• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.71.1-71.10
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• 2020

Background: Feline calicivirus (FCV) is a major and highly infectious pathogen in cats worldwide. However, there have been limited studies about the status of FCV infections in Korea. Objectives: To investigate the current status of FCV infections in stray cats in Korea. Methods: A novel reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was developed based on the conserved nucleotide sequences of reported FCV strains. Field swab samples were collected from 122 cats (2 hospital admitted cats and 120 stray cats) in 2016 and 2017. All the samples were tested by virus isolation and 2 different RT-PCRs, including the novel RT-PCR, for the detection of FCV. Results: The novel RT-PCR assay showed no cross-reactivity to the nucleic acids of the other feline pathogens tested, and the limit of detection was calculated as 10⁰ TCID₅₀/mL based on an in vitro assessment. The novel RT-PCR assay detected 5 positive samples from the 122 field samples, which showed perfect agreement with the results of the virus isolation method. In contrast, another RT-PCR assay used in a previous study in Korea detected no positive samples. The prevalence of FCV infection in stray cats was 2.5% (3/120) based on the results of virus isolation and the novel RT-PCR assays. Conclusions: The current study is the first report of the detection and prevalence of FCV in stray cats in Korea. The novel RT-PCR assay developed in this study showed high sensitivity and specificity, which indicates a useful diagnostic assay to identify FCV infection in cats.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.42.1-42.23
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• 2023

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the causative agent of tuberculosis, one of the most deadly infections in humans. The emergence of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant Mtb strains presents a global challenge. Mtb has shown resistance to many frontline antibiotics, including rifampicin, kanamycin, isoniazid, and capreomycin. The only licensed vaccine, Bacille Calmette-Guerin, does not efficiently protect against adult pulmonary tuberculosis. Therefore, it is urgently necessary to develop new vaccines to prevent infections caused by these strains. We used a subtractive proteomics approach on 23 virulent Mtb strains and identified a conserved membrane protein (MmpL4, NP_214964.1) as both a potential drug target and vaccine candidate. MmpL4 is a non-homologous essential protein in the host and is involved in the pathogen-specific pathway. Furthermore, MmpL4 shows no homology with anti-targets and has limited homology to human gut microflora, potentially reducing the likelihood of adverse effects and cross-reactivity if therapeutics specific to this protein are developed. Subsequently, we constructed a highly soluble, safe, antigenic, and stable multi-subunit vaccine from the MmpL4 protein using immunoinformatics. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed the stability of the vaccine-bound Tolllike receptor-4 complex on a nanosecond scale, and immune simulations indicated strong primary and secondary immune responses in the host. Therefore, our study identifies a new target that could expedite the design of effective therapeutics, and the designed vaccine should be validated. Future directions include an extensive molecular interaction analysis, in silico cloning, wet-lab experiments, and evaluation and comparison of the designed candidate as both a DNA vaccine and protein vaccine.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.41.1-41.12
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• 2024

Importance: Equines are indispensable in reducing the huge burden on children and women and income generation. On the other hand, minimal attention is given to improving their health and welfare. Objective: This study examined the prevalence and associated risk factors of helminth parasites of equine in the Gamo Gofa Zone. Methods: A cross-sectional study was employed from June 2019 to March 2020. The study districts and Kebeles were selected purposively based on agroecology whereas selection of study households and animals were performed based on simple random sampling techniques. Identification of nematode, trematode parasite ova and larvae of D. arnfieldi were done by floatation, sedimentation, and Baermann techniques respectively. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression was applied to estimate the prevalence and association of risk factors with helminth parasites. Results: The overall helminth parasite prevalence in the study area was 90.4%, 425/470 (95% [CI], 87.16-92.9). The prevalence of Strongyle, Fasciola, O. equi, P. equorum, D. arnfieldi, and mixed parasite infections were 65.1%, 21.7%, 17.4%, 34%, 34%, and 58.1%, respectively. Infections from Fasciola species and D. arnfieldi infection were four ([AOR], 4.4; 95% CI, 2-9.4) and two times (AOR, 2; 95% CI, 1.1-3.6) respectively more likely occur in donkeys than in mules. The occurrence of Strongyle species in midland agroecology was two times (AOR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.4-4.7) more likely than lowland agroecology. Conclusions and Relevance: The present study identified diverse species of equine helminth parasites that necessitate urgent disease control and prevention measures.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.253-257
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• 2014

