• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제64권7호
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• pp.364-369
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• 2021

Background: As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak continues to evolve, it is crucially important for pediatricians to be aware of the differences in demographic and clinical features between COVID-19 and influenza A and B infections. Purpose: This study analyzed and compared the clinical features and laboratory findings of COVID-19 and influenza A and B infections in children. Methods: This retrospective study evaluated the medical data of 206 pediatric COVID-19 and 411 pediatric seasonal influenza A or B patients. Results: COVID-19 patients were older than seasonal influenza patients (median [interquartile range], 7.75 [2-14] years vs. 4 [2-6] years). The frequency of fever and cough in COVID-19 patients was lower than that of seasonal influenza patients (80.6% vs. 94.4%, P<0.001 and 22.8 % vs. 71.5%, P<0.001, respectively). Ageusia (4.9%) and anosmia (3.4%) were present in only COVID-19 patients. Leukopenia, lymphopenia, and thrombocytopenia were encountered more frequently in influenza patients than in COVID-19 patients (22.1% vs. 8.5%, P=0.029; 17.6% vs. 5.6%, P=0.013; and 13.2% vs. 5.6%, P=0.048, respectively). Both groups showed significantly elevated monocyte levels in the complete blood count (70.4% vs. 69.9%, P=0.511). Major chest x-ray findings in COVID-19 patients included mild diffuse ground-glass opacity and right lower lobe infiltrates. There were no statistically significant intergroup differences in hospitalization or mortality rates; however, the intensive care unit admission rate was higher among COVID-19 patients (2.4% vs. 0.5%, P=0.045). Conclusion: In this study, pediatric COVID-19 patients showed a wide range of clinical presentations ranging from asymptomatic/mild to severe illness. We found no intergroup differences in hospitalization rates, oxygen requirements, or hospital length of stay; however, the intensive care unit admission rate was higher among COVID-19 patients.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제54권4호
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• pp.245-250
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• 2021

Objectives: Jeju Province in Korea reported 627 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases between January 20, 2020, and March 31, 2021. This study analyzed the sources of infection among confirmed cases in Jeju Province, a self-governed island. Methods: The sources of infection were broadly categorized as follows: (1) infections from overseas (confirmed patients who reported travel overseas or contact with overseas travelers); (2) infections from outside Jeju Province (confirmed patients who had visited other provinces or had contact with individuals who had traveled to other provinces in Korea); and (3) unknown sources of infection (confirmed patients who were infected following contact with an infected person whose source of infection was unknown). The chi-square test was used to analyze the differences in the distributions of related variables for each source of infection. Results: Of the 627 confirmed cases, 38 (6.1%) were infections from overseas sources, 199 (31.7%) were from outside of Jeju Province, and 390 (62.2%) were from unknown sources. Jeju Province had no cases with an unknown source of infection during the first and second waves of the nationwide outbreak. Conclusions: Infections from overseas sources could be blocked from spreading to local communities in Jeju Province by conducting screening at the airport, along with the preemptive suspension of visa-free entry. In addition, considering the scale of the nationwide outbreak, measures must be established to delay outbreaks from unknown sources of infection caused by sources outside Jeju Province.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• 제29권6호
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• pp.571-581
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• 2021

Towards the end of 2019, an atypical acute respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified in Wuhan, China and subsequently named Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The rapid dissemination of COVID-19 has provoked a global crisis in public health. COVID-19 has been reported to cause sepsis, severe infections in the respiratory tract, multiple organ failure, and pulmonary fibrosis, all of which might induce mortality. Although several vaccines for COVID-19 are currently being administered worldwide, the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet effectively under control. Therefore, novel therapeutic agents to eradicate the cause of the disease and/or manage the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 should be developed to effectively regulate the current pandemic. In this review, we discuss the possibility of managing the clinical symptoms of COVID-19 using natural products derived from medicinal plants used for controlling pulmonary inflammatory diseases in folk medicine. Diverse natural products have been reported to exert potential antiviral effects in vitro by affecting viral replication, entry into host cells, assembly in host cells, and release. However, the in vivo antiviral effects and clinical antiviral efficacies of these natural products against SARS-CoV-2 have not been successfully proven to date. Thus, these properties need to be elucidated through further investigations, including randomized clinical trials, in order to develop optimal and ideal therapeutic candidates for COVID-19.

