Analysis of COVID-19 Epidemiological Investigations of Symptomatic Cases Entering Gimhae International Airport (2022-2023)

초록

-Purpose:The study was conducted with the purpose of identifying groups at high risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection at the entry quarantine stage and establishing measures to effectively block the inflow of infectious diseases from overseas with similar characteristics into the local community. -Methods:We analyzed the epidemiological survey reports and COVID-19 test results of 2,132 symptomatic individuals (680 positive and 1,452 negative) who were tested at Gimhae International Airport, the second-busiest airport in Korea, from 2022 to 2023. -Results:Among the 2,132 people who were tested for COVID-19 upon entry, the proportion of Koreans (n=1,937, 90.1%) and short-term (within 14 days) travelers (n=1,710, 80.2%) was high. Moreover, the COVID-19 positivity rate tended to increase with age or fever level, and was also highly related with symptoms of chills (RR=2.01; p＜0.001) and muscle pain (RR = 2.94; p＜0.001). -Conclusion:In this study, the COVID-19 positive rate was higher among short-term travelers than among locals or long-term residents. This means that continuous publicity through various media is important for short-term overseas travelers. In addition, it is expected that the travel patterns, epidemiological associations, and clinical characteristics of confirmed COVID-19 cases can be used as important basic data for case classification at the entry quarantine stage.

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