Korean J healthc assoc Infect Control Prev.  2023 Jun;28(1):22-28. 10.14192/kjicp.2023.28.1.22.

Institutional Tuberculosis Control and Elimination Program

Affiliations
  • 1Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Korea
  • 2Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, Korea
  • 3Department of Nursing, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, Korea
  • 4Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

The tuberculosis burden in Korea was previously disastrous; however, the efforts of the health authorities have led to significant improvement. In particular, policies have been set to accommodate the current medical system, where private hospitals have become dominant in the private-public mix. Additionally, healthcare workers in medical institutions are currently being screened and treated for latent tuberculosis. Paradoxically, the COVID-19 pandemic response has led to improvements in the problem of insufficient negative pressure isolation facilities. Technological advancements in microbiological and radiological diagnosis have also reduced the time to diagnosis of tuberculosis. In Korea, more aggressive strategies for contact investigation are currently being tested, with the future goal of eliminating tuberculosis.

Keyword

Tuberculosis; Latent tuberculosis; Infection control; Health personnel

Reference

1. Struthers EB. 1958; Tuberculosis in Korea; a control project. J Am Med Assoc. 166:1851–5. DOI: 10.1001/jama.1958.02990150047010. PMID: 13525161.
2. Ministry of Health & Welfare and Korean National Tuberculosis Association. 1996. Report on the 7th tuberculosis prevalence survey in Korea 1995. Korean National Tuberculosis Association;Seoul:
3. Lee JE, Kim YK, Kim TH, Kim KH, Lee EJ, Uh ST, et al. 2011; What strategy can be applied to the patients with culture positive tuberculosis to reduce treatment delay in a private tertiary healthcare center? Infect Chemother. 43:42–7. DOI: 10.3947/ic.2011.43.1.42.
Article
4. World Health Organization. 2022. Global tuberculosis report 2022. World Health Organization;Geneva: DOI: 10.3947/ic.2011.43.1.42.
5. Behr MA, Waters WR. 2014; Is tuberculosis a lymphatic disease with a pulmonary portal? Lancet Infect Dis. 14:250–5. DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(13)70253-6. PMID: 24268591.
Article
6. Cho KS. 2018; Tuberculosis control in the Republic of Korea. Epidemiol Health. 40:e2018036. DOI: 10.4178/epih.e2018036. PMID: 30081621. PMCID: PMC6335497.
Article
7. Jeon D. 2020; Latent tuberculosis infection: recent progress and challenges in South Korea. Korean J Intern Med. 35:269–75. DOI: 10.3904/kjim.2020.029. PMID: 32131570. PMCID: PMC7061001.
Article
8. Jo KW, Woo JH, Hong Y, Choi CM, Oh YM, Lee SD, et al. 2008; Incidence of tuberculosis among health care workers at a private university hospital in South Korea. Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 12:436–40. PMID: 18371271.
9. Kim HW, Myong JP, Kim JS. 2021; Estimating the burden of nosocomial exposure to tuberculosis in South Korea, a nationwide population based cross-sectional study. Korean J Intern Med. 36:1134–45. DOI: 10.3904/kjim.2020.144. PMID: 33327686. PMCID: PMC8435488.
Article
10. Kim HW, Min J, Kim JS, Kim G, Chun C, In HK, et al. 2020; An analysis of active tuberculosis progress in the national latent tuberculosis infection cohort. Public Health Wkly Rep. 13:1130–47.
11. Cho KS, Park WS, Jeong HR, Kim MJ, Park SJ, Park AY, et al. 2018; Prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection at congregated settings in the Republic of Korea, 2017. Public Health Wkly Rep. 11:348–54.
12. Targeted tuberculin testing and treatment of latent tuberculosis infection. 2000; This official statement of the American Thoracic Society was adopted by the ATS Board of Directors, July 1999. This is a Joint Statement of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This statement was endorsed by the Council of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. (IDSA), September 1999, and the sections of this statement. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 161(4 Pt 2):S221–47. DOI: 10.1164/ajrccm.161.supplement_3.ats600. PMID: 10764341.
13. Park SY, Lee E, Lee EJ, Kim TH, Kim YK. 2019; Screening and treatment of latent tuberculosis infection among healthcare workers at a referral hospital in Korea. Infect Chemother. 51:355–64. DOI: 10.3947/ic.2019.51.4.355. PMID: 31898423. PMCID: PMC6940377.