• Applied Microscopy
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• 제51권
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• pp.13.1-13.7
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• 2021

The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has arisen as a global pandemic affecting the respiratory system showing acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). However, there is no targeted therapeutic agent yet and due to the growing cases of infections and the rising death tolls, discovery of the possible drug is the need of the hour. In general, the study for discovering therapeutic agent for SARS-CoV-2 is largely focused on large-scale screening with fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD). With the recent advancement in cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM), it has become one of the widely used tools in structural biology. It is effective in investigating the structure of numerous proteins in high-resolution and also had an intense influence on drug discovery, determining the binding reaction and regulation of known drugs as well as leading the design and development of new drug candidates. Here, we review the application of cryo-EM in a structure-based drug design (SBDD) and in silico screening of the recently acquired FBDD in SARS-CoV-2. Such insights will help deliver better understanding in the procurement of the effective remedial solution for this pandemic.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• 제30권3호
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• pp.188-192
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• 2023

영아기 급성 출혈성 부종(acute hemorrhagic edema of infancy, AHEI)은 주로 영아에서 발생하는 드문 혈관염으로 호흡기 바이러스 감염과 연관되어 발생할 수 있다. 저자들은 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) 감염 후 발생한 AHEI 단일 사례를 보고한다. 재태주수 38주에 3.5kg으로 출생한 건강했던 생후 47일된 환아는 동반증상 없는 발열을 주소로 내원하였고 COVID-19 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction 검사결과 양성이 확인되었다. 입원 이틀째부터 손과 발에 비창백성(non-blanching) 홍반성 반점(macule)과 반(patch)이 발생했고 압통을 동반한 부종이 관찰되었다. 발열은 호전되었고 전신 컨디션과 경구 섭취는 정상적인 모습을 보였다. 정맥 덱사메타손 투약 후 발진과 부종은 호전되었다. AHEI를 적시에 진단하는 것은 불필요한 검사나 치료를 피하고 드물지만 발생 가능한 심각한 합병증을 신속하게 발견하는데 중요하다.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2020

2019년 12월에 중국 후베이성 우한시에서 원인 미상 폐렴이 무리 지어 발생하기 시작하였다. 환자의 하기도에서 이전에 알려지지 않은 새로운 코로나바이러스가 분리되었으며 severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)로 명명되었다. 세계보건기구는 SARS-CoV-2에 의한 질병을 코로나바이러스감염증-19(coronavirus disease 2019, COVID-19)로 명명하였다. 2020년 3월 11일에 COVID-19는 전세계 최소 114국으로 퍼졌으며 약 4,000명이 사망하여 세계보건기구는 COVID-19가 세계적 대유행임을 선언하였다. 지난 20년 동안 새로운 코로나바이러스에 의한 두 번의 유행이 있었다. 2002-2003년 중증급성호흡기증후군(severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS) 유행 시에는 8,098명의 확진 환자와 774명의 사망자가 발생하였으며, 2012년에 사우디 아라비아에서 시작되어 현재까지 주로 아라비아 반도에서 발생하고 있는 중동호흡기증후군(Middle East respiratory syndrome, MERS)는 2019년까지 총 2,499명의 환자와 858명의 사망자를 발생시켰다. 본 종설의 목적은 2020년 3월 12일까지 알려진 SARS-CoV-2의 특징과 전파 양상 및 COVID-19의 임상 증상을 알아보고 SARS와 MERS와의 유사점 및 차이점에 대하여 간략하게 소개하는 것이다.

• 대한수의학회지
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• 제45권2호
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• pp.215-221
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• 2005

Canine coronavirus (CCV) causes a mild gastroenteritis in dogs. The virus is highly contagious. Although the virus was isolated more than thirty years ago, canine coronavirus infection continues to be a widespread problem. Mixed infections with both CCV and canine parvovirus (CPV) are common. Four kinds of commercial killed CCV vaccines are available in Korea. All the commercial vaccines should pass the National Assay for Veterinary Biologicals prior to release. For the potency test of CCV vaccine, it is necessary to use CCV antibody free dogs. The test requires not only kennels but high cost. To develop easy, efficient and economic potency test method for killed CCV vaccine using laboratory animals, a series of experiments with rabbits and guinea pigs were carried out in this study. In the preliminary test, the guinea pigs showed better immune responses than rabbits. The guinea pig was also easy to manage. So guinea pig was selected for the potency test animals. When the guinea pigs were inoculated twice with one dose of vaccine intramuscuarly each, slower and a little lower SN antibody titers were induced in guinea pigs than in dogs (about 2 kg body weight Beagle strain) given the same posology as guinea pigs'. It was concluded that guinea pigs could be substituted for dogs in the potency test of killed CCV vaccine.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• 제22권3호
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• pp.143-146
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• 2015