Background Although the utility of flaps for the treatment of sternal wound infections following median sternotomy has been reported for 30 years, there have been few reports on the risk factors for complications after reconstruction. The objective of this investigation was to identify factors related to complications after the reconstruction of sternal wound infections. Methods A retrospective analysis of 74 patients with reconstructive surgery after sternal wound infection over a 5-year period was performed. Clinical data including age, sex, body mass index (BMI), comorbidities, bacterial culture, previous cardiac surgery, wound depth, mortality rate, type of reconstructive procedure, and complication rate were collected. Results The patients' BMI ranged from 15.2 to $33.6kg/m^2$ (mean, $23.1{\pm}3.74kg/m^2$). Wound closure complications after reconstructive surgery were observed in 36.5% of the cases. The mortality rate was 2.7%. Diabetes mellitus significantly affected the rate of wound closure complications (P=0.041). A significant difference in the number of complications was seen between Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and coagulase-negative Staphylococci (P=0.011). There was a correlation between harvesting of the internal thoracic artery and postoperative complications (P=0.048). The complication rates of the pectoralis major flap, rectus abdominis flap, omentum flap, a combination of pectoralis major flap and rectus abdominis flap, and direct closure were 23.3%, 33.3%, 100%, 37.5%, and 35.7%, respectively. Conclusions Diabetes mellitus, S. aureus, harvesting of the internal thoracic artery, and omentum flap were significant factors for complications after reconstruction. The omentum flap volume may be related to the complications associated with the omentum flap transfer in the present study.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.28-37
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• 2022

Pregnancy requires an important interpretation of thyroid function tests. The presence of anti-thyroid antibodies and viral infectious agents affect the health of both the fetus and the mother. Hence, a selective evaluation of thyroid function in pregnancy is required. This study is a retrospective cross-sectional survey to examine the correlation between thyroid hormones and viral infections during pregnancy. The results showed that the triiodothyronine (T3) decreased with increasing age, especially in the hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive group (P<0.01). In addition, although negative for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), thyroxine (FT4) showed a significant increase in near-threshold or twin pregnant women (P<0.05). The thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) was highly distributed at the age of 30, and there was no statistically significant correlation with other viral infection factors. In addition, as a result of dividing and analyzing the result of TSH by the quantiles, FT4 and T3 showed a positive correlation but showed a negative correlation with TSH (P<0.05). Therefore, the evaluation of prenatal thyroid screening during pregnancy and viral infection factors should reflect the time of pregnancy, exposure to infection, and the quantitative values. Adequate thyroid hormone and viral infections availability is important for an uncomplicated pregnancy and optimal fetal development.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.763-766
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• 2013

A synthetic peptide was prepared based on the antigenic region of Paragonimus westermani pre-procathepsin L, and its applicability for immunodiagnosis for human paragonimiasis (due to Paragonimus heterotremus) was tested using an ELISA to detect IgG4 antibodies in the sera of patients. Sera from other helminthiases, tuberculosis, and healthy volunteers were used as the references. This peptide-based assay system gave sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive values of 100%, 94.6%, 96.2%, 100%, and 88.9%, respectively. Cross reactivity was frequently seen against the sera of fascioliasis (75%) and hookworm infections (50%). Since differential diagnosis between paragonimiasis and fascioliasis can be easily done by clinical presentation and fascioliasis serology, this cross reaction is not a serious problem. Sera from patients with other parasitoses (0-25%) rarely responded to this synthetic antigen. This synthetic peptide antigen seems to be useful for development of a standardized diagnostic system for paragonimiasis.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.263-269
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• 2019

Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is an acute respiratory disease, causing economic losses in poultry production. IBV commonly manifests respiratory disease symptoms and poor egg quality in poultry, affecting overall performance of both broilers and layers. IBV infection further predisposes poultry to secondary opportunistic bacterial infections. IBV undergoes rapid genetic evolution resulting in various new strains. There is no cross protection among IBV serotypes which makes full protection against wild-type IBV virtually impossible. In this study, recently isolated IBVs (K24/18, K29/18, K183/18) from Korean broiler farms were genetically analyzed based on S1 gene. According to the results, IBV isolates showed highest homology with QX-IBV. However, phylogenetic tree analysis revealed that isolates were divided into distinct sub-clusters within QX-IBV. To determine pathogenicity of IBV, day-old chicks were challenged with IBV through ocular route. After challenging the chicks, we executed microscopic examination, virus detection in their organs, and observation of clinical signs and mortality. We found that the K24/18, K29/18, K183/18 challenge groups showed 28%, 57%, and 42% mortality, respectively, with high microscopic trachea lesion scores, indicating that these QX-IBV-like strains are pathogenic to chicks and can therefore be a threat to poultry production.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.46-55
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• 1992

