• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.574-581
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• 2023

Nocardiosis is an uncommon opportunistic bacterial infection which becomes a significant health problem due to its increasing incidence and high mortality rate. However, many nocardiosis patients are underdiagnosed by physicians. To summarize the clinical characteristics and management of nocardiosis would help with better diagnosis and prognosis of nocardiosis. This retrospective study was conducted based on the medical records of nocardiosis patients between January 2015 and December 2021 in a tertiary hospital in China. Overall, 44 nocardiosis patients with 54 specimens were included. The patients consisted of 26 males and 18 females with a mean age of 50.4 ± 13.2 years. Among 44 patients, 26 (59.1%) were previously given immunosuppressive therapy. Connective tissue diseases (CTDs) were the most common underlying disease (16/44). The most frequent infection sites were the lungs (17/44) and skin or soft tissues (8/44). Common symptoms included cough (23/44), expectoration (18/44), fever (15/44), and subcutaneous abscesses (15/44). Forty-five out of 54 specimens (83.3%) required over 48 hours of culture time for nocardiosis detection. Thirty-six patients were cured or improved, 5 patients were discharged from the hospital due to poor prognosis, and 1 patient died. The average diagnosis time of poor prognosis cases was 19.7 days, which was significantly longer than those of improved or cured patients (7.3 days). Immunosuppressed patients comprise a large part of nocardiosis cases, which is worth attention in clinical practice. Early diagnosis, specifically through prolonged cultivation time of specimen, could help achieve better prognosis of nocardiosis patients.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.531-538
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus infection control among nurses in intensive care units. Method: Data were collected from August 15 to October 14, 2007 from 188 nurses working in intensive care units. The nurses answered a 26 item-questionnaire, which included management of the cohort (14 items), hand washing (6 items) and management of the environment (6 items). Descriptive statistics, t or F test, ANOVA, and multiple regression analysis were used with SPSS PC+ 14.0 to analyze the data. Results: The participant's level of awareness of Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus infection control was 3.87; that of compliance was 3.74. Significant factors influencing the level of compliance with Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus infection control were'the level of the awareness' and 'the type of intensive care unit'. These two variables accounted for 21.0% of variance for compliance with the Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus infection control among the participants. Conclusion: In order to develop a strategy to increase the compliance with Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus infection control, it is necessary to be concerned about 'the level of the awareness', 'the type of intensive care unit;', and 'experiences of caring for patients with Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus'.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.155-160
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• 2021

This study analyzed the awareness and performance of physical therapists' infection control using IPA. The four areas were divided into handwashing, personal management, Treatment room environment management, and infection control education, and a survey was conducted on awareness and practice. General characteristics were analyzed for frequency, and recognition and performance were analyzed through paired t-test and Pearson's correlation. Handwashing was both high and infection, control education had high performance, but low awareness. The performance of Treatment room environment was high, but the awareness was low, and personal management was both low. Therefore, based on this study, there is a need for a strategy to improve the awareness of infection control education, a strategy to improve performance in the treatment room environment, and a strategy to improve both performance and awareness in Personal management.

• Kidney Research and Clinical Practice
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.347-355
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• 2018

Background: Nephrotic syndrome (NS) is the most common glomerulopathy in children. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication of NS, caused by severe intravascular volume depletion, acute tubular necrosis, interstitial nephritis, or progression of NS. However, the incidence and risk factors of childhood-onset NS in Korea are unclear. Therefore, we studied the incidence, causes, and risk factors of AKI in hospitalized Korean patients with childhood-onset NS. Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of patients with childhood-onset NS who were admitted to our center from January 2015 to July 2017. Patients with decreased renal function or hereditary/secondary NS, as well as those admitted for management of other conditions unrelated to NS, were excluded. Results: During the study period, 65 patients with idiopathic, childhood-onset NS were hospitalized 90 times for management of NS or its complications. Of these 90 cases, 29 met the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes criteria for AKI (32.2%). They developed AKI in association with infection (n = 12), NS aggravation (n = 11), dehydration (n = 3), and intravenous methylprednisolone administration (n = 3). Age ${\geq}9$ years at admission and combined use of cyclosporine and renin-angiotensin system inhibitors were risk factors for AKI. Conclusion: AKI occurred in one-third of the total hospitalizations related to childhood-onset NS, owing to infection, aggravation of NS, dehydration, and possibly high-dose methylprednisolone treatment. Age at admission and use of nephrotoxic agents were associated with AKI. As the AKI incidence is high, AKI should be considered during management of high-risk patients.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.1150-1158
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• 2009