중동호흡기증후군 코로나바이러스(Middle East respiratory coronavirus, MERS-CoV)로 인한 질환은 2012년부터 보고되었다. 현재까지 대부분의 질환은 성인에서 발생하였으며 소아에 대한 보고는 매우 부족한 실정이다. 그리하여 본 연구에서는 소아에서 MERS-CoV 감염증의 역학적 특성과 임상 양상을 분석하였다. 전세계적으로 MERS-CoV에 감염된 소아는 34명이었으며(2015년 10월 29일 기준), 이는 전체 환자의 2.1%를 차지하였다. 소아 환자들의 중앙 연령은 13세(범위, 9개월부터 17세까지)이었으며, 성별이 보고된 자료(n=33) 중 57.6%가 남자였다. 전체 환자 중에서 약 반은 무증상 감염이었으며, 대부분의 증상이 있는 환자는 호흡기 증상을 동반하였다. MERS-CoV에 감염된 환자들의 예후는 대부분 양호하였으나, 사망한 환자는 4명이었으며 이 중 3명은 기저 질환이 있었다. 전세계적으로 소아에서 발생한 MERS-CoV 감염에 대한 보고 자료를 분석한 결과 MERS-CoV 감염은 소아에서 발생이 낮고 성인에 비해 예후가 좋은 것으로 나타났다.

• 치위생과학회지
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• 제21권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 2021

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is transmitted primarily through droplets, and dental practitioners are at risk of occupational exposure to SARS-CoV-2 infection owing to direct contact with the patient's mouth, aerosols from dental procedures, and saliva. Wearing a mask is believed to be the best method of protection against infection, and a systematic literature review was conducted on whether the dental masks used in dentistry are effective in preventing Coronavirus Infectious Disease-19 (COVID-19). Methods: We used PubMed, Google Scholar, DBpia, NDSL, and KISS databases for this study. Of the 917 documents narrowed down by the search terms "Coronavirus, COVID-19, and dental," 83 documents were collected and studied. Ultimately, 42 of these papers were selected for analysis after considering duplication from the flow chart of the literature selection process. Results: While dental masks are often used when treating patients with unknown COVID-19 status, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated that the use of dental masks is insufficient in preventing cross-transmission of COVID-19; instead, it was recommended that N95 masks, which correspond to KF94 masks, should be worn daily. On the other hand, wearing a dental mask and following precautions such as hand hygiene may not pose a significantly higher risk of infection than wearing an N95 mask when treating COVID-19 patients. Conclusion: There is an ongoing discussion regarding the use of dental masks when treating dental patients, and many argue that different types of masks should be selected according to the degree of infection and the individual's respiratory condition. By considering the safety and efficacy of dental masks in preventing infection, improvements can be made in the management of COVID-19 and dental-related infections.

• 대한수의학회지
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• 제63권4호
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• pp.37.1-37.7
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• 2023

Canine respiratory coronavirus (CRCoV) is a significant pathogen that causes respiratory diseases in dogs, collectively known as a canine infectious respiratory disease. The virus is highly contagious and exhibits high seroprevalence worldwide. Currently, bovine coronavirus (BCoV) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits are used to detect CRCoV antibodies. However, BCoV-ELISA kits cannot differentiate between infections caused by BCoV and those caused by CRCoV. In this study, we evaluated the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test for CRCoV by comparing it with the virus neutralization (VN) test. Subsequently, we evaluated the seroprevalence of CRCoV in 383 dog serum samples collected from South Korea utilizing the HI test. The HI test for CRCoV showed a strong correlation with the VN test (R = 0.83, p < 0.001). The analysis of seroprevalence revealed that 52.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 47.2%-57.1%) of the Korean dog serum samples were positive. The seroprevalence exhibited varied with age, with a positivity rate of 43.9% in dogs under 1 year of age and 66.7% in dogs aged 3 to 5 years (odds ratio, 2.54; 95% CI, 1.43-4.59). In conclusion, the HI test to monitor CRCoV antibody proved to be closely related to the VN test. Furthermore, over half of the dogs in Korea tested positive for CRCoV antibodies. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the sero-epidemiology of CRCoV.