Vaccination guideline for Immigrant in Korea by Korean Society of Infectious Diseases.

Abstract

Korea's immigrant population has been rapidly increasing because of economic growth, government policies designed to attract foreigners, and a decline in industrial populations resulting from changing national attitudes. In 2013, the number of foreigners in Korea, including ex-patriots, was approximately 1,576,000, exceeding 3% of the total population for the first time [1]. The majority of foreign-born individuals living in Korea were from Asia, primarily China (49.4%), followed by the United States (8.5%), Vietnam (7.6%), Japan (3.6%), and the Philippines (3.0%). However, the domiciles of foreign-born individuals are expanding to include Africa and other parts of the world [1]. At the same time, the number of overseas students attending Korean universities increased from 49,000 in 2007 to 86,000 in 2013, with students entering the country from various regions, including China (58.6%), Japan (5.1%), Mongolia (4.5%), Vietnam (3.5%), the United States (3.1%), and Taiwan (2.0%) [2]. These changes are closely related to the spread of infectious diseases. In 2014, a measles outbreak in Asian countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam spread primarily to schools in Korea, a country that had previously eradicated measles [3]. Vaccination of the immigrant population is therefore an important issue for the health of both foreigners living in this country and Korean people. Infectious diseases, vaccination rates, and mandatory childhood vaccination schedules vary by country. Difference in the seroprevalence of vaccine preventable diseases and the nationality of foreigners residing domestically must be considered when developing vaccination recommendation. Some Western countries have developed vaccination programs and recommendations for their immigrant population. However, Korea had not yet developed such vaccination recommendations, which has caused difficulties for front-line organizations responsible for vaccinations. The Committee of Adult Immunization of the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases (KSID) recognized the necessity of vaccination recommendations for adult immigrants to respond to the changing domestic environment. After forming a team of experts and gathering data through a literature review, we developed vaccination recommendations based on the current situation in Korea. Unlike developed countries with sufficient statistical data to inform public health policies and mandatory childhood vaccination programs, less developed and developing countries have little or no data regarding disease statistics, childhood vaccination policies, or population immunity. We emphasize the difficulties in developing accurate and objective recommendations because of these data limitations. Our recommendations were developed by selecting infectious diseases with high morbidity in immigrant populations living in Korea for at least 3 months (depending on the vaccine, these recommendations may be applied for stays of less than 2 months).