An Analysis of the Risk of the Infection Disasters by Legal Infectious Disease Outbreak in South Korea

Background/Objectives: This study aimed to analyze the risk of the infection disasters by outbreak status of Group 1 to 4 legal infectious diseases in South Korea.Methods/Statistical analysis: The raw data regarding “legal infectious diseases under complete surveillance” disclosed by the Ministry of Health Welfare (MOHW) and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) were used. The infectious diseases are divided into Group 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 infectious diseases, designated infectious diseases, infectious diseases supervised by the World Health Organization (WHO), bioterrorism-related infectious diseases, sex-mediated infectious diseases, zoonosis, and medically-related infectious diseases. Of these, Group 1 to 4 legal infectious diseases found between 2014 and 2018 were included in this study. The analyses were carried out by using an SPSS Version 20.0 program.Findings: Between 2014 and 2018, the number of Group 2 legal infectious diseases (562,830 cases) was greatest, followed by Group 3 (194,847), Group 1 (25,844), and Group 4 (3,183). Group 3 (625 cases) resulted in the greatest number of deaths, followed by Group 2 (275), Group 4 (214), and Group 1 (18). Of these, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Group 4 infectious disease, resulted in 38 cases of death in 2015. Such a high death toll was due to the poor awareness of the risk of MERS introduced from abroad and the absence of a good control and coping system. Since the MERS outbreak in 2015, the awareness of infection disasters has changed, resulting in the absence of death in 2016.Improvements/Applications: It is unclear how to determine the intensity of infection for infectious diseases introduced from abroad. It is necessary to make efforts to improve precautions, reinforce coping against the spread, enhance capabilities through mock drill, improve the legal system, and increase infrastructures with the objective of building an efficient crisis control system against infectious diseases.