Article
14. Min J, Kim HW, Choi JY, Shin AY, Kang JY, Lee Y, et al. 2022; Latent tuberculosis cascade of care among healthcare workers: a nationwide cohort analysis in Korea between 2017 and 2018. J Korean Med Sci. 37:e164. DOI: 10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e164. PMID: 35607742. PMCID: PMC9127432.
Article
15. Arguello Perez E, Seo SK, Schneider WJ, Eisenstein C, Brown AE. 2017; Management of latent tuberculosis infection among healthcare workers: 10-year experience at a single center. Clin Infect Dis. 65:2105–11. DOI: 10.1093/cid/cix725. PMID: 29020308. PMCID: PMC5850550.
Article
16. Korea Disease Control. 2022. National Tuberculosis Control Guideline. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency;Cheongju:
17. Han J, Nam BD, Park SY, Park J, Lee E, Lee EJ, et al. 2019; Risk factors for delayed isolation of patients with active pulmonary tuberculosis in an acute-care hospital. Sci Rep. 9:4849. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41086-4. PMID: 30890727. PMCID: PMC6424955.
Article
18. Nam BD, Hwang JH, Park SY, Kim TH, Oh E, Lee EJ. 2020; Delayed isolation of active pulmonary tuberculosis in hospitalized patients: a pivotal role of radiologic evaluation. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 215:359–66. DOI: 10.2214/AJR.19.22540. PMID: 32432910.
Article
19. National Tuberculosis Controllers Association. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2005; Guidelines for the investigation of contacts of persons with infectious tuberculosis. Recommendations from the National Tuberculosis Controllers Association and CDC. MMWR Recomm Rep. 54(RR-15):1–47. PMID: 16357823.
20. van Geuns HA, Meijer J, Styblo K. 1975; Results of contact examination in Rotterdam, 1967-1969. Bull Int Union Tuberc. 50:107–21. PMID: 1218286.
21. Erkens CG, Kamphorst M, Abubakar I, Bothamley GH, Chemtob D, Haas W, et al. 2010; Tuberculosis contact investigation in low prevalence countries: a European consensus. Eur Respir J. 36:925–49. DOI: 10.1183/09031936.00201609. PMID: 20889463.
Article
22. Behr MA, Warren SA, Salamon H, Hopewell PC, Daley CL, et al. Ponce de Leon A. 1999; Transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from patients smear-negative for acid-fast bacilli. Lancet. 353:444–9. Erratum in: Lancet 1999;353:1714. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(98)03406-0. PMID: 9989714.
Article
23. Park SY, Lee EJ, Kim YK, Lee SY, Kim GE, Jeong YS, et al. 2019; Aggressive contact investigation of in-hospital exposure to active pulmonary tuberculosis. J Korean Med Sci. 34:e58. DOI: 10.3346/jkms.2019.34.e58. PMID: 30804729. PMCID: PMC6384434.
Article
24. Jindani A, Aber VR, Edwards EA, Mitchison DA. 1980; The early bactericidal activity of drugs in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Am Rev Respir Dis. 121:939–49. DOI: 10.1164/arrd.1980.121.6.939. PMID: 6774638.
25. Lee HY, Chae KO, Lee CH, Choi SM, Lee J, Park YS, et al. 2014; Culture conversion rate at 2 months of treatment according to diagnostic methods among patients with culture-positive pulmonary tuberculosis. PLoS One. 9:e103768. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103768. PMID: 25105410. PMCID: PMC4126681.
Article
26. Proaño A, Bravard MA, López JW, Lee GO, Bui D, Datta S, et al. 2017; Dynamics of cough frequency in adults undergoing treatment for pulmonary tuberculosis. Clin Infect Dis. 64:1174–81. DOI: 10.1093/cid/cix039. PMID: 28329268. PMCID: PMC5399950.
Article
27. Hwang EJ, Park S, Jin KN, Kim JI, Choi SY, Lee JH, et al. 2019; Development and validation of a deep learning-based automatic detection algorithm for active pulmonary tuberculosis on chest radiographs. Clin Infect Dis. 69:739–47. DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciy967. PMID: 30418527. PMCID: PMC6695514.
Article
28. Karat AS, Gregg M, Barton HE, Calderon M, Ellis J, Falconer J, et al. 2021; Evidence for the use of triage, respiratory isolation, and effective treatment to reduce the transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in healthcare settings: a systematic review. Clin Infect Dis. 72:155–72. DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciaa720. PMID: 32502258. PMCID: PMC7823078.
Article
Full Text Links
  • KJHAICP
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr