• Quality Improvement in Health Care
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.190-203
• /
• 2003

Background: Dental hygienists are at risk of acquiring infections through exposure to infectious agents. This study explores the frequency of exposure to infectious agents and infection control practices among dental hygienists. Methods: We undertook a cross-sectional survey to examine the exposure to infectious agents and infection control practices among dental hygienists through questionnaire. Data were obtained from 124 dental hygienists attending educational conferences. A multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the factors that effect infection control practices in relation to age, completion of infection control education, recognition of their own serum hepatitis Ag/Ab status, the number of one day patients, location of clinics, type of clinics, and career years. Result: Of the 124 dental hygienists, 91.7% were exposed to at least one accident such as needle stick injuries during their practices periods. The health screening coverage rate in dental hygienists was 16.5%. The number of one day patients and career years were important in relation to infection control practices among dental hygienists. The adjusted odds ratio estimates for career years were 5.049 times greater(95% Cl 1.238-20.597) for groups with over 4 career years than under 2 career years. That for the number of one day patients were 0.261(95% Cl 0.071-0.955) lower for through 20 up to 30 patients, 0.531(95% Cl 0.102-2.78) lower for through 30 up to 40 patients and 0.498(95% Cl 0.123-2.017) lower for more than 40 patients than under 20 patients. Conclusion: From these results, prevalence of infection control practices among dental hygienists is related to the number of one day patients and career years. Prevention of cross infection and reduction of future transmission should be a priority to dental hygienists for promotion of infection control and further efforts to educate newcomers on infection prevention should be made.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.55 no.2
• /
• pp.203-206
• /
• 2017

The seroprevalence of human toxoplasmosis has been increasing in Korea, and it is controversial whether cats are an important infection source or not. This study was performed to evaluate the seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in a high risk group (cat sitters) and to determine the possible importance of cats as an infection source in Korea. Risk factors, including the age, sex, and diet of cat sitters, their contact experience and contact frequency with stray cats, and origin, number, and outdoor activity of their pet cats, were analyzed using structured questionnaires. A total of 673 serum samples from people who have frequent contact with cats (high risk group) and 1,114 samples from general people (low risk group) were examined for specific IgG antibodies against T. gondii by ELISA. The results revealed that the overall seroprevalence of T. gondii infection was 7.4% (n=1,787). The seroprevalence among low risk group was 8.0% (89/1,114), whereas that among high risk group was rather lower 6.4% (43/673), though this difference was statistically not significant (P=0.211). Among the risk factors, only the outdoor activity of pet cats was important; people having cats with outdoor activities revealed 2 times higher seroprevalence than people having cats with only indoor activities (P=0.027). In conclusion, the seroprevalence of T. gondii was not significantly different between the high risk group and low risk group, and the importance of cats as a source of infection in Korea is questionable.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.1521-1525
• /
• 2014

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections worldwide and the association between HPV infection and genital cancers has been well established. This study concerned the possible role of HPV infection in colorectal carcinoma (CRC) in the Iranian population. Materials and Methods: We examined 80 tissues obtained from patients with colorectal cancer consisting of 58 colon cancer samples and 22 rectal cancer samples and 80 tissues from patients with unremarkable pathologic changes as matched controls by sex, study center and anatomical sites. HPV infection and genotypes were detected using nested PCR and sequencing methods, respectively. Results: HPV DNA was detected in 5/80 (6.25%) cases including 1 of 22 (4.54%) patients with rectum cancer and 4 of 58 (6.9%) patients with colon cancer and 1/80 (1.25%) of controls. Furthermore, HPV-18 was detected as the most frequent type and we found no significant correlation between prevalence of HPV infection and anatomical sub- sites. Conclusions: Although a causal relation between human papillomavirus and colorectal cancer was not found through this study, analysis of medical records pointed to a possible role for high- risk types of HPV in increasing the potential of aggressiveness in colorectal cancer. This study shows a particular frequency of HPV genotypes in patients with colorectal cancer in Iran. Since HPV vaccines are limited to a few types of virus, using cohort studies in different geographical zones to screen for patterns of HPV infection in different organs might increase the efficacy and optimization of the current vaccines.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.203-209
• /
• 2007

Infection structures were observed using a fluorescence microscope at the penetration sites on the leaves of potato plants pre-inoculated with the bacterial strains Pseudomonas putida TRL2-3, Micrococcus luteus TRK2-2, and Flexibacteraceae bacterium MRL412, which mediated an induced systemic resistance on potato plants against late blight disease caused by Phytophthora infestans. In order to compare the infection structures on the leaves expressing systemic acquired resistance, the leaves of potato plants pre-treated with DL-3-amino butyric acid (BABA) were also observed after challenge inoculation with the same pathogen. The infection structures were investigated. The total number of germination and appressorium formation of P. infestans were counted. Furthermore, the frequencies of fluorescent epidermal cells at the penetration sites, which indicate a defense response of plant cell, were estimated. There were no differences on the germination rates of the fungal cysts among the untreated control, BABA pre-treated, and bacterial strains pre-inoculated plants. However, appressorium formation was slightly decreased on the leaves of BABA pre-treated plants compared to those of untreated as well as bacterial strains pre-inoculated plants. Furthermore, the frequencies of fluorescent cells of BABA pre-treated and bacterial strains pre-inoculated were higher than that of untreated plants, indicating an active defense reaction of the host cells against the fungal attack. On the other hand, the pre-treatment with BABA caused a stronger fluorescent of epidermal cells at the penetration sites compared to the pre-inoculation with the bacterial strains. Interestingly, the frequency of fluorescent cells by BABA, however, was lower than that by the bacterial strains. Based on the results it is suggested that the infection structures showing resistance reaction on the leaves of potato plants were different between by pre-inoculation with bacterial strains and by pre-treatment with BABA against the late blight pathogen.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.235-238
• /
• 2016

