PHWR Public Health Weekly Report

Vol.14 No.36, September 02, 2021 Article TypeEpidemiology and SurveillanceReview & Perspective

• Review & Perspective 2021-09-02

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  Diabetes Self-Management during the COVID-19 Period

  Hun-Sung Kim

  Public Health Weekly Report 2021; 14(36): 2542-2546

  Abstract

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  The global pandemic caused by the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) has raised concerns for patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). In fact, if patients with DM get infected with COVID-19, the complication are serious, so more attention is needed to prevent infection. Furthermore, management of diet and exercise is becoming more difficult with decreased outdoor activities and increased working from home due to COVID-19. In addition to managing diet, exercise, smoking, and other lifestyle factors, this report researched the government's temporary telephone consultation and vaccination protocols for infection prevention among patients with DM.

• Epidemiology and Surveillance 2021-09-02

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  July 2021 status and characteristics of the COVID-19 variant virus outbreak in the Republic of Korea

  Kim Il-Hwan, Park Ae Kyung, Lee Hyeokjin , Kim Junyoung, Kim Dong Hyeok, Kim Jeong-Ah, No Jin Sun, Lee Chae young, Woo SangHee, Lee Jaehee, Rhee JeeEun, Kim Eun-Jin

  Public Health Weekly Report 2021; 14(36): 2547-2560

  

  

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  The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) variant viruses, which emerged at the end of 2020, are spreading all over the world. In particular, the delta variant originating in India is rapidly transferring between countries, and the delta variant virus is also spreading in Korea.
  The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has been conducting genomic surveillance to track and analyze the source of infection and identify genetic mutations of the COVID-19 virus. As a result of performing full-length genome sequencing and spike protein gene sequencing, etc. on positive samples of confirmed cases related to domestic infection and overseas imports, a total of 23,583 cases were analyzed by August 3, 2021, of which 8,125 variants of concern (VOC) (delta 4,912, alpha 3,045, beta 148, gamma 20) were confirmed. In the case of domestic infections, 563 alpha variant cases (8.1% of detection rate) were confirmed in July 2021, showing a decreasing trend after May (738 cases, 27.4%). The delta variant was first confirmed in April 2021, followed by 322 cases (10.7%) in June and 3,507 cases (50.3%) in July, confirming that the delta varinat is dominant with an increasing trend. A total of 715 variants of interest (VOI) were detected (epsilon 652, kappa 23, iota 15, eta 11, theta 8, zeta 6), but decreased after April, and only one case each of the eta and theta were confirmed in July. This report was intended to provide the basis for patient management and the establishment of countermeasures to prevent the spread of variants by providing information on the surveillance and the characteristics of variants occurring at domestic and overseas.

• Epidemiology and Surveillance 2021-09-02

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  Epidemiological characteristics of patients with Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) from 2013 to 2020

  Jeong Se-Jin, Hwang Ji Hye, Kim Hyang Seon, Kwon Geun-Yong

  Public Health Weekly Report 2021; 14(36): 2561-2572

  

  

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  Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an infectious disease that causes high fever and thrombocytopenia as a result of being bitten by ticks infected with the SFTS virus (SFTSV). This manuscript is the result of an analysis of the epidemiological and clinical features of SFTS patients reported from 2013 to 2020.
  A total of 1,334 SFTS patients were reported over the last 8 years. By age, there were 732 people between 60 to 70; by gender, 688 women; by region, Gyeonggi-do had 225 peoples, which marked the largest number of SFTS patients. Jeju-do had the largest population share, 12.7 per 100,000 by percentage of the population. The most common clinical symptoms were fever and fatigue. Other symptoms included digestive and nervous system symptoms. Regarding bitten of bug and tick 435 patients were bitten by bugs and 149 patients were bitten by ticks. The largest distribution of attachment sites among bugs and ticks between 2014 and 2020 were legs (n=102).
  In Korea, starting with the first patient in 2013, about 200 to 250 patients have been reported every year since 2017. Currently, preventive vaccines for SFTS patients have not been developed and no antiviral treatments are available. Therefore, avoiding tick bites is the best way to prevent SFTS. In the future, this study plans to lay the foundation for public relations and countermeasures for SFTS prevention through SFTS continuous surveillance and epidemiological investigations.