Since the early 1990s, Korea has made efforts to strengthen its National Communicable Disease Control System. In 2005, the Korea government developed various goals for communicable diseases control as a part of Health Plan 2010. The goals include 40 objectives, for the achievement of which a variety of programs and research subjects have been developed. These efforts will contribute to raising the preparedness for and response to the global threat of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases. The author reviewed the status, management goals and future tasks of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Korea. HIV/AIDS is an emerging infectious disease, and tuberculosis is an endemic disease in Korea. These two diseases are included in the UN Millennium Development Goal 6. The number of HIV/AIDS cases reported in Korea at the end of December 2005 was 3,829, of which 721 have died. The reported HIV prevalence rate among adults aged in 15-49 years is below 0.1%, and the infection level is categorized as "very low". However, the number of newly infected cases has been rising rapidly. The goal of HIV/AIDS control in Health Plan 2010 is to reduce the increasing rate of HIV/AIDS to 35% in 2010. Compared with the global Millennium Development Goal, which is to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015, we should set up long-term, high level goals, in addition to a comprehensive national plan for the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. Korea first implemented a Nationwide Tuberculosis Control Program in the 1960s. By 2005, the prevalence of radiologically active tuberculosis had fallen to 0.35% which is one-fifteenth of the level of 1965. Nevertheless, the current prevalence of and death rate from tuberculosis continue to be much higher than those of advanced nations. Given this such a level of infection, the goals of tuberculosis control need to be specified, and an enhanced tuberculosis control program needs to be implemented to reduce the incidence of tuberculosis and associated death rates.
Adult ; Communicable Disease Control ; Communicable Diseases ; Communicable Diseases, Emerging ; Endemic Diseases ; HIV ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea* ; Mortality ; Prevalence ; Research Subjects ; Tuberculosis* ; United Nations

OBJECTIVETo analyze the mortality and the constitution of total deaths of infectious disease, maternal and perinatal diseases, nutritional deficiencies and their trends in China, 1973-2005.

METHODSThe following data collected from three national retrospective sampling surveys of death causes were used: 1973-1975 nation-wide cancer mortality survey for person years of approximately 2 513 949 310; 1990-1992 nation-wide cancer mortality survey for person years of approximately 335 213 493; 2004 - 2005 the 3rd national retrospective sampling survey of death cause for person years of approximately 142 660 482 by three age groups (0-, 15- and 60-). Based on the data, the crude death rates of ages, genders and diseases were calculated. The standardized death rates were calculated using the population census data of 2000.

RESULTSThe total number of deaths caused by infectious diseases, maternal and perinatal diseases, and nutritional deficiencies were 4 913 521, 284 811 and 47 161 in 1973-1975, 1990-1992 and 2004-2005, respectively; the crude death rates were 195.45, 84.96, 33.06 per 100 000, and the standardized death rates were 158.71, 70.76, 27.98 per 100 000. Total number of deaths caused by the above diseases in urban and rural areas were 11 752 and 35 409 during 2004 - 2005, respectively; the crude death rates were 24.69 and 37.35 per 100 000, and the standardized death rates were 19.62 and 32.12 per 100 000. There were 26 176 deaths due to the above diseases in male and 20 985 in female; the crude death rates were 35.87 and 30.11 per 100 000; the standardized death rates were 35.23 and 26.65 per 100 000. The number of deaths reported in different regions were 13 286, 13 922 and 19 953 in eastern, central and western areas respectively; the crude death rates were 25.28, 27.97 and 49.48 deaths per 100 000; the standardized death rates were 21.33, 28.10 and 45.98 per 100 000. The top three causes of death were pneumonia, tuberculosis and virus hepatitis, and the case numbers were 14 265, 8537 and 5771, respectively. The death rates were 10.00, 5.98 and 4.05 per 100 000, the standardized death rates were 8.88, 5.46 and 3.74 per 100 000. The percentage of total deaths (868 484 cases) of infectious diseases, maternal and perinatal diseases, and nutritional deficiencies was 5.43%, which was decreased 80.52% from 1973 - 1975 (27.87%, 4 913 521/17 629 350).

CONCLUSIONSThe mortality of infectious diseases, maternal and perinatal diseases, and nutritional deficiencies were generally consistent with long-term decreasing trends observed, the mortality in urban area was greater than that in rural area, the rate in male was greater than that in female, the rate in western region was greater than that in central and eastern regions.

