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Kim C, Kim YM, Heo N, Park E, Choi S, Jang S, Kim N, Kwon D, Park YJ, Choi B, Ha B, Jung K, Park C, Park S, Lee H. COVID-19 Outbreak in a Military Unit in Korea. Epidemiol Health 2021; 43:e2021065. [PMID: 34525497 PMCID: PMC8689117 DOI: 10.4178/epih.e2021065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study presents the response of a military unit to the COVID-19 outbreak in Gyeonggi Province. As soon as two soldiers were identified as index cases, the infectious disease investigators of the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and the Armed Forces Epidemiologic Investigation Center, discussed the investigation and response plan for an imminent massive outbreak. METHODS The joint immediate response team (IRT) conducted interviews with confirmed patients with COVID-19, reviewed medical records, performed contact tracing using global positioning system (GPS), and undertook a field investigation. For risk assessment, the joint IRT visited all eight sites of the military units and the army chaplain's church to evaluate the transmission risk of each site. The evaluation items included the size of the site, the use of air conditioning, whether windows were opened, and whether masks were worn. A pooled testing was used for a low-risk population to quickly detect the spread of COVID-19 in the military base. RESULTS A day before the symptom onset of the index case, the lecturer and >50% of the attendees were infected with COVID-19 while attending a lecture that lasted 2 h and 30 min. Attendees were not wearing masks and were in a poorly ventilated room. CONCLUSION Since the disease can be spread before symptom onset, contact tracing must be performed to investigate potential exposures prior to symptom onset and manage any exposed persons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chanhee Kim
- Infectious Disease Control Center, Gyeonggi Provincial Government, Suwon, Korea
| | - Young-Man Kim
- Central Disease Control Headquarters, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, Korea
| | - Namwoo Heo
- Infectious Disease Control Center, Gyeonggi Provincial Government, Suwon, Korea
| | - Eunjung Park
- Infectious Disease Control Center, Gyeonggi Provincial Government, Suwon, Korea
| | - Sojin Choi
- Infectious Disease Control Center, Gyeonggi Provincial Government, Suwon, Korea
| | - Sehyuk Jang
- Central Disease Control Headquarters, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, Korea
| | - Nayoung Kim
- Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Seoul, Korea
| | - Donghyok Kwon
- Central Disease Control Headquarters, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, Korea
| | - Young-Joon Park
- Central Disease Control Headquarters, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, Korea
| | - Byeongseop Choi
- Republic of Korea Armed Forces Medical Command, Korea Army, Seongnam, Korea
| | - Beomman Ha
- Republic of Korea Army Headquarters, Korea Army, Gyerong, Korea
| | - Kyounghwa Jung
- Republic of Korea Army Headquarters, Korea Army, Gyerong, Korea
| | - Changbo Park
- Republic of Korea Armed Forces Epidemiologic Investigation Center, Korea Army, Seongnam, Korea
| | - Sejin Park
- Republic of Korea Armed Forces Medical Command, Korea Army, Seongnam, Korea
| | - Heeyoung Lee
- Center for Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea
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Tavakoli A, Karbalaie Niya MH, Bokharaei-Salim F, Farahmand M, Izadi M, Dorostkar R, Keyvani H. The molecular epidemiology of respiratory viruses in military trainees in Iran. Med J Islam Repub Iran 2019; 33:40. [PMID: 31456964 PMCID: PMC6708098 DOI: 10.34171/mjiri.33.40] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background: Military populations are more prone to respiratory infections worldwide. There is a dearth of research about the role of viral pathogens in the etiology of respiratory infections in military trainees in Iran. Hence, we aimed to investigate the molecular epidemiology and clinical symptoms of respiratory viruses among this population.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 400 military trainees with symptoms of respiratory infection, referred to the military medical clinic center in the basic military training camp of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Nucleic acid extraction from the throat or nasopharyngeal swab samples was performed by an automated extraction system. The extracts were then analyzed by the CLART® PneumoVir array system for the detection of respiratory viruses.
Results: All military trainees were male, aged between 18 and 57 years (mean: 21.69 years). Sore throat (75.5%), rhinorrhea (63.2%), cough (59.2%), fever (59.2%), and nasal congestion (50.5%) were amongst the most common symptoms. Overall, viral pathogens were detected in a total count of 124 (31%). The most commonly detected viruses were rhinovirus (7.2%), respiratory syncytial virus A (7.2%) and influenza B virus (6%).
Conclusion: This study was an important first step for understanding the etiological role of viral pathogens in respiratory infection among military trainees population in Iran. Our results indicated that rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus A and influenza B virus are important viral pathogens causing respiratory infection in military trainees, respectively. However, further multi-center studies with larger sample size are strongly recommended to confirm our findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmad Tavakoli
- Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Farah Bokharaei-Salim
- Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mohammad Farahmand
- Department of Virology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Morteza Izadi
- Health Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ruhollah Dorostkar
- Applied Virology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hossein Keyvani
- Department of Medical Virology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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Nishimura H, Sato K, Kadji FMN, Ohmiya S, Ito H, Kubo T, Hashimoto S. Case study-based time-course analysis of symptoms of respiratory syncytial virus infections followed by acute sinusitis in otherwise-healthy adults. J Thorac Dis 2018; 10:E322-E327. [PMID: 29997985 DOI: 10.21037/jtd.2018.04.74] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Reports on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections are abundant in pediatric and geriatric populations but not many in healthy adults, and particularly, those which demonstrated the illness throughout its time course are rare. We report two otherwise-healthy adult cases, showing a number of evidence essential for confirmation of exclusive infections with RSV, and document their clinical features from the onset of the disease to recovery, including secondary sinusitis with magnetic resonance (MR) and computed tomography (CT) images. The infection was proven by isolating RSV belonging to subgroup B and by observing elevated anti-RSV antibody titer in the paired sera. Possible contribution of other pathogens including almost all respiratory viruses and representative bacteria, was excluded by negative results in multiplex PCR examination. In the first case, illness initiated with pharyngeal pain, followed by symptoms of sneezing, severe rhinorrhea and coughing, which peaked at approximately 5-7 days and persisted for 12 days. The patient experienced a slight chill, but the body temperature did not exceed 37 °C during illness. The patient showed no significant finding but only a slight increase in serum C-reactive protein level in the routine clinical laboratory examinations. On the 9th day of illness, a dull headache started persisting for at least a week after which it gradually waned. Sinusitis was found by chance on MR images of maxillary sinus 8 days after the headache started, and the finding disappeared on CT images taken after 6 months. In the second case, the symptoms included severe rhinorrhea and dull facial pain around the upper nose; the pain also occurred on the 9th day of illness and the symptom was clinically diagnosed to be acute sinusitis during a visit to a physician.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hidekazu Nishimura
- Virus Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Sendai Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Ko Sato
- Virus Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Sendai Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Francois Marie Ngako Kadji
- Virus Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Sendai Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Suguru Ohmiya
- Virus Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Sendai Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Hiroko Ito
- Virus Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Sendai Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
| | - Toru Kubo
- Virus Research Center, Clinical Research Division, Sendai Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan.,Department of Virology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.,Nagasaki Genbaku Isahaya Hospital, Isahaya, Nagasaki, Japan
| | - Sho Hashimoto
- Department of Otolaryngology, Sendai Medical Center, National Hospital Organization, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
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