Objectives: This study described 10-year trends in the prevalence of 5 metabolic syndrome (MetS) components and examined age- and sex-specific patterns in the Republic of Korea using aggregated national health screening statistics from 2014 to 2023. Methods: This repeated cross-sectional study used publicly available aggregated data from the National Health Screening Statistical Yearbook of the National Health Insurance Service. Annual prevalence estimates were summarized overall and by age group and sex. Linear and segmented regression summarized trends, and age- and sex-standardized prevalence was estimated. The 2018 yearbook tabulated risk factors only for examinees receiving the dyslipidemia panel (restricted from 2018 to men aged ≥24 years and women aged ≥40 years); therefore, 2018 was excluded, and lipid indicators were analyzed for 2014–2017. Results: From 2014 to 2023, crude prevalence increased for abdominal obesity (21.0% to 25.5%) and hyperglycemia (34.7% to 40.1%), mainly before 2019, and for hypertension (42.3% to 45.1%), although less after age standardization. In 2014–2017, hypertriglyceridemia increased (30.0% to 32.2%), whereas low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol changed little (22.5% to 22.1%). Prevalence was higher in older age groups, especially for hypertension and hyperglycemia. Men had a higher prevalence of 4 components, and women of low HDL cholesterol. Conclusion: MetS components showed heterogeneous temporal, age-specific, and sex-specific patterns in Korean national health screening statistics. Increases in abdominal obesity and hyperglycemia, mainly before 2019, support earlier age- and sex-tailored cardiometabolic prevention, whereas lipid indicators were comparable only for 2014–2017. Individual-level longitudinal studies are needed to clarify these trends.
Objectives: This study investigated a large-scale foodborne outbreak caused by Staphylococcus aureus during a local festival in the Republic of Korea and performed genomic and molecular epidemiological analyses using whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Methods: Microbiological identification was performed using clinical, food, and environmental samples. Molecular characterization included pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing, and spa typing. WGS was conducted to evaluate clonal relatedness, virulence factors, and antimicrobial resistance genes. Results: A total of 141 suspected cases and 18 laboratory-confirmed cases were identified, and 24 S. aureus isolates were recovered (18 from patients, 3 from food samples, and 3 from environmental samples). All 17 isolates included in the genomic analysis carried the sea and sec genes and belonged to ST1-t321, with pairwise differences of 8–33 SNPs, consistent with a clonal origin. These isolates exhibited a previously unreported PFGE pattern (STAS16.170) in the Republic of Korea. Virulence profiling identified hemolysin genes (hlgA, hlgB, hlgC), leukocidin genes (lukD, lukE), and immune evasion genes (sak, scn). In addition, all isolates were methicillin-susceptible and lacked mecA and mecC. Conclusion: This large-scale foodborne outbreak demonstrated that a single contaminated food source can result in widespread illness during mass gatherings. Genomic analysis clarified the clonal relatedness of the outbreak strains and highlighted the value of genomic surveillance for the early detection and prevention of S. aureus outbreaks.