A systematic study was conducted to identify and isolate a serologically pertinent antigen with high specific activity and low cross reactivity from P.westermani antigen. Differential centrifugation of the homogenate yield three particulate and one soluble fractions ; the $480{\times}G$ pellet(Pw1), the $7650{\times}G$ pellet(Pw2) treated with n-butanol(Pw3), and $100000{\times}G$ supernatnat(Pw4). Comparison of antigenicity of these antigens, based upon differential centrifugation, to that of saline extract of P. westermani worm(SEP) was performed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblot techniques. The results obtained were as follows : 1) The ratio of absorbance value of ELISA against paragonimiasis positive pool sera to that of negative sera was highest when using Pw3 as antigen and that was lowest using Pwl. 2) Silver stained and SDS-PAGE of each antigen showed 34 and 13Kd band as common antigen band, but Pw2 didn't show clear band. 3) By immunoblot 55 and 34Kd bands using SEP and Pw4 showed strong positive reaction without cross reaction with sera from other helmenthic infections. Using Pw3, 10Kd band was observed as specific band. In conclusion, Pw3($100000{\times}G$ pellet urea soluble, treated with n-butanol) and Pw4($100000{\times}G$ supernatant) were usable for ELISA and immunoblot technique.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.6160-6168
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• 2015

Hand hygiene(HH)of the health care personnels(HCPs) was the most effective method to prevent the transmission of healthcare associated infections. This study was conducted to measure and analysis the status of the HH compliance of HCPs. Data were collected by the direct observation methods of the World Health Organizations(WHO) using WHO's HH monitoring tool kits from 25th October to 31th December, 2010. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, cross analysis, multiple logistic analysis using the SPSS/PC 21 program. A total of 8,644 opportunities for HH were observed, and the overall HH compliance rate was 94.1%. HH rates of physicians was lowest(83.4%; OR: 0.209, 95%CI:0.174-0.252). HH rates were statistically different by the job titles(p<0.001), WHO's 5 moments(p<0.001). HH rates in registered nurses(p=0.003), and medical technicians(p<0.001) were statistically different by the WHO 5Moments. Jobs specific HH strategies and WHO 5Moments should be developed to increase the HH compliances of the HCPs.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.343-350
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• 2023

Background: Digital panoramic dental X-ray equipment (PDX) is frequently used by patients and dental workers for diagnosis and examination in dental institutions; however, infection control has not been properly implemented. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to systematically review the potential risk of cross-infection in the dental environment by investigating the contamination level of general aerobic bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus, which are important in hospital infections, in PDX areas that people mainly contact. Methods: This survey was conducted from March to May 2023 and covered one general hospital, three dental hospitals, and nine dental clinics equipped with PDX. Bacteria samples were collected from the left-handle, right-handle, forehead support, and head side support as the patient's contact areas, as well as the X-ray exposure switch and left-click mouse button as the dental hygienist's contact areas of the PDX. The collected bacteria were spread on Petrifilm, and colonies formed after 48 hours of culture were counted. Results: General aerobic bacteria and S. aureus were detected in all areas investigated. Significant differences in bacterial counts between different regions of the PDX were observed in both groups (p<0.001). The detection rates of general aerobic bacteria (p<0.001) and S. aureus (p<0.001) were significantly higher in the contact areas of patients than those of dental hygienists. A positive correlation was observed between the forehead and the temple region in terms of general aerobic bacteria and S. aureus detection (r=1) (p<0.01). Conclusion: Taken together, the presence of many bacteria, including S. aureus, detected in PDX indicates that PDX has a potential cross-infection risk. Our results therefore highlight the need for the development of appropriate disinfection protocols for reusable medical devices such as PDX and periodic infection prevention training for hospital-related workers, including dental hygienists.