• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.1255-1263
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• 2022

Objective: To report a clinical case of Guillain-Barré syndrome-like neurological symptoms, including limb weakness, phantosmia, and nausea/vomiting after COVID-19 vaccination (AstraZeneca) that was improved by traditional Korean medicine (TKM) treatment. Methods: A 73-year-old male complained of extreme limb weakness, severe phantosmia, and nausea/vomiting after COVID-19 vaccination. No abnormalities had appeared in various radiological and laboratory tests, but the symptoms had continued to worsen for three months before visiting our clinic. Results: The patient was diagnosed with neurological complications suspicious of Guillain-Barré syndrome after COVID-19 vaccination. The patient was treated with acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal drugs (Banhabakchulchunma-tang), and nasal inhalation therapy with Aquilariae Lignum. Three weeks after Korean medicine treatment, his neurological symptoms had improved. Nausea/vomiting and phantosmia continued to show improvement, and muscle strength was gradually recovered in both lower limbs. Conclusion: Traditional Korean medicine could be a choice for the treatment of neurological complications after COVID-19 vaccination.

• Proceedings of the Korea Information Processing Society Conference
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• 2020.05a
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• pp.413-416
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• 2020

COVID-19(Coronavirus Disease 2019)는 RNA 형 바이러스로써 점막감염(粘膜感染)과 비말전파(飛沫傳播)로 전염되는 급성 호흡기성 질병이다. 2019 년 12 월 중국 후베이 우한에서 처음 감염이 보고된 후 빠르게 글로벌로 확산되었고, 현재 여러 국가와 지역이 Lockdown 상태에 있다. COVID-19 의 치사율은 국가별, 연령별 차이는 있으나 사스(SARS-CoV), 메르스(MERS-CoV) 등과 비교하여 높다고 할 수 없다. 그러나 COVID-19 는 신종 코로나바이러스로써 아직 백신(Vaccine)과 항바이러스제가 개발되지 않았고 다른 질병과 비교하여 빠른 감염 속도때문에 의료 공백, 사회적 혼란, 경제적 손실을 크게 일으키고 있다. 따라서 바이러스의 확산 양상을 데이터 분석을 통하여 예측할 수 있다면 사회·경제적인 폐해를 줄일 수 있어 Bass 모델과 R 패키지를 이용하여 COVID-19 확산 예측 모형을 계량적으로 제시하였다.

• Korean Journal of Artificial Intelligence
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.7-9
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• 2020

In this paper, a study was conducted to find a self-diagnosis method to prevent the spread of COVID-19 based on machine learning. COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. According to WHO(World Health Organization)'s situation report published on May 18th, 2020, COVID-19 has already affected 4,600,000 cases and 310,000 deaths globally and still increasing. The most severe problem of COVID-19 virus is that it spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, which occurs in everyday life. And also, at this time, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19. Because of the secure diffusion method and the absence of a vaccine, it is essential to self-diagnose or do a self-diagnosis questionnaire whenever possible. But self-diagnosing has too many questions, and ambiguous standards also take time. Therefore, in this study, using SVM(Support Vector Machine), Decision Tree and correlation analysis found two vital factors to predict the infection of the COVID-19 virus with an accuracy of 80%. Applying the result proposed in this paper, people can self-diagnose quickly to prevent COVID-19 and further prevent the spread of COVID-19.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.143-155
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• 2023

Purpose: An association between Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccination has been reported. We aimed to summarize the clinical features of GBS associated with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and determine the contrasting features from coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) associated GBS and GBS following other causes. Materials and Methods: We performed PubMed search for articles published between 1 December 2020 and 27 January 2022 using search terms related to "SARS-CoV-2 vaccination" and "GBS". Reference searching of the eligible studies was performed. Sociodemographic and vaccination data, clinical and laboratory features, and outcomes were extracted. We compared these findings with post-COVID-19 GBS and International GBS Outcome Study (IGOS) (GBS from other causes) cohorts. Results: We included 100 patients in the analysis. Mean age was 56.88 years, and 53% were males. Six-eight received non-replicating virus vector and 30 took messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines. The median interval between the vaccination and the GBS onset was 11 days. Limb weakness, facial palsy, sensory symptoms, dysautonomia, and respiratory insufficiency were seen in 78.65%, 53.3%, 77.4%, 23.5%, and 25%, respectively. The commonest clinical and electrodiagnostic subtype were sensory-motor variant (68%) and acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (61.4%), respectively. And 43.9% had poor outcome (GBS outcome score ≥3). Pain was common with virus vector than mRNA vaccine, and the latter had severe disease at presentation (Hughes grade ≥3). Sensory phenomenon and facial weakness were common in vaccination cohort than post-COVID-19 and IGOS. Conclusion: There are distinct differences between GBS associated with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination and GBS due to other causes. Facial weakness and sensory symptoms were commonly seen in the former and outcomes poor.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.32 no.10
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• pp.1335-1343
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• 2022

