The government sets up a pan-government task force to respond to the recent prevalence of respiratory infectious diseases such as influenza (flu) and mycoplasma pneumonia, centered on children and adolescents.
Ji Young-mi, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters (Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), said in a statement at the COVID-19 Central Accident Management Headquarters meeting on the 8th, “The government has formed a joint task force involving the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Ministry of Education to prepare for the increase in the prevalence of respiratory infectious diseases including Mycoplasma pneumonia this winter.”
Director Ji said, “We will check the supply and demand of beds and treatments every week through the countermeasure team,” and added, “We will respond without a hitch by distributing medical guidelines to frontline medical sites with experts.” The government held a joint inspection meeting with the medical community and related ministries on the 6th to closely monitor the outbreak of Mycoplasma pneumonia at home and abroad and check the supply and demand for beds and treatments. Considering that it is mainly prevalent in children, prevention education is provided to schools, kindergartens, and daycare centers, and recommended to stop going to school and receive prompt treatment if suspected symptoms arise.
Director Ji said, “We hope that people will also be treated at nearby medical institutions if they have respiratory symptoms and wear masks in public places,” stressing, “Please observe personal quarantine rules such as hand washing and cough etiquette.”
At the same time, Ji was wary of excessive fear of Mycoplasma pneumonia.
“Mycoplasma pneumonia, which has recently increased mainly in children and adolescents, is not a new infectious disease, but a disease that is prevalent every three to four years in Korea,” he said. “The ratio of inpatients is about 5%, and most of them are being treated in an outpatient clinic, and the number of inpatients recently is half that of the same period in 2019.”
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection is a respiratory infectious disease caused by infection with Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Clinical characteristics and treatments are already well known and can be naturally cured without drugs.
In addition, Director Ji also urged the elderly aged 65 or older to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Director Ji said, “The COVID-19 vaccination, which began in October, achieved 38% of the vaccination rate for those aged 65 and over, which is 1.8 times higher than the same period last year. Senior citizens aged 65 and over who have not yet been vaccinated should actively participate in COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations to protect themselves from the winter epidemic.”
SOPHIA KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
