PHWR Public Health Weekly Report

Vol.15 No.37, September 15, 2022 Article TypeEpidemiology and SurveillanceOriginal Articles

• Epidemiology and Surveillance 2022-09-15

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  COVID-19 Outbreak and Risk Factors for Infection in a Convalescent Hospital in Chungcheongnam-do

  Seung-Hee Jeong, Gi-Seok Kang, Ji-Ae Lim, Ho-Jang Kwon*

  Public Health Weekly Report 2022; 15(37): 2580-2589 https://doi.org/10.56786/PHWR.2022.15.37.2580

  

  

  Abstract

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  Since the first confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2 019 (COVID-19) due to the omicron variant in Korea was reported on December 1, 2021, the omicron variant has quickly become the dominant variant with a higher transmission power than existing variants. The omicron variant is more than twice as contagious as the delta variant and has a higher severity than influenza, making it a major concern in convalescent hospitals, where older people are concentrated. This report was prepared to introduce the epidemiological investigation process of COVID-19 outbreak cases in convalescent hospitals, which are vulnerable facilities for infection, and to analyze the general characteristics, epidemic curves, and vaccination history of confirmed patients based on the information collected through epidemiological investigations. The purpose of this report was to suggest effective countermeasures for future outbreaks of COVID-19 in facilities vulnerable to the infection. From February 16 to March 17, 2022, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 at a convalescent hospital in Chungnam was 272 of 299 individuals residing in or employed at the hospital. Of the 272 individuals with confirmed COVID-19, 72 were men (17.6% workers, 30.5% patients) and 200 were women (82.4% workers, 69.5% patients). The mean and median age of the patients was 74.8 and 79.0 years, respectively. Of the confirmed cases, 106 were symptomatic (68.2% workers, 25.8% patients), 165 were asymptomatic (31.8% workers, 74.2% patients), and excludes 1 case of document unconfirmed. Two individuals had undergone primary vaccination (0.7%), 58 had undergone secondary vaccination (21.4%), 184 had undergone tertiary vaccination (67.9%), and 27 had not undergone vaccination (10.0%). The average period from the vaccination completion date to the confirmation date in the patients who had undergone 2 nd and 3 rd vaccinations was 97.8 days. Among the individuals with confirmed COVID-19, 26 out of 85 workers (30.6%) had underlying diseases and all the 186 patients had underlying diseases. An analysis of 18 deaths out of a total of 272 confirmed cases revealed a gender distribution of 8.3% males (6 out of 72 confirmed cases of men) and 6.0% females (12 out of 200 confirmed cases of women). By age group, individuals in their 80s had the highest risk of death, at 12.4% (11 individuals). In addition, the average number of days from the 2nd or 3rd vaccination to confirmation was 119.5±81.6 days for the deceased and 97.8±56.4 days for confirmed patients who did not die. The longer the interval between the date of vaccination completion and the date of confirmation, the higher was the risk of death. This report is a case of an on-site epidemiological investigation into the outbreak of COVID-19 in a convalescent hospital that was vulnerable to infection. In the future, it will be possible to use this as a basis for the establishment of measures to block the transmission and reduce the occurrence of COVID-19 clusters in infection-prone facilities.

• Original Articles 2022-09-15

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  A Study on the Infection Characteristics of Toxoplasmosis in the Republic of Korea

  Eun-Hee Shin, Do-Won Ham, Ji-Hun Shin, Hyangseon Kim, Jeongran Kwon, Ho-Sung Lee, Eensuk Shin, Jiyeon Lee, Ji-yu Choi, Kyungwon Hwang

  Public Health Weekly Report 2022; 15(37): 2590-2609 https://doi.org/10.56786/PHWR.2022.15.37.2590

  

  

  Abstract

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  Toxoplasmosis is an intracellular protozoan infection caused by Toxoplasma gondii that maintains a chronic infection in human tissues for a long period of time, especially in the immune-privileged central nervous system. In pregnant women, congenital infection of the fetus through amniotic fluid and placenta can occur, which can lead to naturopathies and malformations and, in severe cases, death of the fetus. In addition, it is known that it can cause neuropathies such as encephalitis and irreversible disorders even in patients with severely weakened immune functions. In Korea, toxoplasmosis has been designated as a Class 4 legal infectious disease Imported parasitic disease, but the number of patients reported to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is increasing every year, and the proportion of domestic outbreaks among the total number of reported cases is high. This means that the current preventive management policy for Toxoplasmosis does not sufficiently reflect the actual occurrence status, so we thought that the more appropriate measures are needed in the management and prevention of the disease. Therefore, in this study for defining the outbreak status and epidemiological characteristics of toxoplasmosis in korea, we analyzed the epidemiological characteristics of toxoplasmosis outbreaks by using the medical statement of 5,917 patients, which diagnosed in toxoplasmosis, from 2007 to 2020 at the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service. In addition we analyzed the electronic medical record (EMR) of 538 patients which diagnosed in toxoplasmosis at 4 upper-scale general hospitals. In particular, the main purpose of this study was to identify the current status of toxoplasmosis in pregnant women, children with congenital infections, and immunocompromised patients and to examine the possibility of endemic of toxoplasmosis in Korea. Our results showed that Toxoplasmosis is a endemic parasitic disease in Korea. The proportion of patients is high in women of childbearing age. Toxoplasmosis in pregnant women, children with congenital infections, and immunocompromised patients is more likely to have an omission of diagnosis rate than the actual percentage of infected patients. Accordingly, we expected that the results of this study will serve as basic data to be used for establishing the appropriate management measures for Toxoplasmosis in the Republic of Korea.