| Jin Lee | 4 Articles |
Objectives
This study aimed to strengthen the core capabilities of epidemiological investigation and response teams (ERTs) at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, drawing on lessons learned from the Middle East respiratory syndrome and coronavirus disease 2019 pandemics. The primary objectives were to facilitate rapid and accurate data collection and analysis, improve communication skills, and simulate real-world on-site responses. Methods: The training program was developed using a scenario involving a novel infectious disease from the World Health Organization priority list entering a community. ERTs collected and analyzed epidemiological data and implemented control measures as they addressed the missions of the scenario. Improvement in competencies was assessed through self-evaluation surveys completed before and after training. Results: A total of 49 participants, including disease control officers, epidemiological investigation officers, researchers, and administrative officials, attended the training. Participant satisfaction with the training was high, scoring 6.4 out of 7, and the improvement in competency was statistically significant (pre-training score, 5.2; post-training score, 6.2; p<0.001). Conclusion: Scenario-based training can effectively enhance the capabilities of ERTs. Such training is essential, as emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases can exhibit unpredictable spread and potentially severe impacts. Therefore, developing diverse scenarios and conducting regular training sessions are necessary to improve the capacities of ERTs. Citations
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Objectives
The household secondary attack rate (SAR) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is an important indicator for community transmission. This study aimed to characterize transmission by comparing household SARs and identifying risk factors during the periods of Delta and Omicron variant predominance in Republic of Korea. Methods We defined the period of Delta variant predominance (Delta period) as July 25, 2021 to January 15, 2022, and the period of Omicron variant predominance (Omicron period) as February 7 to September 3, 2022. The number of index cases included was 214,229 for the Delta period and 5,521,393 for the Omicron period. To identify the household SARs and risk factors for each period, logistic regression was performed to determine the adjusted odds ratio (aOR). Results The SAR was 35.2% for the Delta period and 43.1% for the Omicron period. The aOR of infection was higher in 2 groups, those aged 0 to 18 years and ≥75 years, compared to those aged 19 to 49 years. Unvaccinated individuals (vs. vaccinated individuals) and individuals experiencing initial infection (vs. individuals experiencing a second or third infection) had an increased risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2. Conclusion This study analyzed the household SARs and risk factors. We hope that the results can help develop age-specific immunization plans and responses to reduce the SAR in preparation for emerging infectious diseases or potential new variants of SARS-CoV-2. Citations
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<title>Objectives</title>
<p>The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published “A Guideline for Unknown Disease Outbreaks (UDO).” The aim of this report was to introduce tabletop exercises (TTX) to prepare for UDO in the future.</p></sec>
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<title>Methods</title>
<p>The UDO Laboratory Analyses Task Force in Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in April 2018, assigned unknown diseases into 5 syndromes, designed an algorithm for diagnosis, and made a panel list for diagnosis by exclusion. Using the guidelines and laboratory analyses for UDO, TTX were introduced.</p></sec>
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<title>Results</title>
<p>Since September 9<sup>th</sup>, 2018, the UDO Laboratory Analyses Task Force has been preparing TTX based on a scenario of an outbreak caused by a novel coronavirus. In December 2019, through TTX, individual missions, epidemiological investigations, sample treatments, diagnosis by exclusions, and next generation sequencing analysis were discussed, and a novel coronavirus was identified as the causal pathogen.</p></sec>
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<title>Conclusion</title>
<p>Guideline and laboratory analyses for UDO successfully applied in TTX. Conclusions drawn from TTX could be applied effectively in the analyses for the initial response to COVID-19, an ongoing epidemic of 2019 – 2020. Therefore, TTX should continuously be conducted for the response and preparation against UDO.</p></sec>
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<sec><title>Objectives</title>
<p>In this pandemic situation caused by a novel coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19), an electronic support system that can rapidly and accurately perform epidemic investigations, is needed. It would systematically secure and analyze patients’ data (who have been confirmed to have the infection), location information, and credit card usage.</p></sec>
<sec><title>Methods</title>
<p>The “Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act” in South Korea, established a legal basis for the securement, handling procedure, and disclosure of information required for epidemic investigations. The Epidemic Investigation Support System (EISS) was developed as an application platform on the Smart City data platform.</p></sec>
<sec><title>Results</title>
<p>The EISS performed the function of inter-institutional communication which reduced the processing period of patients’ data in comparison to other methods. This system automatically marked confirmed cases’ tracking data on a map and hot-spot analysis which lead to the prediction of areas where people may be vulnerable to infection.</p></sec>
<sec><title>Conclusion</title>
<p>The EISS was designed and implemented for use during an epidemic investigation to prevent the spread of an infectious disease, by specifically tracking confirmed cases of infection.</p></sec>
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