Laboratory-based tests Performed by Research Institutes of Public Health and Environment in 2017

Kim Hyun Yeong, Rhee Jee Eun, Kim Gab Jung, Yoo Cheon-Kwon
Division of Laboratory Diagnosis Management, Center for Laboratory Control of Infectious Diseases, KCDC

Seventeen Research Institutes of Public Health and Environment (RIPHEs) are parts of city/provincial goverments belonging to a local autonomous entities that perform laboratory testing and research to promote public health and preserve the environment. RIPHEs conduct laboratory testing to identify infectious disease pathogens in the jurisdictions. Every year, RIPHEs report the results of laboratory testing related to infectious diseases to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(KCDC) in accordance with the Enforcement Decree of the Public Health and Environment Research Institute Act.
RIPHEs averagely identified 34.4 infectious diseases in 2017. The KCDC transferred technology to RIPHEs to develop the local capacity of laboratory testing. The annual number of laboratory tests performed by RIPHEs increases every year because of the technology transfer and expansion of a pathogen surveillance project for emerging infectious diseases. In 2017, the number of infectious disease tests totaled 1,013,401, an increase of 4.7% from the previous year. Private and public institution’s requests and the pathogen surveillance accounted for 51.8% and 48.2% of the total tests, respectively. In addition, the designated infectious disease group had the highest percentage (59.8%) of total tests. We aim to analyze the infectious disease test results of RIPHEs to provide basic data for policy-making.

Keywords: Infectious disease, Research Institute of Public Health and Environment (RIPHE), Laboratory testing