• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.1237-1245
• /
• 2018

In this study, the contamination levels of hygienic indicators and foodborne pathogens in retail meat products were investigated in relation to the various market factors including processing temperature, processing area, and market type. Ground beef samples (n=80) were purchased from 40 meat markets and investigated for microbiological quality. Beefs processed below $20^{\circ}C$ had significantly lower numbers of total coliforms (TC) than these processed over $20^{\circ}C$ (2.01 vs. 2.79 log CFU/g; p<0.05). Interestingly, separation of processing area did not affect the contamination levels. Remarkably, the contamination levels of hygienic indicator differ among market types, indicating that not only processing condition but distribution structure that is directly related with storage period could affect the final microbiological loads of the meat products. In addition, the prevalences of Listeria monocytogenes (a psychrotroph), Enterococcus faecium, and Enterococcus faecalis were 7.5% (6/80), 10.0% (8/80), and 20.0% (16/80), respectively, which is irrelevant to market factors except meat products from wholesale markets where no L. monocytogenes were found among 30 samples. The results of this study indicate that the contamination level of hygiene indicator and foodborne pathogens in retail beef is more related with processing temperature and storage period than other environmental factors.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.76-83
• /
• 2009

In 2005, the 5.84-Km length of Cheonggyecheon stream, previously covered with concrete road, was uncovered in the middle of Seoul, Korea. We investigated microbial water quality in various sites in Cheonggyecheon stream. We took water samples on three different days. The sampling sites included inflow water from upper stream (Mojeongyo), midstream (Ogansugyo), and downstream (Muhakgyo). Fecal pollution indicator microorganisms were measured by both IDEXX $Colilert^{(R)}$ and $Enterolert^{(R)}$. Microbial community from these sampling sites was also characterized based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. The average concentrations of total coliform are 5 CFU/100 mL, 1474 CFU/100 mL, and 1776 CFU/100 mL at Mojeongyo, Ogansugyo, and Muhakgyo, respectively. The average concentrations of fecal coliform were 28 CFU/100 mL, 47 CFU/100 mL in Ogansugyo, and Muhakgyo, respectively. The concentrations of other fecal indicator microorganisms including E. coli and Enterococcus sp. increased in downstream. When we characterized the microbial community, unique microbial community were discovered at different sampling sites. This study suggests that Cheonggyechoen stream is likely affected by non-point fecal sources and has unique microbial environment as the river flows downstream.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.4-11
• /
• 2016

Background: Hospital admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs), which are widely used as an indicator of poor access to primary care, can be used as an efficiency indicator of healthcare use in countries providing good access to health care. Korea, which has a national health insurance (NHI) system and a good supply of health care resources, is one such country. To quantify admission rates of ACSC and identify characteristics influencing variation in Korean health care institutions. Methods: By using NHI claims data, we computed the mean ACSC admission rate for all institutions with ACSC admissions. Results: The average ACSC admission rate for 4,461 institutions was 1.45%. Hospitals and clinics with inpatient beds showed larger variations in the ACSC admission rate (0%-87.9% and 0%-99.6%, respectively) and a higher coefficient of variation (7.96 and 2.29) than general/tertiary care hospitals (0%-19.1%, 0.85). The regression analysis results indicate that the ACSC admission rate was significantly higher for hospitals than for clinics (${\beta}=0.986$, p<0.05), and for private corporate institutions than public institutions (${\beta}=0.271$, p<0.05). Conclusion: Substantial variations in ACSC admission rates could suggest the potential problem of inefficient use of healthcare resources. Since hospitals and private corporate institutions tend to increase ACSC admission rates, future health policy should focus on these types of institutions.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.299-305
• /
• 2007

Distribution of fecal pollution indicator bacteria and environmental parameter were investigated of urban artificial lakes. An average concentration of temperature, pH, SS, DO, $COD_{Mn}$, T-P, T-N, Turbidity, Chl-a were $21.5^{\circ}C$, 8.07, 116.70 mg/l, 8.66 mg/l, 2.24 mg/1, 0.52 mg/l, 1.71mg/l, 80.54 NTU, and 52.12 mg/l respectively. From the results of bivariate correlation analysis, fecal contamination indicator bacteria were found to be mutually correlated. And turbidity and suspended solid were correlated. From the results of principal component analysis, four factors were extracted. And four factors of variance explained up to 81.5 percentage. Factor 1 was pollution pattern by fecal contamination, factor 2 was physical pollution pattern by pollution source, factor 3 was natural pollution by precipitation, and factor 4 was artificial pollution pattern by organism.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.57 no.3
• /
• pp.234-241
• /
• 2024

