In November 2021, 14 international travel-related severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) B.1.1.529 (omicron) variant of concern (VOC) patients were detected in South Korea. Epidemiologic investigation revealed community transmission of the omicron VOC. A total of 80 SARS-CoV-2 omicron VOC-positive patients were identified until December 10, 2021 and 66 of them reported no relation to the international travel. There may be more transmissions with this VOC in Korea than reported.

Background: Adolescence is a period during which physical, social, and mental abilities are rapidly developed, and during this time the family environment plays an important role. Differences in health behaviors, mental health, and academic achievement by family structure may affect future families, income, and employment. The purpose of the study was to investigate the association of family structure with health behaviors, mental health, and academic achievement in Korean adolescents. Method: Data from the 2018 Korean Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey were analyzed. The study sample was comprised of 59,096 adolescents. Logistic regression, t-tests, and a variance analysis of a complex sample general linear model were used to examine the association of family structure with health behaviors, mental health, and academic achievement. The significance level was set at P < 0.05. Results: Non-intact families (single-mother families, single-father families, and restructured families) had significantly higher odds of smoking a cigarette, drinking a sip of alcohol, internet use, physical activity, and sexual experience, and mental health issues such as depression, suicidal ideation, perceived stress, and poor perceived health status than intact families (two-parent families). Also, non-intact families were significantly related to low perceived academic achievement compared to intact ones. Conclusion: This study showed that family structure is a significant factor in adolescent health behavior, mental health, and perceived academic achievement. Adolescents who experience a transition in their family structure may be more vulnerable to health risks and exhibit lower academic achievement than those in an intact family.

et al. Mutation-specific SARS-CoV-2 PCR screen: rapid and accurate detection of variants of concern and the identification of a newly emerging variant with spike L452R mutation.

The awareness and use of the recently introduced heated product in the global tobacco market is rapidly increasing. Few studies have investigated the association of this product’s use with health-related factors. To examine the association of the heated tobacco product (HTP)’s use with perceived stress, physical activity, and internet use, we analyzed data from the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey using multinomial logistic regression models. The participants included 60,040 students from middle school and high school. There were significant associations between high perceived stress and cigarette use only, dual use of cigarette and e-cigarette, triple use of cigarette, e-cigarette, and HTP; a negative association between HTP’s use and perceived stress; positive association between physical activity and tobacco use; and not using the internet significantly increased the odds of use of all types of tobacco products. A smoking prevention program, tailored to meet the needs of different types of tobacco product users, is recommended. A program aimed at not only increasing awareness of perceived risk but also decreasing perceived benefits of risky behaviors, should also be considered. Further research using a longitudinal design to test the causal relationship of tobacco product use with perceived stress, physical activity, and internet use is warranted.

BackgroundMany studies show that organizational justice (OJ) is related to psychological determinants of employee health. To prevent health problems related to OJ in Korean workplaces and to accurately measure OJ, we developed the Korean version of the Organizational Justice Questionnaire (K-OJQ) and assessed its validity and reliability.MethodsA questionnaire draft of the K-OJQ was developed using back-translation methods, which was preliminary tested by 32 employees in Korea. Feedback was received and the K-OJQ was finalized. This study used data from 303 workers (172 males, 131 females) in Korea using the K-OJQ, job stress, and lifestyle questionnaires.ResultsCronbach’s α coefficients of the internal consistency reliability was 0.92 for procedural justice and 0.94 for interactional justice. Factor analyses using SPSS 24 and Amos 23 extracted two expected factors, named procedural justice (7 items; range, 1.0–5.0) and interactional justice (6 items; range, 1.0–5.0) and showed a reliable fit (χ2 = 182; p = .000; GFI = .912; AGFI = .877; CFI = .965; RMSEA = .077). Furthermore, higher procedural justice and interactional justice levels were correlated with lower job demand (− 0.33; − 0.36), insufficient job control (− 0.36; − 0.41), interpersonal conflict (− 0.45; − 0.51), job insecurity (− 0.33; − 0.34), organizational system (− 0.64; − 0.64), and lack of reward (− 0.55; − 0.63).ConclusionsThe K-OJQ was objectively validated through statistical methods.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40557-018-0238-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.