Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives

Original Articles

Identifying risk factors for COVID-19 cluster infections in schools in the Republic of Korea: a case-control study: Jihyun Choi, Seongju Choi, Baigu Lee, Young-Joon Park, Sang Eun Lee; Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2024;15(4):375-382. Published online July 11, 2024; DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2023.0351

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Graphical Abstract Abstract PDF: Objectives
No study has yet analyzed risk factors to determine whether students with confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections may affect students at neighboring schools. Therefore, this study aimed to determine risk factors for COVID-19 transmission among schools within a community in the Republic of Korea.
Methods
An epidemiological investigation was conducted among 696 students and school staff members at 3 schools where COVID-19 clusters began on October 15, 2021. Interviews, visit history surveys, a facility risk assessment, and closed-circuit television were used to identify risk factors. The statistical significance of risk factors was also evaluated.
Results
We confirmed 129 cases (18.5%) among the individuals exposed to COVID-19 at the 3 schools, many of whom had a history of visiting the same multi-use facilities. The odds ratio of having visited multi-use facilities such as karaoke rooms was 1.90 (95% confidence interval, 1.03–3.50); the number of visits to a karaoke room and the visit durations were significantly higher among confirmed cases than non-confirmed cases (p=0.02 and p=0.03, respectively).
Conclusion
Having a history of visiting karaoke rooms often and spending a long time there were risk factors for COVID-19 infection and inter-school transmission. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the status of multi-use facilities frequently visited by adolescents and consider incorporating them into the scope of school quarantine to prevent infectious diseases at schools in a community.

Risk factors for COVID-19 outbreaks in livestock slaughtering and processing facilities in Republic of Korea: Seongju Choi, Tae Jong Son, Yeon-Kyung Lee; Osong Public Health Res Perspect. 2023;14(3):207-218. Published online June 8, 2023; DOI: https://doi.org/10.24171/j.phrp.2023.0035

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Objectives
The goal of this study was to help prevent and control the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by identifying transmission routes and risk factors in livestock slaughtering and processing facilities (SPFs) and establishing an optimal intervention strategy for outbreaks.
Methods
This case series study was a demographic analysis of patients with confirmed COVID-19 associated with 5 SPFs in Korea between January and June 2021. Additionally, in a retrospective cohort study, the association between COVID-19 infection and risk factors was analyzed for SPFs at which outbreaks occurred.
Results
The COVID-19 attack rates were 11.2%, 24.5%, and 6.8% at 3 poultry SPFs (PSPFs) and 15.5% and 25.2% at 2 mammal SPFs (MSPFs). Regarding spatial risk factors, the COVID-19 risk levels were 12.1-, 5.2-, and 5.0-fold higher in the refrigeration/ freezing, by-product processing, and carcass cutting areas, respectively, than in the office area. The risk of COVID-19 infection was 2.1 times higher among employees of subcontractors than among employees of contractors. The COVID-19 risk levels were 5.3- and 3.0-fold higher in foreign workers than in native Korean workers in the PSPFs and MSPFs, respectively.
Conclusion
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, a detailed policy for infectious disease prevention and control intervention is needed, without interrupting economic activities. Thus, we propose an ideal intervention plan to prevent COVID-19 through disinfection and preemptive testing and to block its transmission through effective contact management during outbreaks at SPFs.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Mitigating COVID-19 in meat processing plants: what have we learned from cluster investigations?
Pauline Kooh, Yvonnick Guillois, Michel Federighi, Mathilde Pivette, Anne-Laure Maillard, Ngoc-Du Martin Luong, Estelle Chaix
Frontiers in Public Health.2024;[Epub] CrossRef

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