• Title/Summary/Keyword: Outbreak investigation

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Investigation on Ventilation Mmethod and Recognition of Users in Healthcare Facilities of KOREA (국내 의료기관의 환기설비 운영실태 및 인식 조사)

  • Jo, Seongmin;Sung, Minki
    • Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.7-14
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    • 2018
  • Purpose: The outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS) in KOREA has brought up the demands for ventilation guideline and regulations for healthcare facilities since most of the infection was spreaded inside healthcare facility. Currently KOREA has no ventilation guideline or regulations covering entire section of healthcare facility. The purpose of this study is to investigate current ventilation methods in KOREA healthcare facilities to in future, propose ventilation guideline. Methods: Research of foreign counties ventilation guideline and regulation for healthcare facilities were conducted for reference. Field investigation with survey of 21 healthcare were conducted to identify the ventilation system and operating methods. Additionally survey for healthcare workers were conducted to observe the recognition related to ventilation system in healthcare facility. Results: The result showed that most of foreign countries ventilation guideline and regulation suggests similar items to reduce the spread of infection and maintain good indoor air quality. The investigation results indicated that fixed guideline for ventilation in healthcare facility were required due to different ventilation operating methods. Survey result of healthcare workers has told us that ventilation guideline and regulation is needed to prevent further infection. Implications: Absence of ventilation guideline and regulations for healthcare facility in KOREA is an urgent issue.

A Case Study on the Development of Epidemiological Investigation Support System through Inter-ministerial Collaboration (정부 부처간 협업을 통한 온라인 역학조사 지원시스템 개발 사례 연구)

  • Kim, Su Jung;Kim, Jae Ho;Eum, Gyu Ri;Kim, Tae Hyung
    • The Journal of Information Systems
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    • v.29 no.4
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    • pp.123-135
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    • 2020
  • Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the development process and the effectiveness of the EISS (epidemiological investigation support system), which prevents the spread of infectious diseases like a novel corona virus disease, COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach This study identified the existing epidemiological support system for MERS through prior research and studied the case of the development of a newly developed epidemiological support system based on cloud computing infrastructure for COVID-19 through inter-ministerial collaboration in 2020. Findings The outbreak of COVID-19 drove the Korean Government began the development of the EISS with private companies. This system played a significant role in flattening the spread of infection during several waves in which the number of confirmed cases increased rapidly in Korea, However, we need to be careful in handling confirmed patients' private data affecting their privacy.

An Epidemiological Investigation on an Outbreak of Shigellosis in a Special School for Handicapped in Yeongcheon-si and in a Rehabilitation Facility in Gyeongsan-si, Korea, 2008 (2008년 영천시 지적장애인 학교와 경산시 재활원에서 발생한 세균성이질에 관한 역학조사)

  • Lee, Hyun-Dong;Lee, Soon-Ok;Lim, Hyun-Sul
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.34 no.1
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    • pp.24-33
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    • 2009
  • Objectives: In September 2008, an outbreak of diarrhea occurred among students attending Y school in Yeongcheon-si. Shigella sonnei was cultured from some of the rectal swabs. An epidemiological investigation was carried out to determine the source of the infection and the mode of transmission of the shigellosis outbreak. Methods: The index case lived in the D rehabilitation facility in Gyeongsan-si and an additional epidemiological investigation was carried out there. The cases could not be questioned due to their mental handicaps. The teachers were interviewed instead. A patient case was defined as a resident with diarrhea more than one time a day from September 18 to September 26, 2008 or a resident with confirmed Shigella sonnei at the Y school or the D rehabilitation facility. Results: The attack rate was 1.2% (8 persons) among 659 persons in the Y school and D rehabilitation facility. Five persons were microbiologically confirmed to have the infection and three persons were diagnosed on the basis of symptoms. Shigella sonnei was cultured from five of the 659 rectal swabs. However, 80 environmental specimens including drinking water, preserved foods, and cooking utensils were negative. All eight patients were Y school students and had been living in group boarding and lodging. Six of them lived in the D rehabilitation facility and two lived in the dormitory at the Y school. Five cases showed pulsed-field gel electrophoresis patterns that were identical for Shigella sonnei. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the infection source of the shigellosis outbreak, in the two places, were identical. It is likely that the infections initially spread from a teacher or volunteer and then among the students.

