Disease Control Agency Strengthens Contact Tracing to Early Detect 243 Additional Patients
[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Last year, the number of tuberculosis patients in South Korea exceeded 22,000. The incidence rate within families was found to be 16 times higher than that of the general population, and close contacts living in group facilities had a rate 2.6 times higher.
According to the "2021 Tuberculosis Epidemiological Survey Statistical Report" published by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on the 29th, among the total 22,904 tuberculosis patients last year, 7,161 cases (31%) were affiliated with group facilities such as schools and workplaces, while the remaining 15,743 cases were individual patients.
Tuberculosis is a respiratory infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, transmitted through coughing, sneezing, and conversation. With the spread of COVID-19, social distancing measures such as remote classes in schools and telecommuting began, leading to a significant decrease in tuberculosis patients compared to 30,304 in 2019 and 25,350 in 2020.
The KDCA, together with local governments, conducted epidemiological investigations targeting the families of tuberculosis patients and group facilities last year, discovering an additional 243 patients.
In particular, an epidemiological investigation of 26,432 family contacts who had lived in the same space with tuberculosis patients for the past three months identified 158 additional tuberculosis patients. This corresponds to 568.2 cases per 100,000 people, approximately 16 times higher than the general population tuberculosis incidence rate of 35.7 per 100,000. The KDCA explained, "Until now, epidemiological investigations relied solely on the statements of tuberculosis patients to identify family contacts, but since last year, by linking with the administrative information joint use network and strengthening the verification process of cohabitants, the number of additional patients among family contacts increased by 25% compared to 126 cases in 2020."
In epidemiological investigations of group facilities such as schools, workplaces, medical institutions, and social welfare facilities, 85 additional tuberculosis patients were confirmed among 89,215 contacts. This is a 16.7% decrease compared to 102 cases in 2020. The number of patients per 100,000 contacts was 93.3, about 2.6 times higher than the incidence rate in the general population.
Last year, a total of 16,997 latent tuberculosis infections were diagnosed in South Korea.
The KDCA currently operates 580 medical institutions for tuberculosis family contact screening and 560 medical institutions for latent tuberculosis infection treatment. All costs related to testing and treatment are fully covered by the government.
Baek Kyung-ran, Commissioner of the KDCA, emphasized, "To eradicate tuberculosis, it is important to detect and treat tuberculosis patients and latent tuberculosis infections early through thorough epidemiological investigations," and urged, "Active participation of high-risk groups such as families of tuberculosis patients, as well as continuous cooperation from medical institutions and local communities, is essential."
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