures for foreigners and vulnerable groups.

• Epidemiology and Surveillance 2021-07-15

  0 272 354

  National distribution of rs671 (ALDH2) genotypes and the effect of alcohol on chronic disease in each genotype

  Yoo Min-Gyu, Lee Yoo Jeong, Lee Hye-Ja, Park Sang Ick

  Public Health Weekly Report 2021; 14(29): 2095-2110

  

  

  Abstract

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  Ingested alcohol is oxidized to acetaldehyde through the primary metabolic process, and this acetaldehyde is finally oxidized to acetic acid by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2), which plays a very important role in alcohol metabolism. In a large cohort population, the frequency of each genotype of rs671 (ALDH2), drinking status, and the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes according to the amount of alcohol in each genotype were analyzed.
  To analyze the frequency of each genotype of rs671 (ALDH2) in Korean people, genetic information produced by the Korea Biobank Array (KBA) for a large-scale cohort of the Genomic Epidemiology Project (KoGES) and human resources distributed from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used. As a result, 1,859 out of total 79,389 subjects were identified as carrying AA genotype (homozygous) and 21,256 were identified as carrying GA genotype (heterozygous). Thus, 29.1% of the total subjects were identified as carrying minor allele types (GA+AA) of rs671 (ALDH2), which are very vulnerable to alcohol drinking. When this study analyzed the drinking status of the minor allele types (GA+AA) of rs671 (ALDH2) in the large population, which was comprised of 53,020 people in the urban cohort, 3,636 people in the rural cohort, and 5,011 people in the community cohort, 75.3% were non-drinkers, 14.2% were low-level drinkers, 8.6% were middle-level drinkers, and 1.9% were high-level drinkers. In the case of major GG type (Reference allele) of rs671 (ALDH2), 30.7% had hypertension and 9.0% had diabetes. However, in the high-level drinkers carrying major GG type, 40.9% had hypertension and 12.9% had diabetes. On the other hand, in the case of minor allele types (GA+AA) of rs671 (ALDH2), 28.4% of non-drinkers had hypertension and 8.5% had diabetes. However, in the high-level drinkers carrying minor allele types, 29.5% had hypertension and 5.2% had diabetes, showing a slightly lower percentage than those of major allele (GG) of rs671 (ALDH2).
  This is the first report to analyze the frequency of each genotype of rs671 (ALDH2) in a large-scale Korean population, drinking status of minor allele-carriers and the effects of alcohol drinking on hypertension and diabetes in each genotype. As a cross-sectional study, this study has some limitation in that it could not analyze the effects of long-term alcohol drinking such as changes in clinical characteristics and the prevalence of hypertension and diabetes. To get more statistical significance and reliable results, it is necessary to carry out prospective or retrospective observational studies in a different large-scale population.