Cause of Death ; China ; epidemiology ; Communicable Diseases ; mortality ; Female ; Humans ; Infant Mortality ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Malnutrition ; mortality ; Maternal Mortality

BACKGROUND: Several studies have been conducted regarding people with disabilities, however no studies have estimated the disease burden due to premature death. As such, we aimed to compare the years of life lost (YLLs) due to premature death between a population with disabilities and the total population of Korea. METHODS: To calculate the YLLs in people with disabilities, we combined disability registration data from the 2002–2011 Ministry of Health and Welfare of Korea and the causes of mortality data by Statistics Korea for 3,158,231 people. RESULTS: YLLs of people with disabilities were 517,337, which accounted for 23.4% of YLLs of the total population. YLLs per 100,000 people with disabilities were approximately 3.8 times higher than those in the total Korean population. Ischemic stroke was associated with the highest YLLs per 100,000 people, followed by ischemic heart disease, hemorrhagic, and other non-ischemic stroke, diabetes mellitus, and self-harm. Among individuals with physical disabilities, ischemic heart disease was associated with the highest YLLs. For intellectual disability, epilepsy contributed to the most YLLs. For individuals with mental disability, self-harm was the largest contributor to YLLs. CONCLUSION: The burden of disease was higher in the population with disabilities than that in the general population. Cardiovascular diseases and cancer had a higher burden of disease than did other diseases in the population with disabilities; thus, overall, non-communicable diseases have a higher burden of disease than communicable diseases or injuries in the population with disabilities than in the general population.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Communicable Diseases ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Disabled Persons* ; Epilepsy ; Humans ; Intellectual Disability ; Korea* ; Mortality ; Mortality, Premature* ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Stroke

OBJECTIVES: Child mortality remains a critical problem even in developed countries due to low fertility. To plan effective interventions, investigation into the trends and causes of child mortality is necessary. Therefore, we analyzed these trends and causes of child deaths over the last 30 years in Korea. METHODS: Causes of death data were obtained from a nationwide vital registration managed by the Korean Statistical Information Service. The mortality rate among all children aged between one and four years and the causes of deaths were reviewed. Data from 1983-2012 and 1993-2012 were analyzed separately because the proportion of unspecified causes of death during 1983-1992 varied substantially from that during 1993-2012. RESULTS: The child (1-4 years) mortality rates substantially decreased during the past three decades. The trend analysis revealed that all the five major causes of death (infectious, neoplastic, neurologic, congenital, and external origins) have decreased significantly. However, the sex ratio of child mortality (boys to girls) slightly increased during the last 30 years. External causes of death remain the most frequent origin of child mortality, and the proportion of mortality due to child assault has significantly increased (from 1.02 in 1983 to 1.38 in 2012). CONCLUSIONS: In Korea, the major causes and rate of child mortality have changed and the sex ratio of child mortality has slightly increased since the early 1980s. Child mortality, especially due to preventable causes, requires public health intervention.
Cause of Death ; Child Mortality/*trends ; Child, Preschool ; Communicable Diseases/mortality ; Databases, Factual ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Male ; Neoplasms/mortality ; Nervous System Diseases/mortality ; Republic of Korea ; Sex Ratio ; Vital Statistics

The survey methods for confirming the epidemicity and identifying the possible causes of the cancer epidemic can be different from those for infectious diseases. The procedure for confirming whether the outbreak is epidemic or not is quite different. Household survey for identifying cancer cases and residents actually living at the area should be done. Hospital survey for medical record review should be performed to identify all cancer cases among the residents of the outbreak area and confirming the final diagnoses of the cancer cases. Comparing the level of cancer incidence or mortality with other areas can be done by using poison distribution, or calculating SIR (standard Incidence Ratio) from cumulative incidence rates. Case-control study can be conducted to identify the etiologic factors of the cancer epidemic and to establish strategy for preventing further recurrence of the outbreak.
Case-Control Studies ; Communicable Diseases ; Surveys and Questionnaires* ; Diagnosis ; Epidemiology ; Family Characteristics ; Incidence ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Recurrence

The genus Aspergillus contains about 180 validly described saprophytic species. Nearly 10 percent of these species can cause a wide spectrum of infectious disease including life threatening invasive aspergillosis, colonization of the sinus and respiratory organs as well as allergic diseases. Cases of life threatening invasive aspergillosis have been steadily rising throughout the world. While prophylactic antifungal drugs have reduced the mortality due to invasive aspergillosis in immunosuppressed and immunodeficient patients, the overall case fatality rate remains well above 50% making it one of the most difficult microbial diseases to manage. A. fumigatus is by far the most common cause of invasive aspergillosis regardless of the underlying conditions of patients. Old concepts regarding the identification of Aspergillus species have strictly been based on morphological characteristics which have often been problematic due to their variability. The new classification concept employs phenotypic characteristics with multigene DNA sequences. The new method allowed differentiation of genetically distinct but morphologically similar sister species of A. fumigatus. The recently described A. lentinus is one such example which had previously been identified as A. fumigatus. Clinical diagnosis of invasive aspergillosis without waiting for isolation of culture has also made significant progress during the past 10 years. This lecture will focus on recent developments in the diagnosis of aspergillosis and the biological characteristics of A. fumigatus which renders it to be the primary cause of invasive aspergillosis.
Aspergillosis* ; Aspergillus* ; Base Sequence ; Classification ; Colon ; Communicable Diseases ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Lentinula ; Mortality ; Population Characteristics ; Siblings

