• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.114-118
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• 2014

A total of 122 ESBL-producing intestinal bacteria were collected from regional hospitals in the Chungcheong area. Combination disk test (CDT) was performed for antimaicrobial susceptability using cefotaxime and cefotaxime/clavulanate according to Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI). Mutiplex PCR using specific primers was performed for a detection of ESBL-genotypes and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus (ERIC)-PCR was carried out for the tracking of molecular epidemiology. In the confirmation test using CDT, 73 out of 76 (96.1%) ESBL-producing Escherichia coli and 43 out of 46 (93.4%) ESBL-producing Klebsiella pnemoniae were positive. In the multiplex PCR, 60.5% of E. coil were positive for CTX-M-2 type gene and 56.5% of K. pneumoniae were positive for VEB -1 type gene. In the ERIC-PCR, E. coil isolates formed 5 clusters and K. pneumoniae isolates were grouped into 4 clusters depending on region. Genotypes of clinical isolates are useful for detection and differentiation of ESBL producing intestinal bacteria. The ERIC-PCR method is thought to be helpful for establishing a regional surveillance system for infection due to its formation of different clusters depending on region.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.32 no.12
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• pp.1848-1856
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• 2008

In order to enhance the functionality of a cotton fabric actually used as the clothing material for patients, the fabrics are treated with chitosan/nanosilver mixed solution. The nanosilver has excellent biocompatibility, not causing an environmental pollution as a natural polymer, provides expectation of an additional performance, does not harm human beings, and shows a strong antibacterial activity even in a small amount, and supplements chitosan, which is disadvantaged if used alone for fabric treatment. This study evaluates functional improvement of the clothing material for patients and observes through hygienic characteristics which are the most important function. In antibacterial activity of the fabrics treated with chitosan/nanosilver mixed solution against Staphylococcus aureus, higher ratio of chitosan was observed to achieve better antibacterial activity. In antibacterial activity against Klebsiella pneumoniae, higher ratio of nanosilver was observed to achieve better activity. Regarding laundry durability of antibacterial activity after repeated laundering, activity against Staphylococcus aureus was little reduced, but was greatly lowered against Klebsiella pneumoniae. Deodorization activity was excellent as the mixed ratio of chitosan was increased, and air permeability, moisture permeability and moisture regain were reduced as the mixed ratio of nanosilver was increased.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.86-93
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• 2013

In this work, the thermal, antibiotic properties and far-infrared emissivity of fluorinated illite embedded polypropylene non-woven fibers (f-illite/PP fibers) were investigated in the presence of 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7 wt% illite powders. The thermal properties of f-illite/PP fibers were studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Their antibiotic properties were examined by Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumoniae test. Their far-infrared emissivity was also investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. From the experimental results, thermal, antibiotic properties and far-infrared emissivity of f-illite/PP fibers were improved by increasing fluorinated illite contents and the property values of 5 wt% f-illite/PP fibers were increased remarkably by about 10.3, 41.2 and 9.8% respectively in comparison with PP non-woven fibers having no fluorinated illite additive. This result was interpreted as the development of interfacial adhesion force between the polymer chains due to the fluorination of illite power.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.46-53
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• 2022

It is challenging to treat ventriculitis with parenteral treatment alone in some cases because of the difficulty involved in maintaining an appropriate level of antibiotics in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We report two cases of ventriculitis who did not respond to intravenous (IV) antibiotics but were successfully treated with intraventricular antibiotics using IV agents. The first case was a four-month-old male patient with X-linked hydrocephalus. He showed ventriculitis due to Klebsiella pneumoniae not producing extended-spectrum β-lactamase and susceptible to third-generation cephalosporins and gentamicin, following ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt. His condition did not improve during the 47 days of treatment with IV cefotaxime and meropenem. We achieved improvement in clinical presentation and CSF profile after three times of intraventricular gentamicin injection. The patient was discharged from the hospital with antiepileptic drugs. The second case was a six-month-old female patient with a history of neonatal meningitis complicated with hydrocephalus at one month of age, VP shunt at two months of age, followed by a methicillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) shunt infection with ventriculitis after the shunt operation. CoNS ventriculitis recurred four weeks later. We failed to treat intractable methicillin-resistant CoNS ventriculitis with IV vancomycin for ten days, and thus intraventricular antimicrobial treatment was considered. Five times of intraventricular vancomycin administration led to improvement in clinical parameters. There were only neurological sequelae of delayed language development but no other major complications. Patients in these two cases responded well to intraventricular antibiotics, with negative CSF culture results, and were successfully treated for ventriculitis without serious complications.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 1986

Empyema thoracis following pneumonia, intra-abdominal pathology, trauma, and surgical procedure continues to be a source of major morbidity and mortality. Thirty seven adult and eleven pediatric patients with empyema thoracis were treated at the University of Yeungnam Medical Center from May 1983 to November 1986. Age distribution ranged from 6 months to 72 years and showed a double-peaked curve with the highest incidence between 36 and 65 years and below 15 years of age. There were male predominence in patients above 16 years of age. The most common predisposing factors was impaired consciousness due to either alcoholism or head injury. The causes of empyema were as follows: pneumonia 64.6%, lung abscess 6.4%, intraabdominal pathology 6.4%, and surgical procedure 6.4%. The cardinal symptoms were fever, cough, chest pain, dyspnea, sputum, weight loss, anorexia, and night sweat in orders. Culture of empyema fluid were positive in 50% of patients. The isolated organisms were Gram-negative bacilli 33.3%, staphylococcus aureus 25%, and streptococcus 25%. The patients received antibiotics in conjunction with various invasive procedures : chest tube drainage 77.1%, decortication 6.3%, and repeated thoracentesis 10.3%. There were 4 deaths, 1 child and 3 adults, with a overall mortality of 8.3%.

• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.428-436
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• 2016

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has been increased and become a public health concern worldwide. Many bacterial infections can be sequentially treated with different types of antibiotics. Thus, this study was designed to evaluate the changes in survival, antibiotic susceptibility, mutant frequency, ${\beta}$-lactamase activity, biofilm formation, and gene expression in Klebsiella pneumoniae after exposure to sequential antibiotic treatments of ciprofloxacin and meropenem. Treatments include control (CON; no addition), 1/2 MIC ciprofloxacin addition (1/2CIP), 2 MIC ciprofloxacin addition (2CIP), initial 1/2 MIC ciprofloxacin addition followed by 1/2 MIC meropenem (8 h-incubation) and 2 MIC ciprofloxacin (16 h-incubation) (1/2CIP-1/2MER-2CIP), initial 1/2 MIC ciprofloxacin addition followed by 1/2 MIC meropenem (8 h-incubation) and 2 MIC meropenem (16 h-incubation) (1/2CIP-1/2MER-2MER), and initial 1/2 MIC ciprofloxacin addition followed by 2 MIC ciprofloxacin(8 h-incubation) and 2 MIC meropenem(16 h-incubation) (1/2CIP-2CIP-2MER). No growth of K. pneumoniae was observed for the 2CIP throughout the incubation period. The numbers of planktonic cells varied with the treatments (7~10 log CFU/ml), while those of biofilm cells were not significantly different among treatments after 24-h incubation, showing approximately 7 log CFU/ml. Among the sequential treatments, the least mutant frequency was observed at the 1/2CIP-1/2MER-2CIP (14%). Compared to the CON, 1/2CIP-2CIP-2MER decreased the sensitivity of K. pneumoniae to piperacillin, cefotaxime, and nalidixic acid. The highest ${\beta}$-lactamase activity was 22 nmol/min/ml for 1/2CIP-1/2MER-2CIP, while the least ${\beta}$-lactamase activity was 6 nmol/min/ml for 1/2CIP-2CIP-2MER. The relative expression levels of multidrug efflux pump-related genes (acrA, acrB, and ramA) were increased more than 2-fold in K. pneumoniae exposed to 1/2CIP-1/2MER-2MER and 1/2CIP-2CIP-2MER. The results suggest that the sequential antibiotic treatments could change the antibiotic resistance profiles in K. pneumoniae.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.217-224
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• 2000

Background : It is well known that when macrophages are stimulated with endotoxin, they produce a wide variety of cytokine mediators, including TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-1$\beta$. However, there is an alteration in the macrophages' responsiveness when they are challenged with repeated bouts of endotoxin, termed "endotoxin tolerance" which is regarded as a self-protective phenomenon from continuous stimulation. In this study, endotoxin tolerance in the peripheral blood monocytes of sepsis patients was evaluated. Methods : Fourteen patients with organism-documented sepsis were included. The severity of illness was evaluated by APACHE II score. Peripheral blood monocytes were isolated from the patients and diluted to $1{\times}10^5$ well. After stimulation with endotoxin (LPS of E. coli O114 : B4, 100 ng/ml), they were incubated at $37^{\circ}C$ in 5% $CO_2$ incubator for 24 hours. Supernatant was collected for the measurement of TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-1$\beta$ with ELISA method. Peripheral blood monocytes of seven healthy volunteers were used as control. Results : The APACHE II score (mean$\pm$SD) of the patients at the time of blood sampling was 12.2$\pm$5.7. The primary infection foci were urinary tract infection, pneumonia, subacute bacterial endocarditis, and catheter related infection, etc. The causative organisms were gram negative rods (10 cases), gram positive cocci (6 cases) with two cases of mixed infection. Serum TNF-$\alpha$ could be measured in 4 cases with 29.9$\pm$27.7 pg/ml. Serum IL-1$\beta$was measurable in only one patient. The TNF-$\alpha$ level of supernatant of cultured peripheral blood monocytes was 2,703$\pm$2,066 pg/ml in patients and 2,102$\pm$1914 pg/ml in controls. The IL-1$\beta$level of supernatant was 884$\pm$1,050 pg/ml in patients and 575$\pm$558 pg/ml in controls. There was no difference of TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-1$\beta$ level between patients and controls. Conclusion : We cannot prove the phenomenon of endotoxin tolerance in this study. Future study needs to be focused on the more severe sepsis patients who were taken for sampling earlier. Addition of serum to the culture medium could be an another valuable option for the success of this study.