Old signage faced iconography, variable layouts, visual presentations, and contents, as well as degradation issues, undermine the effectiveness of hazard communication in the laboratory. A 2016 project was initiated to standardize all hazard signages at the Laboratory Research Division of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), incorporating standard colors and iconography for better compliance and safety. As part of a broader initiative to enhance biorisk practices within the institute, there are plans for improvement and expansion to non-laboratory areas.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a grade B infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). In pace with the spreading of the disease, biosafety risk of the biological specimen preservation in biobanks has been significantly increased and biosafety protection during biological specimen preservation become increasingly important. According to the related national rules and the corresponding guidelines of Chinese Medical Association, this paper introduced the etiology about SARS-CoV-2, epidemiology about COVID-19, and the biosafety protection principles of individuals and biological specimen storage places in the process of personal protection, protection of collection, transport, handling, preservation, detection, post-detection disposal and emergencies of biological specimen. Emphasized to carry out a strict biosafety-risk assessment on biological specimen basing on virus load information, infectivity, and sample type (possible contact transmission, aerosol transmission, and fecal oral transmission).
Betacoronavirus ; isolation & purification ; Containment of Biohazards ; standards ; Coronavirus Infections ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; transmission ; Humans ; Pandemics ; prevention & control ; Pneumonia, Viral ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; transmission ; Prevalence ; Risk Assessment ; Specimen Handling ; standards

COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Testing/methods* ; Clinical Laboratory Techniques ; Containment of Biohazards ; Disinfection ; Environmental Monitoring ; Humans ; Nucleic Acids/isolation & purification* ; SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification* ; Specimen Handling

On December 14, 2017, a faculty member of a university in Hunan Province reported that an anthrax vaccine strain might have recovered virulence during an undergraduate experiment and potential exposure could not be ruled out for the students involved. Upon receiving the case report, the CDC, health bureaus, and local governments at the county, prefectural, and provincial levels promptly organized experts in different fields (including epidemiologists, biosafety experts, and laboratory testing experts) for case investigation, evaluation, and response. As the investigation results showed, no virulence recovery was identified in the involved anthrax vaccine strain; and no contamination of Bacillus anthracis was detected at the involved areas. Thus, the university returned to normal functioning.
Anthrax Vaccines ; analysis ; Bacillus anthracis ; pathogenicity ; China ; Containment of Biohazards ; Humans ; Laboratories ; statistics & numerical data ; Virulence

Animals ; CRISPR-Cas Systems ; Containment of Biohazards ; Gene Editing ; ethics ; methods ; Humans

The dehiscence of saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) is a rare, often fatal, complication of coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We present the case of a 57-year-old man who underwent hemiarch graft interposition and CABG for a Stanford type A aortic dissection. Five months after discharge, the patient developed streptococcal sepsis caused by a hemodialysis catheter. Complete rupture of the proximal anastomoses of the saphenous veins and containment by the obliterated pericardial cavity was observed 25 months after the initial operation. The patient was successfully treated surgically. This report describes a patient who developed potentially fatal dehiscence of SVGs secondary to infection and outlines preventive and management strategies for this complication.
Catheters ; Containment of Biohazards ; Coronary Artery Bypass* ; Coronary Vessels* ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Pericardium ; Renal Dialysis ; Rupture ; Saphenous Vein ; Sepsis* ; Transplants

Concern about the biological hazards involved in microbiological research, especially research involving laboratory animals, has increased in recent years. Working in an animal biosafety level 2 facility (ABSL-2), commonly used for research on infectious diseases, poses various biological hazards. Here, the regulations and standards related to laboratory biosafety in China are introduced, the potential biological hazards present in ABSL-2 facilities are analyzed, and a series of strategies to control the hazards are presented.
Animal Diseases ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Animals ; Biomedical Research ; legislation & jurisprudence ; China ; epidemiology ; Containment of Biohazards ; methods ; standards ; Government Regulation ; Laboratories ; legislation & jurisprudence ; standards ; Safety Management ; legislation & jurisprudence ; standards

