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KMID : 1143420220150372580
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Public Health Weekly Report
2022 Volume.15 No. 37 p.2580 ~ p.2589
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COVID-19 Outbreak and Risk Factors for Infection in a Convalescent Hospital in Chungcheongnam-do
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Jeong Seung-Hee
Kang Gi-Seok
Lim Ji-Ae
Kwon Ho-Jang
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Abstract
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Since the first confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) due to the omicron variant in Korea was reported
on December 1, 2021, the omicron variant has quickly become the dominant variant with a higher transmission power
than existing variants. The omicron variant is more than twice as contagious as the delta variant and has a higher severity
than influenza, making it a major concern in convalescent hospitals, where older people are concentrated. This report was
prepared to introduce the epidemiological investigation process of COVID-19 outbreak cases in convalescent hospitals, which are vulnerable facilities for infection, and to analyze the general characteristics, epidemic curves, and vaccination history of confirmed patients based on the information collected through epidemiological investigations. The purpose of this report was to suggest effective countermeasures for future outbreaks of COVID-19 in facilities vulnerable to the infection. From February 16 to March 17, 2022, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 at a convalescent hospital in Chungnam was 272 of 299 individuals residing in or employed at the hospital. Of the 272 individuals with confirmed COVID-19, 72 were men (17.6% workers, 30.5% patients) and 200 were women (82.4% workers, 69.5% patients). The mean and median age of the patients was 74.8 and 79.0 years, respectively. Of the confirmed cases, 106 were symptomatic (68.2% workers, 25.8% patients), 165 were asymptomatic (31.8% workers, 74.2% patients), and excludes 1 case of document unconfirmed. Two individuals had undergone primary vaccination (0.7%), 58 had undergone secondary vaccination (21.4%), 184 had undergone tertiary vaccination (67.9%), and 27 had not undergone vaccination (10.0%). The average period from the vaccination completion date to the confirmation date in the patients who had undergone 2nd and 3rd vaccinations was 97.8 days. Among the individuals with confirmed COVID-19, 26 out of 85 workers (30.6%) had underlying diseases and all the 186 patients had underlying diseases. An analysis of 18 deaths out of a total of 272 confirmed cases revealed a gender distribution of 8.3% males (6 out of 72 confirmed cases of men) and 6.0% females (12 out of 200 confirmed cases of women). By age group, individuals in their 80s had the highest risk of death, at 12.4% (11 individuals). In addition, the average number of days from the 2nd or 3rd vaccination to confirmation was 119.5±81.6 days for the deceased and 97.8±56.4 days for confirmed patients who did not die. The longer the interval between the date of vaccination completion and the date of confirmation, the higher was the risk of death. This report is a case of an on-site epidemiological investigation into the outbreak of COVID-19 in a convalescent hospital that was vulnerable to infection. In the future, it will be possible to use this as a basis for the establishment of measures to block the transmission and reduce the occurrence of COVID-19 clusters in infection-prone facilities.
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KEYWORD
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Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), Convalescent hospitals, Epidemiological monitoring
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Listed journal information
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