COVID-19 is an emerging disease that poses a severe threat to global public health. As such, there is an urgent demand for vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Here, we describe a virus-like nanoparticle candidate vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 produced by an E. coli expression system. The fusion protein of a truncated ORF2-encoded protein of aa 439~608 (p170) from hepatitis E virus CCJD-517 and the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein from SARS-CoV-2 were expressed, purified and characterized. The antigenicity and immunogenicity of p170-RBD were evaluated in vitro and in Kunming mice. Our investigation revealed that p170-RBD self-assembled into approximately 24 nm virus-like particles, which could bind to serum from vaccinated people (p < 0.001) and receptors on cells. Immunization with p170-RBD induced the titer of IgG antibody vaccine increased from 14 days post-immunization and was significantly enhanced after a booster immunization at 28 dpi, ultimately reaching a peak level on 42 dpi with a titer of 4.97 log₁₀. Pseudovirus neutralization tests showed that the candidate vaccine induced a strong neutralizing antibody response in mice. In this research, we demonstrated that p170-RBD possesses strong antigenicity and immunogenicity and could be a potential candidate for use in future SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.109-120
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• 2022

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccinations on deaths of the COVID-19 cases in some elderly long-term care facilities (LTCF) in Gwangju Metropolitan City. Methods: The study subjects were 659 COVID-19 cases in residents of 7 elderly LTCF, Gwangju, from 21 Dec. 2021 to 28 Jan. 2022. The used variables were confirmed dates for COVID-19, demographic characteristics, co-morbidities, presentation of symptoms, death and vaccination related characteristics including type of vaccine, doses and dates. Vaccination status were classified as not vaccinated, partially and fully vaccinated. The associations of vaccination status and deaths of COVID-19 cases were tested by chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results: The rates of not vaccinated, partially vaccinated and fully vaccinated were 19.4%, 10.2% and 70.4%, respectively. The mortality rate of the cases was 6.4%. The death rate by vaccination status was 16.4% in not vaccinated, 15.4% in partially vaccinated and 2.6% in fully vaccinated, showing a statistically significant difference. The adjusted odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence intervals, CIs) of death compared to fully vaccinated were 7.64 (3.87-16.34) in non-vaccinated, and 6.97 (3.44-14.14) in partially vaccinated. Conclusions: COVID-19 vaccination seems to work effectively in preventing deaths of COVID-19 cases of elderly LTCF residents. This finding support that fully vaccinations in high risk group such as elderly LTCF residents is very important for one of strategies of COVID-19 management.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.121-129
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• 2022

This study intends to analyze the impact of the country of origin on the intention to ingest COVID-19 vaccinations by measuring Vietnamese people's perceptions of India in the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines. The research is done using a quantitative method, and primary data was obtained using a conventional manner based on the willingness of the research respondents, who are Vietnamese persons aged 18 and up, to contribute information. The findings revealed that perceived brand association and perceived brand quality directly positively impact the COVID-19 vaccine's consumption intention and willingness. Meanwhile, while the perceived country image component has no direct effect on consumption intention, it does have a positive indirect effect on consumption intention through perceived brand linkage and perceived brand quality. The findings also emphasize the importance and significance of a country's image in brand association and quality perception. The study's findings imply that to increase consumers' willingness to buy India's COVID-19 vaccination, the country should develop communication initiatives to improve consumer perceptions of the country's image, the perceived value of the brand association, and brand quality.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.392-400
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• 2021

It has been more than a year since severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) first emerged. Many studies have provided insights into the various aspects of the immune response in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Especially for antibody treatment and vaccine development, humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 has been studied extensively, though there is still much that is unknown and controversial. Here, we introduce key discoveries on the humoral immune responses in COVID-19, including the immune dynamics of antibody responses and correlations with disease severity, neutralizing antibodies and their cross-reactivity, how long the antibody and memory B-cell responses last, aberrant autoreactive antibodies generated in COVID-19 patients, and the efficacy of currently available therapeutic antibodies and vaccines against circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, and highlight gaps in the current knowledge.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.395-407
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• 2021

The COVID-19 curve seesawed and reached the fourth pandemic in July 2021. Since the first three waves, the focus has been on achieving herd immunity through vaccination while a lot of manpower is used for quarantine. However, we have not been able to prevent the fourth wave. The causes are thought to be related to people who doubt the safety of the vaccine and refuse it or violate quarantine guidelines such as social distancing. This study examined guidelines for preventing and controlling COVID-19, the accuracy of vaccination-related information, and described quarantine measures including for those who completed vaccination. In conclusion, prevention and vaccination are the most effective countermeasures against COVID-19. We recommend people vaccination with self-quarantine. Also, it is necessary to make large investments to protect and support nurses in future pandemics.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.401-407
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• 2021

Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is an ongoing pandemic disease. SARS-CoV-2-specific CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T-cell responses have been detected and characterized not only in COVID-19 patients and convalescents, but also unexposed individuals. Here, we review the phenotypes and functions of SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells in COVID-19 patients and the relationships between SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses and COVID-19 severity. In addition, we describe the phenotypes and functions of SARS-CoV-2-specific memory T cells after recovery from COVID-19 and discuss the presence of SARS-CoV-2-reactive T cells in unexposed individuals and SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell responses elicited by COVID-19 vaccines. A better understanding of T-cell responses is important for effective control of the current COVID-19 pandemic.