It is widely believed that effective communication is critical for the containment of the spread of emerging infectious diseases. Various media outlets and studies have pointed out communication failure as one of the key components that contributed to the wide and rapid spread of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in South Korea. To address these concerns, we first outline the definitions of risk and crisis communication and why they are important. We then illustrate communication models and guidelines utilized in three organizations (World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UK Public Health England) for health or disaster control. By analyzing the current guidelines for infectious diseases in South Korea and they were actually applied during the Middle East respiratory syndrome situation, we will assess what went wrong and what went right. Finally, we will suggest various measures that will help to ensure similar tragedies do not happen again.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Communicable Diseases ; Communicable Diseases, Emerging ; Containment of Biohazards ; Coronavirus ; Coronavirus Infections ; Disasters ; Korea ; Middle East ; Public Health*

Routine vaccination against mumps has markedly reduced its incidence. However, the incidence of mumps continuously has increased since 2007. In 2013, a large mumps epidemic occurred in Korea, and this epidemic is still an ongoing problem. This epidemic occurred primarily in school settings and affected vaccinated adolescents, predominantly male students. The recent resurgence of mumps is caused by multiple factors: suboptimal effectiveness of the current mumps vaccines, use of the Rubini strain vaccine, waning immunity in the absence of natural boosting due to the marked reduction in the mumps incidence, genotype mismatch between the vaccine and circulating mumps virus strains, and environmental conditions that foster intense exposures. Containment of mumps outbreaks is challenging because the sensitivity of diagnostic tests is low among vaccinees and control measures are less efficient because of the inherent nature of the mumps virus. Despite the suboptimal vaccine effectiveness in outbreak settings, maintaining the high vaccine coverage is an important strategy to prevent mumps outbreaks, given that the routine use of mumps vaccines has substantially reduced the incidence of mumps and its complications as compared with that in the pre-vaccine era. In order to control the current mumps epidemic and prevent further outbreaks, we need to better understand the dynamics of mumps among vaccinated populations and the changing epidemiology in Korea. Concerted efforts should be made to systematically monitor the immunization status of the Korean population and to improve diagnosis efficiency. Furthermore, more effective mumps vaccines need to be developed in the future.
Adolescent ; Containment of Biohazards ; Diagnosis ; Diagnostic Tests, Routine ; Disease Outbreaks ; Epidemiology ; Genotype ; Humans ; Immunization ; Incidence ; Korea ; Male ; Mumps Vaccine ; Mumps virus ; Mumps* ; Republic of Korea ; Vaccination ; Vaccines

Ebola virus disease (hereafter Ebola) has a high fatality rate; currently lacks a treatment or vaccine with proven safety and efficacy, and thus many people fear this infection. As of August 13, 2014, 2,127 patients across four West African countries have been infected with the Ebola virus over the past nine months. Among these patients, approximately 1 in 2 has subsequently died from the disease. In response, the World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in West Africa to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. However, Ebola is only transmitted by patients who already present symptoms of the disease, and infection only occurs upon direct contact with the blood or body fluids of an Ebola patient. Consequently, transmission of the outbreak can be contained through careful monitoring for fever among persons who have visited, or come into contact with persons from, the site of the outbreak. Thus, patients suspected of presenting symptoms characteristic of Ebola should be quarantined. To date, South Korea is not equipped with the special containment clinical units and biosafety level 4 facilities required to contain the outbreak of a fatal virus disease, such as Ebola. Therefore, it is necessary for South Korea to make strategies to the outbreak by using present facilities as quickly as possible. It is also imperative that the government establish suitable communication with its citizens to prevent the spread of uninformed fear and anxiety regarding the Ebola outbreak.
Africa, Western ; Anxiety ; Body Fluids ; Containment of Biohazards ; Ebolavirus ; Emergencies ; Fever ; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola ; Humans ; Korea ; Public Health ; Virus Diseases ; World Health Organization