According to reports on the 26th, 1,238 people died from infectious diseases last year. This represents an 18% increase compared to the previous year. This trend excludes increases related to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and tuberculosis. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency noted this in its announcement of the '2024 Infectious Disease Reporting Status.'
Deaths from infectious diseases included 838 from CRE (carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae) infections, 158 from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), 87 from pneumococcal infections, and 26 from severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome.
CRE is referred to as a 'super bacteria' because existing antibiotics are ineffective. It spreads through infected individuals or contaminated medical equipment. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which leads to weakened immunity and tumor formation. Pneumococcal infection causes pneumonia and otitis media. Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome is an infectious disease that results from being bitten by a small tick known as the 'killer tick', which causes high fever, vomiting, and nausea.
The number of reported infectious disease cases was 171,376, a decrease of 97% from the previous year. However, excluding COVID-19 and syphilis, the number of infectious disease patients was 168,586, which is a 55% increase from the previous year. COVID-19 was downgraded from a class 2 infectious disease to a class 4 in February 2023. Syphilis was upgraded from class 4 to class 3 infectious disease in November last year. Tuberculosis statistics will be released by the Statistics Korea in September.
There were no reported cases of class 1 infectious diseases last year. Class 2 infectious diseases saw 152,586 cases, representing a 65% increase from the previous year. Cases of whooping cough and scarlet fever, which are easily contracted by children, increased, while tuberculosis and hepatitis A decreased. Whooping cough is a respiratory disease that means coughing for 100 days and can lead to complications like pneumonia. The number of whooping cough cases surged from 292 in 2023 to 48,048 last year, a 165-fold increase. Scarlet fever presents symptoms similar to a cold but appears with a red rash on the body.
Class 3 infectious diseases increased by 14%, totaling 18,790 cases. Cases of scrub typhus increased while hepatitis C decreased. Scrub typhus manifests with high fever and headache after being bitten by chigger mites. There were 606 infectious disease cases imported from abroad, originating primarily from Asia (80%), Africa (9%), and Europe (5%).