Since equipment currently being used in the department of radiological technology comes into contact with patients carrying diseases, there inevitably will be the existence of pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, in order to increase the importance of using disinfectant in hospital infection precaution and the recognition of hospital infection management, comparisons were made by measuring the bacterial contamination levels in radiology room within the department of radiological technology and comparing the measurements with post disinfection levels. Disinfecting the rooms from detected bacteria was conducted with water, tissue cleaner, or 70% alcohol. When measuring bacterial contamination levels in radiology rooms, a variety of bacteria was detected. When disinfecting the interior of radiology rooms the effectiveness of destroying bacteria and preventing hospital infection was greatest when using 70% alcohol compared to water, tissue cleaner and ventilation. Therefore, there needs to be a development of a better antiseptic for destroying bacteria because there is a possibility for hospital medical equipment to be constantly contaminated. Efforts need to be made to prevent hospital infections and patient secondary infection by disinfecting and sterilizing equipment.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.79 no.4
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• pp.201-206
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• 2016

Active tuberculosis (TB) has a greater burden of TB bacilli than latent TB and acts as an infection source for contacts. Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) is the state in which humans are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis without any clinical symptoms, radiological abnormality, or microbiological evidence. TB is transmissible by respiratory droplet nucleus of $1-5{\mu}m$ in diameter, containing 1-10 TB bacilli. TB transmission is affected by the strength of the infectious source, infectiousness of TB bacilli, immunoresistance of the host, environmental stresses, and biosocial factors. Infection controls to reduce TB transmission consist of managerial activities, administrative control, engineering control, environmental control, and personal protective equipment provision. However, diagnosis and treatment for LTBI as a national TB control program is an important strategy on the precondition that active TB is not missed. Therefore, more concrete evidences for LTBI management based on clinical and public perspectives are needed.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.348-354
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• 2016

Data stored in hospital information systems has a great potential to improve adequacy assessment and quality management. Moreover, an establishment of a data warehouse has been known to improve quality management and to offer help to clinicians. This study constructed a data mart that can be used to analyze antibiotic usage as a part of systematic and effective data analysis of infection control information. Metadata was designed by using the XML DTD method after selecting components and evaluation measures for infection control. OLAP-a multidimensional analysis tool-for antibiotic usage analysis was developed by building a data mart through modeling. Experimental data were obtained from data on antibiotic usage at a university hospital in Cheonan area for one month in July of 1997. The major components of infection control metadata were antibiotic resistance information, antibiotic usage information, infection information, laboratory test information, patient information, and infection related costs. Among them, a data mart was constructed by designing a database to apply antibiotic usage information to a star schema. In addition, OLAP was demonstrated by calculating the statistics of antibiotic usage for one month. This study reports the development of a data mart on antibiotic usage for infection control through the implementation of XML and OLAP techniques. Building a conceptual, structured data mart would allow for a rapid delivery and diverse analysis of infection control information.

• Journal of Technologic Dentistry
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.173-185
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• 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate dental technicians' awareness of infections and to enhance their interest and commitment towards infection prevention. Methods: A self-reported questionnaire survey was conducted among dental technicians. Total of 195 responses were used for analysis. A cross-tabulation analysis was used to compare dental technicians' awareness of infections according to their levels of education on infection prevention (α=0.05). Results: Dental technicians were educated on infection prevention (40.5%). Most participants received infection prevention education from school (29.8%). Dental laboratories had an infection control guideline (34.9%). Dental technicians were not aware of infection risks at their workplaces or believed that they were not at risk of infections at their workplaces (59.3%). Conclusion: Dental technicians must be consistently educated on infection prevention and control through systematic education at school and wider promotion through media. Research is needed to economically and efficiently improve equipment used by dental technicians and to protect them from infectious diseases. A budget for infection prevention must also be determined. Institutional measures such as providing support for dental technicians at the policy level and developing a basic infection prevention manual are necessary. Solving these issues not only protects dental technicians from infections but also allows them to provide high-quality medical services.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.44-51
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• 2002