Case Report for a Large-Scale Food Poisoning Outbreak that Occurred in a Group Food Service Center in Chungnam, Korea (2020년 충남지역 집단급식소에서 발생한 대형 식중독의 사례 보고)

  • Lee, Hyunah;Kim, Junyoung;Nam, Hae-Sung;Choi, Jihye;Lee, Dayeon;Park, Seongmin;Lim, Ji-Ae;Cheon, Younghee;Choi, Jinha;Park, Junhyuk
    • Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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    • v.46 no.5
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    • pp.525-531
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    • 2020
  • Objectives: This study was performed to identify the epidemiological features of a food poisoning outbreak in a company cafeteria located in Chungcheongnam-do Province, Korea in June of 2020 and to suggest preventive measures for a similar incidence. Methods: A total of 84 patients with acute gastroenteritis were examined. Environmental samples were obtained from 16 food handlers, six food utensils, 135 preserved foods served over three days and nine menus, and six drinking water samples. These are analyzed to detect viruses and bacteria. Results: Ninety-four out of the 402 people who were served meals (23.4%) predominantly showed symptoms of diarrhea, and the number was over 3 times. Among the 84 patients under investigation, 17 cases (20.2%) were positive for Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) and 18 cases were positive for Clostridium (C.) perfringens (21.4%). Based on the investigation, it was concluded that the main pathogens were EPEC and C. perfringens. For EPEC, it was detected in three of the food service employees and in the preserved food and curry rice. The results of pulsed field gel electrophoresis indicate that all EPEC cases are closely related except for one food service employee. Assuming that isolated EPEC originated from the preserved food, the incubation period is about 25 hours. The origin of the C. perfringens was not determined as it was not detected in the food service employees or environmental samples. Conclusions: This case suggests that food provided in group food service centers must be thoroughly managed. In addition, identifying the pathogens in preserved food is very important for tracing the causes of food poisoning, so food must be preserved in an appropriate condition. To prevent similar food poisoning cases, analyzing cases based on epidemiological investigation and sharing the results is needed.

An Epidemiologic Investigation on an Outbreak of Anthrax Occurred in Kyongju by Eating Dead Cow's Meat (경주시 배반동에서 발생한 탄저병에 관한 역학조사)

  • Lim, Hyun-Sul;Cheong, Hae-Kwan;Kim, Joung-Soon;Ohr, Hee-Choul;Rhie, Dong-Mo;Kim, Ho-Hoon
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.27 no.4 s.48
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    • pp.693-709
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    • 1994
  • This epidemiologic study was carried out to investigate cauuse and magnitude of food-poisoning like epidemic occurred among inhabitants of a village who have eaten dead cow's meat near Kyongju in February of 1994, around lunar new year, The investigation consisted of interview survey on all inhabitants of 77 households (111 males and 119 females) and their visitors (40 males and 35 females), skin test with anthraxinum (Russian product), study on clinical characteristics for the patients hospitalized, and microbiologic examination on microbes isolated from cow's meat, patient and soils of dead cow's barn. The results obtained are as followings; 1. The proportion of the inhabitants who ingested the dead cow's meat was 36.4%. The incidence rate of the disease was 65.1% for males, 41.7% for females and the cases were distributed evenly for all age groups. The group ingested raw meat showed higher incidence than the group ingested cooked meat. There was no case among people who did not eat the meat. 2. The most clinical symptoms were significantly more frequent among cases than non-cases : sore throat (57%), nausea (51%), fever (47%), indigestion (43%), cough (41%), anorexia (41%), abdominal distention (41%), and abdominal pain (39%) were the major symptoms among cases. 3. Among 29 cases hospitalized out of total 61 cases, three patients, all old and feeble persons, deceased from the disease resulting in 4.9% fatality rate among total patient and 10.3% among hospitalized. Septicemia and meningitis were the causes of the deaths. 4. Three strains isolated from patients, and three strains from dead cow's meat and soil revealed typical microbiologic characteristics of Bacillus Anthracis, which also proved to be fatal to experimentally infected mice.