Objectives: Health development is a key element of national development. The goal of improving health development at the societal level will be readily achieved if it is directed from the smallest social unit, namely the family. This was the goal of the Healthy Indonesia Program with a Family Approach. The objective of the study was to analyze variables of family health indicators across all provinces in Indonesia to identify provincial disparities based on the status of healthy families. Methods: This study examined secondary data for 2021 from the Indonesia Health Profile, provided by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, and from the 2021 welfare statistics by Statistics Indonesia (BPS). From these sources, we identified 10 variables for analysis using the k-means method, a non-hierarchical method of cluster analysis. Results: The results of the cluster analysis of healthy family indicators yielded 5 clusters. In general, cluster 1 (Papua and West Papua Provinces) had the lowest average achievements for healthy family indicators, while cluster 5 (Jakarta Province) had the highest indicator scores. Conclusions: In Indonesia, disparities in healthy family indicators persist. Nutrition, maternal health, and child health are among the indicators that require government attention.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.199-207
• /
• 2010

In this study, breast milk levels of indicator polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were estimated, and statistics drawn, for 22 Koreans in the general population, aged 26-38, who had resided in metropolitan areas for more than 5 years without occupational exposure to organochlorine pollutants. Concentrations of indicator PCBs were measured using the isotope dilution method with a high resolution gas chromatograph/high resolution mass detector, which provided accurate and precise data for investigation of trends, and international comparisons. The geometric mean of total indicator PCB levels was 22.3 ng/g lipid, which is significantly lower than the level in individuals from European countries. Overall, the geometric mean and 95th percentile of the most abundant congener PCB 153 were 8.04 ng/g lipid and 16.4 ng/g lipid, respectively. PCB congeners 138, 153 and 180 together accounted for about 75% of the indicator congeners analyzed. Breast milk total indicator PCB concentrations were significantly associated with age and parity, but not with body mass index (BMI), rate of body weight increase, or smoking habits. The geometric mean level of PCB 153 in breast milk from mothers with a pre-pregnant BMI < $21\;kg/m^2$ was significantly higher than in pre-pregnant women with a BMI of ${\geqslant}\;21\;kg/m^2$ (p<0.05). Women who ate more fish, meat, and milk products did not have significantly higher total indicator PCB levels than those who ate less of these products, but a significant difference in PCB 153 levels was demonstrated between the subjects consuming higher (11.45 ng/g lipid) and lower (6.79 ng/g lipid) amounts of fish (p<0.05), after adjusting for confounders. These results suggest that age, parity and fish intake are the important factors affecting the concentrations of indicator PCBs in these subjects.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.58 no.3
• /
• pp.200-207
• /
• 2014

This study aimed to assess the quality of outpatient antibiotic consumption in Korea compared with other countries. We used the National Health Insurance claims data for outpatient services in March, June, September, and December in 2012 and calculated nine indicator values based on the 12 European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC) drug-specific quality indicators. Indicator values in this study reflect the yearly use of antibiotic expressed in defined daily doses for 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID) and the use of main subclasses of antibiotics expressed in DID and as percentage of the total antibiotic use. Korea showed lower quality in the consumption of total antibiotics (J01), especially in the use of Cephalosporins (J01D) expressed in DID. Korea also showed low quality with regard to the use of narrow/broad spectrum antibiotics. The percentage of the use of narrow-spectrum Penicillins (J01CE) was lowest in Korea. The quality on the use of the third- and fourth-generation cephalosporin (J01(DD+DE)) was the fourth lowest among 26 countries. High rates of antibiotic resistance and payment system based on fee-for-service might have influenced on the high consumption of the broad spectrum antibiotics in Korea. It needs to further investigate the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics to identify the target of strategies promoting quality use of antibiotics in Korea.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.229-235
• /
• 2010