Purpose: Surgical Site Infection(SSI) is the third most common cause of nosocomial infection, so that it results in serious socioeconomic impact such as extra hospitalization, mortality and health care cost. The aim of this study was to analyses the SSI that based on the degree of wound contamination and patient risk index after general surgery and to generate a reference data for the effective management and reducing SSI. Method: From July, 1999 to June, 2000, 1080 cases which presented with surgical site infection after general surgery at S hospital in chunchon city were included in this study. The data were collected by review of the medical records retrospectively. The collected data, in accordance with the test purpose, is analyzed by SPSS/PC+ program, using real numbers, percentage, $X^2$ test, Pearson's correlation and stepwise logistic regression. Result: The overall wound infection rate was 4.7%(51 cases out of 1,080). The infection rate of clean wounds was 1.4%. Surgical site infection rate for patient risk index scores of 0, 1, 2 and 3 was 1.9%, 8.0%, 13.1% and 20.0%, respectively and increased significantly according to patient risk index(p=.000). Sixteen of the fifty one(31.4%) surgical site infections were found during an outpatient visit after discharge. Multivariate analysis, identified two independent variables : duration of postoperation stay(p=.000), age(p=.037). The most frequent isolated organisms were Pseudomonas aeruginosa(21%) and Staphylococcus aureus(21%). Also Staphylococcus aureus were all MRSA(Methicillin Resistant S. aureus). Conclusion: In this study, SSI was analysed according to the degree of wound contamination and patient risk index after general surgery. The data that obtained from this study is expected that it would be available for surveillance and control of SSI.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.397-413
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• 1999

The purpose of study is to prevent Nosocomial Respiratory Infection after understand the Correlation about Recognition and Performance of Critical Nurses. Data were collected from Critical Nurses 300 persons who has worked in 14 Subsidary Hospitals of University in Seoul and the collection periode is from Nov. 1st, 1997 to Jul. 14th. 1998. There are 40 questions and constructed by 6 Domains which Hand Washing, Suction Management, Airway Management, Respiratory Instrument. Ventilation and Respiratory Intervention. Also, the Data were analized with SPSS program. The obtained results are as follows : (1) The Mean of Recognition for Prevention of Nosocomial Respiratory Infection is 4.649 and by Domains, Respiratory Intervention(4.758), Suction Management (4.669), Airway Management(4.660), Hand Washing(4.651), Ventilation(4.605) and Respiratory Instrument(4.561) according to the Mean. (2) The Mean of Performance for Prevention of Nosocomial Respiratory Infection is 3.991 and by Domains, Respiratory Intervention(4.498), Airway Management (4.107), Hand Washing(4.084), Suction Management(3.898), Respiratory Instrument(3.860) and Ventilation(3.690) according to the Mean. (3) In the Correlation of Recognition and Performance for the Prevention of Nosocomial Respiratory Infection, Hand Washing(r=0.755, p=0.000), Airway Management(r=0.724, p=0.000), Respiratory Intervention(r=0.693, p=0.000) are mentioned significant correlation level. The Performance is good whenever the Recognition is high for Respiratory Instrument(r=0.143, p=0.054) but it's not significant level and Suction Management and Ventilation has no Correlation. (4) In Normal Properties, The Recognition is good(p<.05) when Nurses has plenty Clinical Career, Attendance of the Education and Exclusive Nurse for the Respiratory Infection is in Hospital. The Age is not significant correlation level statistically but represent a little correlation. The Performance is good(p<.05) when Elder Age, Attendance of the Education and the plenty Clinical Career is not significant correlation level statistically but represent a little correlation. Another properties has no menas. According to the results, Suggestion is as follows ; (1) Required Education to advance Recognition and Performance about Prevention of Nosocomial Respiratory Infection for a little clinical career of Nursing and younger Nurses. (2) It needs to analyze Performance about Prevention of Nosocomial Respiratory Infection by observation of research worker.