<sec>
<title>Objectives</title>
<p>An epidemiological investigation was conducted into a hepatitis C virus (HCV) outbreak at an outpatients clinic in Seoul (2011–2012). The aim of the study was to analyze the scale of infection, identify the source of infection, and route of transmission to prevent hepatitis C transmission in the future.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Methods</title>
<p>A retrospective study of the outpatients and health care workers (<italic>n</italic> = 7,285) in the target outpatient clinic during 2011–2012 was conducted. The history of the study population infection with hepatitis C, electronic medical records, field visits, and health care worker interviews were examined for the period between March 1<sup>st</sup>, 2006 and March 25<sup>th</sup>, 2016. The blood samples were collected and tested for anti-HCV antibodies, HCV RNA and HCV gene in 2016.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Results</title>
<p>The rate of anti-HCV positive results was 4.4% in the study population. The risk factors associated with an anti-HCV positive result were ≥ 10 clinic visits, and receiving an invasive procedure including a nerve block and a block of the peripheral branch of the spinal nerve (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05). There were 112 HCV RNA positive cases out of 320 anti-HCV positive test result cases, amongst which 100 cases had the dominant HCV genotype 2a which formed either 1 cluster (<italic>n</italic> = 56) or 2 clusters (<italic>n</italic> = 25). This result indicated exposure to a high-association infection source.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Conclusion</title>
<p>Anti-HCV antibodies and genotypic analysis showed an epidemiological association between the outbreak of HCV and invasive procedures performed (2011–2012) at an outpatients clinic in Seoul.</p></sec>
Objectives
From the perspective of public health, tuberculosis (TB) remains an important issue that threatens health. Korea is an intermediate burden country with a TB incidence of 97/100,000 individuals. Among many TB control measures, a relapse rate of TB is one indicator that can be used to indirectly assess the level of TB control in countries and in communities. Relapse TB has an approximately 12% yearly incidence in Korea. This study aims to estimate the relapse rate of TB and to investigate the associated factors by using nationwide TB notification data in Korea. Methods
The nationwide TB notification data in 2005 was used with the exclusion criteria of duplicated reporting, foreign-born patients, outcome–died, and outcome–diagnosis changed. The data were double-checked as to whether they were reported again during 2006–2010 and the estimated relapse rate of TB. Associated factors were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression with the variables of age, sex, registration type, results of sputum smear test, medication, and outcome of treatment. Results
Among 45,434 TB patients in 2005, 4,371 patients were again reported as TB patients from 2006 to 2010. Five hundred and sixty-four patients were reported more than twice and the cumulative number of relapses was 5,072 cases. The 5-year relapse rate was estimated as 9.62%. The relapse rate decreased yearly: 4.8% in 2006, 2.4% in 2007, 1.6% in 2008, 1.4% in 2009, and 1.0% in 2010. Age, sex, registration type, tuberculosis type, and medication were independently associated with a relapse of TB. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, the following factors were related: male sex, 40–49 years old; registration type, relapse, treatment after failure, treatment after default, transfer in, and other, the sputum smear-positive pulmonary TB, and medications (including individuals taking 2–5 drugs). Conclusion
This study has estimated a 5-year relapse rate of TB in Korea that is slightly lower than the rate of relapse TB in the annual reports. This study could be conducted and cross-checked with data from the National Health Insurance in the future.
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Objectives
Food- and water-borne disease outbreaks (FBDOs) are an important public health problem worldwide. This study investigated the trends in FBDOs in Korea and established emerging causal pathogens and causal vehicles. Methods
We analyzed FBDOs in Korea by year, location, causal pathogens, and causal vehicles from 2007 to 2012. Information was collected from the FBDOs database in the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Results
During 2007–2012, a total of 1794 FBDOs and 48,897 patients were reported. After 2007, FBDOs and patient numbers steadily decreased over the next 2 years and then plateaued until 2011. However, in 2012, FBDOs increased slightly accompanied by a large increase in the number of affected patients. Our results highlight the emergence of norovirus and pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i> other than enterohemorrhagic <i>E. coli</i> (EHEC) in schools in 2012. We found that pickled vegetables is an emerging causal vehicle responsible for this problem. Conclusion
On the basis of this study we recommend intensified inspections of pickled vegetable manufacturers and the strengthening of laboratory surveillance of relevant pathogens.
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