• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.57 no.2
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• pp.120-127
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• 2024

Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to increased mortality rates. To assess this impact, this ecological study aimed to estimate the excess death counts in southern Iran. Methods: The study obtained weekly death counts by linking the National Death Registry and Medical Care Monitoring Center repositories. The P-score was initially estimated using a simple method that involved calculating the difference between the observed and expected death counts. The interrupted time series analysis was then used to calculate the mean relative risk (RR) of death during the first year of the pandemic. Results: Our study found that there were 5571 excess deaths from all causes (P-score=33.29%) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 48.03% of these deaths directly related to COVID-19. The pandemic was found to increase the risk of death from all causes (RR, 1.26; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19 to 1.33), as well as in specific age groups such as those aged 35-49 (RR, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.32), 50-64 (RR, 1.38; 95% CI, 1.28 to 1.49), and ≥65 (RR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.32) years old. Furthermore, there was an increased risk of death from cardiovascular diseases (RR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.22). Conclusions: There was a 26% increase in the death count in southern Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than half of these excess deaths were not directly related to COVID-19, but rather other causes, with cardiovascular diseases being a major contributor.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.297-306
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• 2022

Objectives: The incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality is increasing in developing countries. This study aimed to decompose the socioeconomic inequality of CVD in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional population-based study was conducted on 20 519 adults who enrolled in the Ardabil Non-Communicable Disease cohort study. Principal component analysis and multivariable logistic regression were used, respectively, to estimate socioeconomic status and to describe the relationships between CVD prevalence and the explanatory variables. The relative concentration index, concentration curve, and Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition model were used to measure and decompose the socioeconomic inequality. Results: The overall age-adjusted prevalence of CVD was 8.4% in northwest Iran. Multivariable logistic regression showed that older adults, overweight or obese adults, and people with hypertension and diabetes were more likely to have CVD. Moreover, people with low economic status were 38% more likely to have CVD than people with high economic status. The prevalence of CVD was mainly concentrated among the poor (concentration index, -0.077: 95% confidence interval, -0.103 to -0.060), and 78.66% of the gap between the poorest and richest groups was attributed to differences in the distribution of the explanatory variables included in the model. Conclusions: The most important factors affecting inequality in CVD were old age, chronic illness (hypertension and diabetes), marital status, and socioeconomic status. This study documented stark inequality in the prevalence of CVD, wherein the poor were more affected than the rich. Therefore, it is necessary to implement policies to monitor, screen, and control CVD in poor people living in northwest Iran.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.245-250
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• 2021

Objectives: Jeju Province in Korea reported 627 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases between January 20, 2020, and March 31, 2021. This study analyzed the sources of infection among confirmed cases in Jeju Province, a self-governed island. Methods: The sources of infection were broadly categorized as follows: (1) infections from overseas (confirmed patients who reported travel overseas or contact with overseas travelers); (2) infections from outside Jeju Province (confirmed patients who had visited other provinces or had contact with individuals who had traveled to other provinces in Korea); and (3) unknown sources of infection (confirmed patients who were infected following contact with an infected person whose source of infection was unknown). The chi-square test was used to analyze the differences in the distributions of related variables for each source of infection. Results: Of the 627 confirmed cases, 38 (6.1%) were infections from overseas sources, 199 (31.7%) were from outside of Jeju Province, and 390 (62.2%) were from unknown sources. Jeju Province had no cases with an unknown source of infection during the first and second waves of the nationwide outbreak. Conclusions: Infections from overseas sources could be blocked from spreading to local communities in Jeju Province by conducting screening at the airport, along with the preemptive suspension of visa-free entry. In addition, considering the scale of the nationwide outbreak, measures must be established to delay outbreaks from unknown sources of infection caused by sources outside Jeju Province.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.421-432
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• 2022

Purpose: As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other emerging infectious diseases continue to threaten health security, a strategy is required to increase nursing students' care intention for patients with such diseases. This study aimed to identify factors influencing Korean nursing students' care intentions in regard to patients with emerging infectious diseases. Methods: The care intention, COVID-19 knowledge level, ethical sensitivity, beliefs, attitudes toward the care intention, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control were investigated using the theory of planned behavior. An online survey was completed from December 2020 to January 2021 by 227 nursing students who had complete a clinical practicum. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and hierarchical regression analyses were conducted on the data. Results: The care intention was higher in men than in women nursing students and in junior than in senior students. Behavioral and normative beliefs, attitude toward the behavior, and perceived behavioral control significantly predicted care intention. Ethical sensitivity increased the predictability of nursing students' care intentions for emerging infectious disease patients. Conclusion: The theory of planned behavior predicted nursing students' care intentions for emerging infectious diseases. Therefore, an experience-based response program on emerging infectious diseases is required for nursing students.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.103-113
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• 2017