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On Interesting Correlation between Meteorological Parameters and COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia

  • Haq, Mohd Anul;Ahmed, Ahsan
    • International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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    • v.22 no.4
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    • pp.159-168
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    • 2022
  • The recent outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic cases around the globe has affected Saudi Arabia with around 15, 00,000 confirmed cases within the initial 4 months of transmission. The present investigation analyzed the relationship between daily COVID-19 confirmed cases and meteorological parameters in seventeen cities of KSA. We used secondary published data from the Ministry of Health, KSA daily dataset of COVID-19 confirmed case counts. The meteorological parameters used in the present investigation are temperature, humidity, dew point, and wind speed. Pearson correlation and Spearman rank correlation tests were utilized for data analysis. The incubation period of COVID-19 varies from 1 day to 14 days as per available information. Therefore, an attempt has been made to analyze the effects of meteorological factors with bins of 1, 3, 7, and 14 days. The results suggested that the highest number of correlations (15 cities) was observed for temperature (maximum, minimum, and average) and humidity (12 cities) (minimum and average). The dew point showed relationships for 7 cities and wind showed moderate correlations only for 2 cities. The study results might be useful for authorities and stakeholders in taking specific measures to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

의학연구에서 실험계획의 원리와 교차계획법

  • 박선일
    • Journal of the korean veterinary medical association
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    • v.36 no.6
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    • pp.517-525
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    • 2000
  • 실험은 과학적 사실을 규명하기 위한 적극적인 수단이다. 실험이란 문자 그대로 검정 (test)을 의미하는데 좀 더 공식적으로 표현하자면 '연구자가 어떤 체계(system) 혹은 과정 (process)속으로 의도하는 변화를 투입 변수 (input variable)로 넣었을 때 그 결과로 얻게되는 반응에서 어떠한 변화가 초래되었는지 그 원인을 찾아내는 일련의 검정(series of tests)'이라고 정의할 수 있다. 넓은 의미에서 볼 때 실험의 형태는 발생조사(outbreak investigation)와 같이 현장 (fidld)에서 진행되는 관찰연구 (observational study)와 실험실 연구로 대별된다. 어떠한 연구형태이든 실험의 객관성을 달성하기 위해서는 연구의 목적에 합당한 실험계획을 작성하는 것이 필수적이다. 아무리 완벽하게 실험을 수행했다고 하더라도 실험계획에서 심각한 문제가 있다면 그 결과에 대해서는 신뢰성을 부여할 수 없기 때문이다. 본 논문에서는 실험을 계획할 때 적용되는 원리와 분산분석에서의 다중비교 및 의학연구에서 활용빈도가 높은 교차계획법 (crossover design)에 대하여 소개하고자 한다.

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The Analysis of High Chlorophyll-a Concentration Patch in the North Marine Areas of East China Sea (동중국해 북부 해역의 엽록소 고농도 덩어리 분석)

  • Jeong, Jong-Chul
    • Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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    • v.23 no.3
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    • pp.220-226
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    • 2014
  • This study investigated temporal-spatial and variations in Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) products of parameters total suspended solids (TSS) and chlorophyll-a in the North Marine Areas of East China Sea.GOCI data were collected daily from February 2012 to December 2012. The higher chlorophyll-a values were observed during the investigation period. The relatively large increase in TSS and chlorophyll-a at the sampling stations coupled with typhoon events during the summer rainy period. The abnormal chlorophyll-a concentration was mainly driven by meteorological factors such as typhoon and rainfall in the coastal areas of Jeju and the North Marine Areas of East China Sea. The abnormal high chlorophyll-a concentration at the majority of the coastal stations indicate eutrophication of coastal waters, especially Red tide. The events such as eutrophication and abnormal high chlorophyll-a concentration may potentially influence outbreak of Red Tide, detected with GOCI parameters.

The Standardized Methods for Improvement of Maintenance Deterioration caused by Fire damage (국제 표준화를 위한 화재이후의 유지관리 시스템 개발)

  • Kwon, Young-Jin;Koo, In-Hyuk;Kim, Dong-Eun;Seo, Dong-Goo
    • Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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    • 2013.11a
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    • pp.230-231
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    • 2013
  • A fire outbreak in a reinforcement concrete structure looses the organism by different contraction and expansion of hardened cement pastes and aggregate, and causes cracks by thermal stress, leading to the deterioration of the durability. So, concrete reinforcement structure is damaged partial or whole structure system. Therefore accurate diagnosis of deterioration is needed based on mechanism of fire deterioration in general concrete structures. Fundamental information and data on the properties of concrete exposed to high temperature are necessary for accurate diagnosis of deterioration. In this study, consider case of investigation methods and repair work in fire damaged structure concrete.

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