Infectious disease cases up 54.5% in South Korea

(Getty Image)

South Korea saw a 54.5 percent rise in non-COVID notifiable infectious disease cases in 2024 compared to the previous year, driven largely by a surge in respiratory illnesses among children, according to a new report from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Thursday.

The 2024 annual report on infectious disease, based on data from the newly launched integrated control information system, found that 168,586 cases of first to third-tier notifiable diseases — excluding COVID-19 and syphilis, which both had changes in their tiers — were reported last year, up from 109,087 in 2023.

Pertussis, otherwise known as whooping cough, accounted for much of the increase, with cases jumping from just 292 in 2023 to 48,048, over a 164-fold increase, in 2024. Scarlet fever and chickenpox also surged, with 6,642 and 31,892 cases reported, respectively. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, a dangerous antibiotic-resistant infection, reached 42,347 cases.

Despite the overall increase in these illnesses, the total number of reported cases of all monitored infectious diseases plummeted by 97 percent from 2023, largely due to the reclassification of COVID-19 as a lower-tier disease.

The number of deaths from notifiable diseases, excluding tuberculosis, rose 18.2 percent to 1,238 in 2024. CRE infections were the leading cause of death among these, with 838 fatalities.

KDCA Commissioner Jee Young-mee emphasized the importance of early reporting by medical institutions.

"Reporting infectious disease is the first line of defense to minimize the damage from the spread of diseases, by detecting them at an early stage and stop its transmission to the community," she said.