Hepatitis C is an ailment of liver caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. About 3% of the world population is infected by this virus. HCV infection is a leading reason for liver cirrhosis and therefore a major source of hepatocellular carcinoma. The study focused on the incidence of active HCV infection in blood donors of Mardan district of KPK, Pakistan. A total of 5318 blood donors were inspected for the presence of anti-HCV antibodies and HCV-RNA using ICT (immune-chromatographic test), ELISA and RT-PCR at Mardan Medical Complex (MMC), Mardan. Out of these, 157 (2.95%) were positive by ICT, 60 (1.12%) by ELISA and 56 (1.05%) for HCV-RNA. The frequency of active HCV infectivity amongst the blood donors from district Mardan, KPK Pakistan was 1.05 %. Application of strict measures during blood donor selection and use of proper screening assays such as ELISA in place of ICT devices can give a more accurate picture so that the incidence of this viral infection in HCV negative blood recipients can be reduced.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.212-215
• /
• 2004

The complement system is important in the generation of the normal inflammatory response and in host defense against systemic infection. Therefore, inherited or acquired deficiency of complement is associated with an increased frequency of infection. As a major effector of the complement cascade, the membrane attack complex is responsible for direct complement dependent serum bactericidal activity. Especially late complement component deficiency has a markedly increased risk of meningococcal infection and is subject to recurrent infection. We experienced a patient who had recurrent meningococcal meningitis and septicemia. The patient was 13-years old boy and he had a recurrent episode after 20 months. At second admission, we examined complement level and C7 deficiency was confirmed. He was treated without complication. We report a case of deficiency of C7 with recurrent meningococcal meningitis and septicemia.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.47 no.2
• /
• pp.125-130
• /
• 2009

To figure out the epidemiological status and relevance with other diseases in toxoplasmosis, we checked serum IgG antibody titers of 1,265 patients and medical records of seropositive patients. Seropositive rates were 6.6% by latex agglutination test (LAT) and 6.7% by ELISA. No significant differences were detected between sexes and age groups. The peak seroprevalence was detected in the 40-49-year-old age group. According to clinical department, Toxoplasma-positive rates were high in patients in psychiatry, ophthalmology, health management, emergency medicine, and thoracic surgery. Major coincidental diseases in seropositive cases were malignant neoplasms, diabetes mellitus, arthritis, chronic hepatitis B, chronic renal diseases, schizophrenia, and acute lymphadenitis, in the order of frequency. In particular, some patients with chronic hepatitis B and malignant neoplasms had high antibody titers. These results revealed that the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in a general hospital-based study was similar to that in a community-based study, and T. gondii seropositivity may be associated with neoplasms, diabetes, and other chronic infections.

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

• Journal of Advanced Technology Convergence
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.25-32
• /
• 2023

This study was conducted to find out the relationship between knowledge and attitudes about COVID-19 and infection control performance among college students in paramedicine. The subjects of the study were 154 university students attending a 3-4 year paramedicine located in Gwangju Metropolitan City, Jeollabuk-do Province, and the collected data were frequency, percentage, sum, average and It was analyzed by standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA(Scheffe), Pearson's Correlation Coefficient, and Multiple Linear Regression. The order of attitude and knowledge about COVID-19 affected the infection control performance of college students in the paramedicine. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and apply regular or non-regular curriculum and multidisciplinary curriculum that can improve knowledge and attitudes about COVID-19 in order to improve the infection control performance of paramedic students.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.41-50
• /
• 2022

Purpose: This study aims to suggest an analysis model finding the relationship between building scale characteristics of Public-use facilities and infectious disease outbreaks around senior leisure welfare facilities and the features and their scopes where quarantine resources are to be concentrated. Methods: Reviewing previous studies found the user characteristics of senior leisure welfare facilities and scale characteristics of urban architectures. The data preprocessing was performed after collecting building data and infectious disease outbreak data in the analysis area. This study derived data for attributes of building size and frequency of infectious disease outbreaks in Public-use facilities around senior leisure welfare facilities. A computing algorithm was implemented to analyze the correlation between the building size characteristics and the infectious disease outbreak frequency as per the change of the spatial scope. Results: The results of this study are as follows: First, the suggested model was to analyze the correlation between the infection frequency and the number of senior leisure welfare facilities, the number of Public-use facilities, building area, total floor area, site area, height, building-to-land ratio, and floor area ratio varied as per the change of spatial scope. Second, correlation results varied between the infection frequency and the number of senior leisure welfare facilities, the number of Public-use facilities, building area, total floor area, site area, height, building-to-land ratio, and floor area ratio. Third, a negative correlation appeared in the analysis between the number of senior leisure welfare facilities and infection frequency. And positive correlations appeared noticeably in the study between the number of Public-use facilities, building area, total floor area, height, building-to-land ratio, and floor area ratio. Implications: This study can be used as primary data on the utilization of limited quarantine resources by analyzing the relationship between the Public-use facilities around the senior leisure welfare facilities and the spread of infectious diseases. In addition, it suggests that infectious disease prevention measures are necessary considering the spatial scope of the analysis area and the size of buildings.