BACKGROUND:Influenza is a respiratory infectious disease with high morbidity and relatively high mortality which occurs every winter. Therefore, influenza vaccination is recommended annually for high risk groups. However, the vaccination rate is not very high. It is well known that influenza vaccination prevents influenza, and some reports show partial preventive effects for the common cold. Therefore, the authors implemented this study to find out the preventive effects of influenza vaccination for influenza and the common cold. METHODS: The study period was six months from October 1997 to March 1998, and the subjects were chosen from those who visited seven Family Practice Clinics and two Family Practice Outpatient Departments of University Hospital. The vaccination group composed of those who received influenza vaccination during the period and the control group was those who did not receive the vaccination with age difference +/-3 years and of same gender. The study was done by a survey questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 8.0 and chisquare test, t-test, and logistic regression was implemented RESULTS: The number of vaccination group was 223, the number of control group was 214, and the total subjects were 437 persons. Influenza occurred in 4 persons(1.8%) for the vaccination group, and 12 persons(5.6%) for the control group which showed significant difference(p=0.032). The common cold occurred in 69.1% of vaccination group and in 71.0% of control group with no difference. However, the duration of the common cold was 6.0 days for the vaccination group which was slightly shorter than 7.5 days for the control group(p=0.088), and the frequency of the common cold was 1.49 times for the vaccination group and 1.84 times for the control group(p=0.033). Logistic regression analysis showed that the relative risk of influenza for the vaccination group was 0.261(p=0.032), which meant 73.9% protective effect for influenza, but not for the common cold. CONCLUSIONS: Influenza vaccination can protect people from influenza, but did not protect them from common cold. However, it can lessen the frequency and duration of the common cold.
Common Cold ; Communicable Diseases ; Family Practice ; Humans ; Influenza, Human* ; Logistic Models ; Mortality ; Outpatients ; Vaccination* ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is an emerging infectious disease caused by the betacoronavirus (MERS-CoV). Since the isolation and identification of MERS-CoV in 2012, cases have been spread to neighboring nations in Arabian Peninsula area and Europe. The recent outbreak of MERS in Korea confirmed that MERS-CoV is capable of causing epidemics through person-to-person transmission. Despite of its high mortality, there is no available effective vaccine and therapeutic agent partly due to its short history. So far, ribavirin and interferon therapy has been failed to prove its efficacy in human patients. Thus, there is an urgent need for the effective countermeasures such as vaccines and therapeutics. In the current review, recent advances in the development of vaccines and therapeutic antibodies have been discussed.
Antibodies ; Communicable Diseases, Emerging ; Europe ; Humans ; Interferons ; Korea ; Middle East ; Mortality ; Ribavirin ; Vaccines*

This study aimed to ascertain whether medical students would enter a closed area where there was a raging epidemic of an infectious disease with a high fatality rate, and includes reasons for the students entering or refusing to enter. Participants included 50 second-year medical students. They were assigned to read a novel entitled 28, written by Youjeong Jeong, and discuss it in groups. Using their book reports, their decisions of whether or not to enter Hwayang, the city from the novel, and the reasons for their decisions were analyzed; we furthermore investigated the factors affecting their decisions. Among the 50 respondents, 18 students (36%) answered that they would enter, and the remaining 32 students (64%) answered that they would not enter the zone. The reasons given for entering were responsibility (44%), sense of ethics (33%), social duty (17%), and sense of guilt (6%). The reasons the students provided for not entering were inefficiency (44%), worry regarding family (28%), needlessness of sacrifice (19%), and safety not ensured (9%). Students who had four or fewer family members were more likely to enter Hwayang than were students who had five or more family members (odds ratio, 1.85). Students who had completed over 100 hours of volunteer work were more likely to enter Hwayang than were students who had volunteered less than 100 hours (odds ratio, 2.04). Owing to their "responsibility" as a doctor, 36% of medical students answered that they would enter an exclusion zone in an infected district with a high fatality rate. However, 64% answered they would not enter because of "inefficiency." For the medical students it is still a question 'To enter or not to enter?'
Communicable Diseases ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Ethics ; Guilt ; Humans ; Mortality* ; Odds Ratio ; Rage ; Students, Medical* ; Volunteers ; Writing

Streptococcal myositis is an extremely uncommon infectious disease caused by Group A streptococcus (GAS). GAS infection spreads rapidly and diffusely through the muscle, resulting in edema and necrosis. Consequently, it results in streptococcal toxic shock syndrome having extremely high mortality. We report a 42 year-old female patient with systemic lupus erythematosus accompanying with streptococcal myositis who initially presented with fever, severe pain, and tenderness on the calf. Her systemic toxic symptoms were aggravated and finally she died of the disease in spite of aggressive management.
Adult ; Communicable Diseases ; Edema ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic* ; Mortality ; Myositis* ; Necrosis ; Shock, Septic ; Streptococcus