There have been many achievements for 40 years since the introduction of compulsory health insurance. Despite many achievements, it has many challenges in health insurance. Aging, non-communicable disease, and low growth economy are threatening the sustainability of health insurance, and it is time to reform the health insurance. A long-term reform plan will be an absolute necessity for reform of health insurance and health care system. Health insurance and health care reform should be an extremely revolutionary content that completely changes the framework. This reform should deal with the philosophy of health, approach of medical education and doctor training, changing supply of medical service, the innovation of primary medical care, reform of public health system, the management of medical utilization, the integration of medical cure and care services, enhancing the benefit coverage, prohibition of covered and non-covered services, etc. Therefore, it is urgent to form a consensus on the necessity of reform, to establish the health insurance plan on this consensus, and to make efforts to make health insurance sustainable.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.61-102
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• 1988

One of the first constitutional challenges to congressional legislation in the area of school health came in 1967. The action of Ministry of Education for the school health program is within school health act constituted 20 Articles and its regulation of 14 Articles. This study was reviewed the school health act and its regulation for the development of school health program. The data were collected by 14 Boards of Education from November 1986 to January, 1987. The results of this study were identified the articles needss to change such as the articles with regard to health education activity, physical assessment activity, criteria of school health environment, control of communicable disease, First-Aid and clinic management by School nurses.

• Bulletin of the Korean Mathematical Society
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.1131-1138
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• 2010

In the present paper, we evaluate an analytic formula as a solution of Susceptible Infective (SI) model problem for communicable disease in which the daily contact rate (C(N)) is supposed to be varied linearly with population size N(t) that is large so that it is considered as a continuous variable of time t. Again, we introduce some Lie group of operators to make an extension of above analytic formula of the determin-istic epidemics model problem. Finally, we discuss some of its particular cases.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.143-146
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• 1998

Syphilis is a systemic communicable disease caused by the motile spirochete, Treponema pallidum, which is only a natural pathogen for human. The distribution and trends of syphilis are influenced by biologic factors, sexual behaviors, biomedical technology, availability of and access to health care, public health efforts, changes in population dynamics, and sociocultural factors. Although sexual contact is the main route of transmission, Treponema pallidum may also be infected through direct contact with syphilitic lesions, blood transfusion, ingestion of menstrual blood or vaginal secretions, or transplacental transmissions. In extremely unusual circumstances, infection by means of contact with a skin lesion and human bite have been reported. We experienced a case of syphilis which is thought to be infected by the abnormal imposition of hands on a child, which caused unnecessary erosive trauma with fingernails.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.39-42
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• 1981

Recent changes in the cause of death among the Korean population seem to be systematic and significant. Data on cause of death from the medically certified death certificates provide at least four types of evidence: a sudden increase in recent years in the numbers of death due to cerebrovascular disease or circulatory diseases including rheumatic fever and chronic heart diseases and atherosclerosis; increasing steadily in the numbers of death due to malignant neoplasm of various sites, and death due to accident; decreasing steadily in the numbers of death due to communicable diseases or parasite diseases; and a large number of deaths with unspecified symptoms and ill-defined conditions. The lack of complete registration of the deads occurred or the incomplete description on the cause of death reported suggests that statistical information of cause of death from the medically certified death records is meaningful in interpreting changing patterns.

• 한국방재학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.02a
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• pp.375-376
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• 2008

Recently the increase of natural disaster and man-made disaster, newly emerging infectious diseases and bioterrorism attack changed the world in many aspects. So the Ministry of Health and Welfare and other related agencies are trying to solve the problems with disasters. We discussed these problems in the following eleven categories. (1) emergency medicine (2) communicable disease control, (3) food safety control, (4) public facilities safety, (5) social welfare facilities safety, (6) bioterrorism control, (7) geriatric health care, (8) insurance support, (9) overseas disaster victim support, (10) national organization protection, (11) fire fighter safety in forest fire. Through the reviews on the various kinds of disaster, we proposed the disaster control measure for the near future.