Yonsei Med J.  2014 Mar;55(2):435-441.

Low Compliance with National Guidelines for Preventing Transmission of Group 1 Nationally Notifiable Infectious Diseases in Korea

• Kim ES
• Song KH
• Kim BN
• Kwak YG
• Lee CS
• Park SW
• Moon C
• Park KH
• Jang HC
• Yeom JS
• Oh WS
• Kim CJ
• Kim HB
• Lim HS

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study was performed to evaluate the compliance with, and adequacy of, the Korean national guidelines which had been recommended until 2011 for isolation of patients with group 1 nationally notifiable infectious diseases (NNIDs), namely cholera, typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, shigellosis, and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infection.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
We evaluated the clinical and microbiological characteristics of confirmed cases of group 1 NNIDs and compliance with the guidelines in 20 Korean hospitals nationwide in 2000-2010. We also compared the Korean guidelines with international guidelines.
RESULTS
Among 528 confirmed cases (8 cases of cholera, 232 of typhoid fever, 81 of paratyphoid fever, 175 of shigellosis, and 32 EHEC infections), strict compliance with the Korean guideline was achieved in only 2.6% to 50.0%, depending on the disease. While the Korean guidelines recommend isolation of all patients with group 1 NNIDs, international guidelines recommend selective patient isolation and screening for fecal shedding, depending on the type of disease and patient status.
CONCLUSION
Compliance with the previous national guidelines for group 1 NNIDs in Korea was generally very low. Further studies are needed to evaluate whether compliance was improved after implementation of the new guideline in 2012.

Keyword

Communicable disease control; guideline adherence; patient isolation; cholera; typhoid fever; shigellosis

MeSH Terms

Cholera
Communicable Disease Control
Communicable Diseases*
Compliance*
Dysentery, Bacillary
Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli
Guideline Adherence
Humans
Korea*
Mass Screening
Methods
Paratyphoid Fever
Patient Isolation
Typhoid Fever

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Compliance and types of non-compliance with the Korean national guidelines for preventing transmission of group 1 nationally notifiable infectious diseases (NNIDs) in Korea. The Korean national guidelines had recommended until 2011 that all patients with group 1 NNIDs be admitted to hospital under enteric precautions until fecal shedding was negative 2 or 3 times consecutively after ending antibiotic therapy. EHEC, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli.

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