Climate and weather significantly influence the duration, timing, and intensity of disease outbreaks, reshaping the global landscape of infectious diseases. Rising temperatures and shifts in precipitation patterns driven by climate change can directly impact the survival and reproduction of pathogens and vector organisms. Moreover, climate change is expected to exacerbate extreme weather events, including floods and droughts, which can disrupt infrastructure and increase the risk of water- and foodborne diseases. There are potential shifts in the temporal and spatial patterns of infectious disease transmission owing to climate change. Furthermore, climate change may alter the epidemiology of vaccine-preventable diseases. These climatic variations not only affect the ecological characteristics of pathogens and vectors but also indirectly influence human behaviors and socioeconomic conditions, further amplifying disease transmission risks. Addressing this challenge requires an interdisciplinary collaboration and comprehensive public health strategies. This review aims to synthesize the current evidence on the impact of climate change on climate-sensitive infectious diseases and elucidate the underlying mechanisms and transmission pathways. Additionally, we explored adaptive policy strategies to mitigate the public health burden of infectious diseases in the context of climate change, offering insights for global health governance and disease control efforts.
Climate Change ; Communicable Diseases/transmission* ; Humans ; Animals ; Global Health

Patients receiving hemodialysis are vulnerable to infectious diseases due to their impaired immunity and high risk of exposure to pathogens. To protect patients, staff, and visitors from potential infections, each hemodialysis unit should establish and follow standard infection control and prevention measures. Therefore, clinical practice guidelines were developed by a working group of nephrologists and infection control specialists to provide evidence-based guidance for dialysis physicians and nurses, with the aim of preventing infection transmission and controlling infection sources in hemodialysis facilities. The areas of infection control covered by these guidelines include standard precautions, isolation strategies, vascular access, water treatment, cleaning/disinfecting/sterilizing, and vaccination. This special report summarizes the key recommendations from the Korean clinical practice guidelines for preventing the transmission of infections in hemodialysis facilities.
Communicable Diseases ; Dialysis ; Disease Transmission, Infectious ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Renal Dialysis* ; Specialization ; Vaccination ; Water Purification

As over 1000 new cases of HIV/AIDS occur in Korea annually, preventive health programs against HIV/AIDS are urgently needed. Since phylodynamic studies have been suggested as a way to understand how infectious diseases are transmitted and evolve, phylodynamic inferences can be a useful tool for HIV/AIDS research. In particular, phylodynamic models are helpful for dating the origins of an epidemic and estimating its basic reproduction number. Thus, the introduction of phylodynamics would be a highly valuable step towards controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Korea.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; Basic Reproduction Number ; Biological Evolution ; Communicable Diseases ; Disease Transmission, Infectious ; HIV ; Korea* ; Molecular Epidemiology

The process of globalization increases the risk of global transmission of infectious diseases, resulting in pressure for country's prevention and control of imported infectious disease. Based on the risk assessment of disease importation and local transmission, a strategy that conducting importation prevention and routine prevention and control before the importation of disease and taking emergency control measures after the importation of disease was developed. In addition, it is important to take part in global infectious disease response action, aid the countries with outbreak or epidemic to actively decrease the risk of disease importation.
Communicable Diseases ; Communicable Diseases, Imported/transmission* ; Disease Outbreaks/prevention & control* ; Epidemics ; Global Health ; Humans ; Risk Assessment ; Travel

PURPOSE: This purpose of this study was to develop evidence-based practice guideline for isolation in health care settings to prevent transmission of infectious diseases utilizing guideline adaption process. METHODS: The process of guideline adaptation was performed according to the Korean hospital nurses association's guideline adaptation manual which consisted of three main phases, 9 modules, and 24 steps. RESULTS: The adapted isolation guideline consisted of introduction, overview of isolation guideline, summary of recommendations, recommendations, references, and appendices. The guideline includes 224 recommendations in 4 sections which are organizational administration, standard precautions, transmission-based precautions, and education/counselling. CONCLUSION: The adapted isolation guideline is recommended to be disseminated and utilized by nurses and clinicians nationwide to improve the isolation practices for infected or colonized patients with communicable diseases and to decrease the transmission of infections in the healthcare settings.
Colon ; Communicable Diseases ; Delivery of Health Care ; Disease Transmission, Infectious ; Evidence-Based Nursing ; Evidence-Based Practice ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Patient Isolation

Schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections are widespread diseases of public health importance in Tanzania. A study on perceptions and practices related to schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections was undertaken among a community population of Kome Island in Sengerema District, north-western Tanzania, where intestinal schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections are endemic. Schistosomiasis and intestinal worm-related perceptions and practices were assessed before and 3 years after implementation of a participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation (PHAST) intervention as a control measure. Data were obtained from baseline and post-intervention knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) questionnaire surveys conducted twice in 2009 and 2012 among 82 individuals aged > or =15 years. We found significant increases in respondents' knowledge of the cause, transmission, symptoms, health consequences, and prevention of schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections after PHAST intervention. The increase in respondents' knowledge on almost all aspects of the said infections was translated into actions to control schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections. This has not been achieved by chance, but due to well-designed and locally-adapted PHAST intervention. We conclude that despite criticisms, PHAST approach is still useful in empowering communities to control water, sanitation, and hygiene related infectious diseases such as schistosomiasis and intestinal worm infections.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Communicable Disease Control/*methods ; Disease Transmission, Infectious/prevention & control ; Endemic Diseases/*prevention & control ; Female ; *Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Helminthiasis/*epidemiology/*prevention & control/psychology ; Humans ; Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic/*epidemiology/*prevention & control/psychology ; Islands ; Lakes ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Schistosomiasis/*epidemiology/*prevention & control/psychology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Tanzania/epidemiology ; Young Adult

Since the first case was diagnosed on May 20, 2015, there were 186 confirmed cases of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) until the end of outbreak in South Korea. Although medical institutions were the most identifiable sources of MERS transmission in South Korea, similar to other countries, in-depth epidemiological investigation was required for some confirmed cases with indefinite contact history or hospital visit records. The subject of epidemiological investigation in the present study was a 35 year-old male patient diagnosed with MERS (#119) who lived in Asan-city and worked in Pyeongtaek-city. Various potential sources of transmission were carefully investigated. While he could have been exposed to MERS through a friend from Saudi Arabia or confirmed MERS cases in his workplace, neighboring areas, and medical institutions, as well as contacts in his home, the chances of transmission were low; however, the potential for transmission through his local community could not be excluded. Practically, it was difficult to determine the modes of transmission for all outbreak cases in communicable disease that occurred in this short period of time. The investigation to identify the mode of transmission in this case was ultimately unsuccessful. However, the various data collected and analyzed to reveal modes of transmission provided detailed information that could not be collected using only interview surveys.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Communicable Diseases ; Community-Acquired Infections ; Coronavirus* ; Disease Outbreaks ; Disease Transmission, Infectious ; Friends ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male ; Middle East* ; Republic of Korea ; Saudi Arabia

This study reviewed problems in the prevention of outbreak and spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and aimed to provide assistance in establishing policies to prevent and manage future outbreaks of novel infectious diseases of foreign origin via in-depth epidemiological investigation of the patient who initiated the MERS outbreak in Korea, 2015. Personal and phone interviews were conducted with the patient and his guardians, and his activities in Saudi Arabia were investigated with the help of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health. Clinical courses and test results were confirmed from the medical records. The patient visited 4 medical facilities and contacted 742 people between May 11, 2015, at symptom onset, and May 20, at admission to the National Medical Center; 28 people were infected and diagnosed with MERS thereafter. Valuable lessons learned included: (1) epidemiological knowledge on the MERS transmission pattern and medical knowledge on its clinical course; (2) improvement of epidemiological investigative methods via closed-circuit television, global positioning system tracking, and review of Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service records; (3) problems revealed in the existing preventive techniques, including early determination of the various people contacted; (4) experiences with preventive methods used for the first time in Korea, including cohort quarantine; (5) reconsideration of the management systems for infectious disease outbreaks across the country, such as this case, at the levels of central government, local government, and the public; (6) reconsideration of hospital infectious disease management systems, culture involving patient visitation, and emergency room environments.
Cohort Studies ; Communicable Diseases ; Disease Outbreaks ; Disease Transmission, Infectious ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Geographic Information Systems ; Humans ; Insurance, Health ; Korea ; Local Government ; Medical Records ; Middle East* ; Quarantine ; Saudi Arabia ; Television

Communicable Diseases ; epidemiology ; transmission ; Environmental Monitoring ; Epidemiologic Factors ; Forecasting ; Humans ; Models, Theoretical ; Risk Assessment

Communicable Diseases ; transmission ; Decision Support Techniques ; Humans ; Models, Theoretical ; Risk Factors