The management of emerging infectious diseases cannot help but completely depend on non-pharmaceutical interventions in the early stages of the outbreak. Consequently, South Korea has developed and implemented the 3T (test-trace-treat) models, non-pharmaceutical infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The IPC measures have gained global attention, rendering them to be essential in the development of a shareable, reusable, and applicable protocol for future pandemics. This study was conducted to identify the requirements necessary for standardizing the IPC measures. Three new work items of the 18 3T models were proposed to ISO/TC 304 (International Organization for Standardization/Technical Committee 304; healthcare organization management). Requirements for each IPC measure, identified by participating members (P-members) countries during the ISO ballots, were analyzed in this study. The three new work items were approved by the P-members countries after a 3-month ballot. There was a consensus that the three IPC measure models should be International Standards (IS). Other comments include (1) the models should include not only COVID-19 but also any respiratory pandemic; and (2) keep donning of level D protection at screening sites as an optional protocol, in consideration for the lack of personal protective equipment. Standardization is a systematic process of developing internationally agreed-upon wisdom and knowledge that consider and respect the diversity and universality of each country. It is expected that such standardized applicable IPC measure models contribute to global efforts to rapidly respond to a public health emergency of international concern during its early stages.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Computed tomography of the temporal bone can provide otologists precise informations regarding the middle ear diseases. In this study, we aimed to measure the distance of mastoid antrum using the temporal bone CT for predicting the distance of mastoid depth during the mastoid surgery. MAERIALS AND METHODS: We analyzed normal ears of 88 patients who visited the Department of Otolaryngology, Chonnam University Hospital during the period between Aug. 1996 and Aug. 1997. These patients demonstrated unilateral chronic otitis media, temporal bone fracture, and traumatic facial nerve palsy. RESULTS: The mean distance of mastoid antrum was 11.45mm. The distance of mastoid antrum according to age distribution showed 7.75 mm in 0-4 year old group, 10.35 mm in 5-9 year old group, 10.71 mm in 10-14 year old group, 11.50 mm in 15-19 year old group, and 11.93 mm in over 20 year old group. The distance also differed between males and females, with 2.84 mm for male and 11.24 mm for female. CONCLUSION: For the group under 20 years old, the distance of mastoid antrum increased as the patient's age became older. Especially, the group who were between 5 to 9 years old showed marked increase in the distance, and the distance did not differ between male and female. The distance of the mastoid antrum of the Korean adults was 10.1-13.7 mm and it represents some difference when compared with that of Westerners.
Adult ; Age Distribution ; Child ; Ear ; Ear, Middle ; Facial Nerve ; Female ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Male ; Mastoid* ; Otitis Media ; Otolaryngology ; Paralysis ; Temporal Bone* ; Young Adult

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Child* ; Humans ; Infant* ; Intussusception*

The digital response is an excellent infection prevention and control measure to minimize person-to-person contact when a respiratory infectious disease is rapidly spreading. However, few studies have explored the reasons for the development and utilization of these technologies. Here, we analyze documents by the Korean government, existing research, and news articles to provide a qualitative review of the digital response, and new concepts explored by Korea during coronavirus disease 2019, to apply them for the next infectious disease outbreak.

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No abstract available.
Colitis, Ulcerative* ; Ulcer*

OBJECTIVES: To develop dedicated markup language for clinical contents models (CCM) to facilitate the active use of CCM in electronic health record systems. METHODS: Based on analysis of the structure and characteristics of CCM in the clinical domain, we designed extensible markup language (XML) based CCM markup language (CCML) schema manually. RESULTS: CCML faithfully reflects CCM in both the syntactic and semantic aspects. As this language is based on XML, it can be expressed and processed in computer systems and can be used in a technology-neutral way. CONCLUSIONS: CCML has the following strengths: it is machine-readable and highly human-readable, it does not require a dedicated parser, and it can be applied for existing electronic health record systems.
Computer Systems ; Electronic Health Records ; Electronics ; Electrons ; Semantics

Background: Breaking the chain of disease transmission from overseas is necessary to control new infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 effectively. In this study, we developed a mobile app called Self-Symptom Checker (SSC) to monitor the health of inbound travelers. Methods: SSC was developed for general users and administrators. The functions of SSC include non-repudiation using QR (quick response) codes, monitoring fever and respiratory symptoms, and requiring persons showing symptoms to undergo polymerase chain reaction tests at nearby screening stations following a review of reported symptoms by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, as well as making phone calls, via artificial intelligence or public health personnel, to individuals who have not entered symptoms to provide the necessary information. Results: From February 12 to March 27, 2020, 165,000 people who were subjected to the special entry procedure installed SSC. The expected number of public health officers and related resources needed per day would be 800 if only the phone was used to perform symptom monitoring during the above period. Conclusion By applying SSC, more effective symptom monitoring was possible. The daily average number of health officers decreased to 100, or 13% of the initial estimate. SSC reduces the work burden on public healthcare personnel. SSC is an electronic solution conceived in response to health questionnaires completed by inbound travelers specified in the World Health Organization International Health Regulations as a requirement in the event of a pandemic.