OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and a major source of workers' compensation claims in Korea. Since 2000 the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA), working through local occupational health institutions, has supported cardiovascular disease prevention programs at a number of companies in Korea. The purpose of this study was to assess the short-term effects of this effort. METHODS: A total of 11,077 workers at risk were enrolled in the workplace cardiovascular disease prevention program and 5,902 workers (53.3%) completed the 1-year course during 2007. The program consisted of a medical checkup and health counseling for the workers by occupational health nurses. The guidelines for this prevention program were adopted from KOSHA Code H-11-2004. To determine the program's effectiveness, the workers' risks for cardiovascular disease were assessed before and one year after completion of the program. RESULTS: The intervention led to significant reductions in the mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures of 4.9 mmHg and 3.1 mmHg, respectively. Mean total cholesterol and BMI were also reduced significantly by 8.4 g/dl and 0.1 kg/m2. The rate of smoking was decreased by 6.0% and the percentage of workers engaging in regular exercise was increased by 23.1%. Of the 3,530 workers with the low risk and above, the overall cardiovascular risk was improved in 1,734 (49.1%) of them. CONCLUSIONS: The cardiovascular disease prevention program supported by the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency reduces cardiovascular diseases risks among workers and may improve the health status of workers in Korea.
Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cause of Death ; Cholesterol ; Counseling ; Government Programs ; Health Promotion ; Korea ; Occupational Health ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Workers' Compensation

The authors regret that one co-author was missing in the article.

The first case of human cryptosporidiosis was reported in Korea in 1995; however, an outbreak of Cryptosporidium has not been reported in Korea until now. This paper describes the first outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Korea. On May 24, 2012, a local public health center filed a report on 126 residents with gastrointestinal symptoms in an old apartment complex in Seoul. Epidemiological investigations were implemented on 125 of the 126 patients. The patients were reported continuously over a period of 22 days. Diarrhea was the most common clinical symptom, and lasted for 5 days on average. The tap water was the only common exposure of the patients. During the environmental investigation it was discovered that the water and septic tanks were situated closely and that the waste water pipes were corroded where they passed over the water pipes. Cryptosporidium parvum was detected in 3 of the 7 stool specimens by PCR-RFLP. A number of Cryptosporidium oocysts were also detected in the water specimens from the water tank. In conclusion, Cryptosporidium parvum was the key causal pathogen of this outbreak. It is presumed that the tap water was contaminated by a sewage leak from the aged pipelines.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cryptosporidiosis/*epidemiology/parasitology ; Cryptosporidium parvum/*isolation & purification ; Diarrhea/parasitology ; *Disease Outbreaks ; Drinking Water/*parasitology ; Female ; Food Contamination ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Public Health ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Sewage/parasitology ; Young Adult