Efforts to evaluate water pollution using indicator microorganisms have been underway for decades, and driven by research on water purity control applications, water quality criteria are growing more and more strict. Furthermore, recent reports indicate that high concentrations of antibiotics are not absorbed, and are present in excrement from animals and humans dosed with unnecessarily high levels of antibiotics. This has emerged as very important issue from the standpoint of being an ecological and health hazard. In this study, water pollution was analyzed through physicochemical and microbiological means, and antibiotic resistance in indicator microorganisms was assessed. In physicochemical analysis, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD)$_5$ and chemical oxygen demand (COD)$_{Mn}$ evaluation showed that pollution by organisms was highest at the G1 location with a high human population, and the DP location which has many livestock-containing households. The indicator organism levels at the G1 location were: Total Coliforms (1205 colony forming units (CFU)/100 ml), Fecal Coliforms (270 CFU/100 ml), Escherichia coli (253 CFU/100 ml) and Fecal Streptococci (210 CFU/100 ml), while for the DP location levels were: Total Coliforms (1480 CFU/100 ml), Fecal Coliforms (438 CFU/100 ml), E. coli (560 CFU/100 ml), and Fecal Streptococci (348 CFU/100 ml). Levels of fecal indicator microorganisms such as Fecal Coliforms, E. coli and Fecal Streptococci were high at all locations in the fall (the period after the rainy season), and the yearly distribution was similar between these organisms. If the number of livestock-containing households was high, almost all strains of E. coli (as distinct from the other indicator organisms) showed resistance to antibiotics, with the degree of resistance varying between areas. E. coli strains from the OY area in particular, which has a high population density, showed strong resistance to AM10 and Va30. While strong antibiotic resistance was observed overall at the DP and OY locations, no resistance was observed at the EB location.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.182-191
• /
• 2021

Objective: This study was performed to detect indicator bacteria in drinking spring water samples in Gwangju City and to identify their genus using the VITEK-II system. Methods: The subjects were ten drinking spring water sites in Gwangju. Samples of spring water were taken every month from September 2019 to August 2020. We analyzed for the indicator bacteria Yersinia and microorganisms isolated from the spring water. Result: According to the research results on indicator bacteria, general bacteria in st1-st7 with sterilization facilities in the spring and summer were investigated in the range of 0-2 CFU/mL and 0-12 CFU/mL. In st9, where a sterilization facility was not installed, the most general bacteria were detected (160 CFU/mL). Total coliform and fecal coliform showed unsatisfied rates of 16.7 and 11.1% in spring and 14.7 and 11.8% in summer, respectively. The unsatisfied rates of total coliform for the designated and non-designated spring water facilities were 3.8 and 47.1%, respectively, and for the fecal coliform group they were 2.5 and 35.3%. The difference was confirmed according to the presence of a sterilization facility. Yersinia spp. was not detected in all drinking spring water. Forty-one strains in 25 species were isolated from ten sites. The results classified as major dominant species are Pseudomonas spp. 14.6%, Pantoea spp. 9.8%, Serratia spp. 9.8%, Acinetobacter spp. 9.8%, Citrobacter spp. 7.3%, Bordetella spp. 7.3%, Delftia spp. 4.9%, and Enterobacter spp. 4.9%. Conclusions: Based on the result that various species derived from fecal pollution and artificial pollutants were detected in the non-specified public spring water facilities that many people use, the facilities need institutional complements such as continuous management or complete shutdowns.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.315-324
• /
• 2016

Underserved area is a region that has a lack of healthcare resources. In the context of Korea, however, there are not enough detailed criteria for underserved areas. In this study, we aimed to develop indicators for underserved area through Delphi technique. We systematically reviewed the existing measure of underserved area. Sixty indicators were extracted as candidates across four domains in secondary medical care. Four domains are demand, medical resource, quality of care, and health outcome. To develop indicator, two round Delphi survey was conducted among 15 professional experts such as professionals and public administrators. In conclusion, 2 final indicators (accessibility, medical utilization) was determined as an appropriate measure in order to designate underserved area for secondary medical services. Using our criteria from Delphi technique, 36 areas were found as underserved areas for the secondary medical care.