When visiting the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, you often come across press releases with titles such as 'First domestic confirmation of ○○○ patient'.

In May 2015, it was during the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), in March 2016, the Zika virus, and in January 2020, the first patient of Corona 19, which was called the new coronavirus at the time, came out in a press release.

This year, a press release announcing that the first case of Mpox (monkey pox) in June and the first domestic case of Fowler free amoeba infection came out on the 26th.



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If you look at the data during the MERS outbreak in 2015, there are specific details about the first confirmed case.

It is a 68-year-old man who stayed in Bahrain from April 18 to May 3 and worked in crop cultivation.

It also included information that an epidemiological investigation had begun on this confirmed patient.

It was similar at the time of the Zika virus in 2016.

Under the title <Outside cases of Zika virus infection>, it is stated that a 43-year-old man was bitten by a mosquito while on a business trip in northeastern Brazil from February 17 to March 9.

It was not as detailed as during MERS, but the reasons for staying abroad and specific regions were detailed.



The data distributed on January 20, 2020, the day the first confirmed COVID-19 patient entered Korea, are similar.

In the data titled <Identification of confirmed cases of new coronavirus imported from abroad during the quarantine stage>, the confirmed patient is a 35-year-old female of Chinese nationality residing in Wuhan, China, and there is no history of visiting traditional markets in Wuhan or contact with confirmed patients or wild animals. It is included.

He also explained that the Agency for Disease Control and Prevention is conducting an in-depth epidemiological investigation.



Let's take a look at two articles released this year.

The description of the first confirmed case of mfox is that he is a Korean who returned from Germany on June 21st, was transferred to Incheon Medical Center, and that an in-depth epidemiological investigation is underway. .

Among the data announcing the first case in Korea that died of meningitis after being infected with Fowler's free amoeba, there is even less information on confirmed cases (deceased).

He stayed in Thailand for 4 months and returned home and was transferred to a high-level general hospital by emergency.

There are no epidemiological studies.



In response, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discloses minimal information for the purpose of protecting confirmed patients and their families from groundless prejudice and discrimination. He explained that there were times when he couldn't.

In addition, various side effects, such as the disclosure of the movement of early confirmed COVID-19 patients, identification of some confirmed patients, and unfair criticism during this process, also seem to have influenced the way the press release was written.



In fact, the Agency for Disease Control and Prevention attached guidelines for the disclosure of confirmed patient information according to the 'Infectious Disease Prevention Act' at the end of the Mfox press release.

In order to prevent infectious diseases, information that the public needs to know must be disclosed promptly, but the name of the patient, the address of the residence, and information that the Director-General of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has determined to be irrelevant to the prevention of infectious diseases are excluded.

A policy to process personal information in a way that minimizes invasion of privacy in accordance with the 'Personal Information Protection Act' was also described.



Let's see what personal information the Agency for Disease Control and Prevention has decided to keep private.

It is stated that the information of name/gender/age/nationality/residence address (eup/myeon/dong or less) and workplace name information shall be kept private in principle.

It is said that it took into account various aspects such as epidemiological reasons, legal restrictions, and protection of the privacy of confirmed patients. I agree with the purpose, but it is necessary to examine whether disclosing gender/age (teenagers)/nationality is appropriate.

In fact, when inquiries from reporters are flooded, gender, age group, and nationality are disclosed in some cases, but the fact that the Agency for Disease Control and Prevention made excessive principles on its own and failed to keep them is also a point that should be criticized.



The first cases of major infectious diseases examined above are all cases of inflow from abroad.

It is a problem that too much personal information is disclosed and the confirmed person is identified, but it is also a problem that misunderstanding about the confirmed person is caused by controlling the information too much.

In the case of the first case of Fowler's free amoeba infection in Korea, it is estimated that he was infected while working as an education official in Thailand.

As a result, most of the articles contained only the content of staying in Thailand, so only the bereaved family was seriously hurt by comments saying not to travel abroad.

It is also related to this that the bereaved family interviewed SBS on the day the press release was released and accurately informed the deceased's occupation and business trip.



Although an in-depth epidemiological investigation will be conducted in the future, it was unfortunate for reporters who have covered health and medical care that even the minimum epidemiological investigation was not included at the time of distribution of the press release.

The deceased mainly worked and lived in Bangkok, but recently went on a two-day business trip to remote villages in the northeastern border region.

If the Agency for Disease Control and Prevention had included this information in the press release from the beginning, which can be easily confirmed through the bereaved family or the Ministry of Education, it could be important information for those who will soon go to Thailand, and it would have helped them not to have excessive anxiety.



At the time of MERS and Corona 19, it is clear that various side effects occurred due to excessive interest in the first patient or a specific confirmed patient.

It is fortunate that a personal information protection policy was created to improve this problem, but it should not be overlooked that 'excessive' protection of personal information can sometimes lead to numerous misunderstandings and unexpected side effects.