2024-08-01 05:42:41
Recently, as COVID-19, whooping cough, hand, foot and mouth disease, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections are spreading, quarantine authorities have started to encourage vaccination and compliance with infectious disease prevention guidelines.
Hong Jeong-ik, director of the Infectious Disease Policy Bureau at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said in a briefing on the “Summer Infectious Disease Outbreak Trends and Response Status” held on the 1st, “Currently, various infectious diseases are prevalent, including COVID-19, whooping cough, hand, foot and mouth disease, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.” He asked that people “follow the infectious disease prevention guidelines, such as washing hands, practicing cough etiquette, and wearing a mask if they have respiratory symptoms.”
COVID-19, which seemed to be calming down, has been on the rise since the fourth week of June, and the number of hospitalized patients has increased fivefold in the past four weeks. The majority of hospitalized patients are elderly, and 64.8% of patients hospitalized this year were over 65 years old.
Director Hong explained, “The detection rate of the KP.3 variant virus, a sub-lineage of Omicron that is prevalent worldwide, is increasing in Korea.” He added, “However, although an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases has been reported in the US, UK, and Japan, where KP.3 became prevalent before Korea, the overall situation is assessed to be stable.”
Accordingly, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is planning to administer a vaccine against JN.1, the ancestor of the KP.3 variant virus, in the second half of this year.
Director Hong said, “The vaccine administered in the first half of this year was effective against XBB.1.5, which was prevalent last winter and fall.” He added, “It is known that the vaccine against JN.1 is effective against KP.3 or KP.2, which are currently prevalent.”
In the case of whooping cough, the incidence has been increasing significantly among children and adolescents since mid-April.
Director Hong said, “Compared to the recent epidemic in 2018, the number of cases has increased about 15 times, and 92.2% of patients are children and adolescents aged 7 to 19.” He added, “However, considering the relatively mild symptoms, the small number of patients under 1 year of age who are at risk if infected, the high vaccination rate, and the lack of reports of accidents in Korea over the past 10 years, there is no need to be overly anxious.”
He said, “In order to prevent pertussis infection in infants under 1 year of age who are at risk, we will encourage vaccination at the appropriate ages of 2, 4, and 6 months, as well as the 6th vaccination for those aged 11-12, whose vaccination rate is relatively low. We will also encourage vaccination for pregnant women.”
Hand, foot and mouth disease is also continuing its trend of becoming the biggest epidemic in the past 10 years, surpassing the recent peak in 2019.
Hand, foot and mouth disease is generally prevalent in infants and young children, and since a vaccine has not yet been developed, it is most important to follow preventive measures such as washing hands.
In the case of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, the first epidemic warning was issued in Korea this year, and the warning was issued on June 24.
Director Hong said, “Since the warning was issued, there has been an increasing trend, especially among infants and children,” and “In response to the warning, we have established health insurance coverage for antigen tests for those under 18 and improved the system to enable rapid testing.”
Health authorities are citing the quarantine measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic as the cause of the spread of the infectious disease.
Director Hong analyzed, “While implementing strengthened quarantine measures, the period in which immunity does not develop through natural infection continues, lowering the level of immunity in the population, increasing the susceptible group, and causing an epidemic at once, which is showing an increase in the number of patients.”
In particular, he explained, “As we enter the summer season, we estimate that the overall increase in face-to-face contact and decrease in tension are leading to an increase in the occurrence of respiratory infections.”
(Seoul = News 1)
2024-08-01 05:42:41