Surveillance of hospitalized patients with acute respiratory infection (ARI)
Objective
- Continuously monitor trends in hospitalized patients with major respiratory infections to enable early detection of outbreaks
Types of respiratory infections subject to notification
| Category | Type | |
|---|---|---|
| Acute respiratory infection | Viruses (7) | Adenovirus infection, Human bocavirus infection, Parainfluenza virus infection, Respiratory syncytial virus infection, Rhinovirus infection, Human metapneumovirus infection, Human coronavirus infection |
| Bacteria (2) | Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, Chlamydia pneumoniae infection | |
| Other than acute respiratory infections | Influenza, COVID-19 | |
Designation of sentinel surveillance institutions
- A total of 220 hospitals nationwide
- Weekly surveillance of the number of hospitalized patients confirmed with 7 types of acute respiratory viruses and 2 types of acute respiratory bacteria among those admitted to the participating medical institutions
- Report deaths among hospitalized patients at the relevant medical institutions who were diagnosed with influenza or COVID-19 within the past 30 days In August 2023, as COVID-19 was downgraded from a Class 2 to a Class 4 infectious disease, it was incorporated into the sentinel surveillance system for outpatients, inpatients, and severe respiratory patients, alongside influenza and acute respiratory infections. Starting in 2024, COVID-19 statistics have been included and circulated weekly in the infectious disease sentinel surveillance newsletter.
Diagnostic criteria for notification
- A patient who shows clinical symptoms* consistent with acute respiratory infection and is confirmed to be infected with the pathogen according to diagnostic test criteria * Clinical symptoms follow the “Diagnostic and Notification Criteria for Notifiable Infectious Diseases.”