• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.525-529
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• 2009

Cytolethal distending toxins (CDTs) represent an emerging family of newly described bacterial products that are produced by a number of pathogens. The genes encoding these toxins have been identified as a cluster of three adjacent genes, cdtA, cdtB, and cdtC, plus 5 cdt genetic variants, designated as cdt-I, cdt-II, cdt-III, cdt-IV, and cdt-V, have been identified to date. In this study, a general multiplex PCR system designed to detect Escherichia coli cdts was applied to investigate the presence of cdt genes among isolates. As a result, among 366 E. coli strains, 2.7% were found to carry the cdtB gene. In addition, the use of type-specific primers revealed the presence of cdt-I, cdtIV, and cdt-V types of the cdt gene, yet no cdt-II or cdt-III strains. The presence of other virulence genes (stxl, stx2, eae, bfp, espA, espB, and espD) was also investigated using a PCR assay. Among the 10 cdtB gene-positive strains, 8 were identified as COT-producing typical enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) strains ($eae^+$, $bfp^+$), whereas 2 were identified as CDT-producing atypical EPEC strains ($eae^+$, $bfp^-$). When comparing the cytotoxic activity of the CDT-producing typical and atypical EPEC strains, the CDT-producing atypical EPEC strains appeared to be less toxic than the CDT-producing typical EPEC strains.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 1981

The objective of the study is to measure the changes in measles infection and measles vaccination rates for the past 10 years in a rural area, Kang Wha. The study population were the entire children who were born between 1971 and 1950 in three townships (Sunwon, Naegae, Buleun) in Kangwha County. Two interview surveys were carried out during the 10 years of period, one in 1977 and the other in 1981. The data were collected by Family Health Workers through interview with structured questionnaires. The diagnosis of measles was mainly based on histories, symptoms and sighs of the disease. If a mother had reported measles history of her child, a public physician reviewed and decided the final diagnosis of the reported case. A retrospective cohort observation was done in order to see the trends of measles infections and measles vaccinations. The major findings were as follows; 1. The 5 year prevalence rate of measles vaccinations was 51.3% between 1971 and 1975 and 71.9% between 1976 and 1980 respectively. The difference between two periods was statistically significant (P<0.05). The secular trend of measles vaccinations showed increasing tendency from 1971 to 1978 and since then kept maintained. 2. In the birth cohort analysis of measles vaccinations, the vaccination rates, in general, were higher in the later cohort groups than that of earlier cohort groups. 9. The 5-year experience rates for measles infections were 24.3% between 1971 and 1975 and 17.2% between 1976 and 1980 respectively. This difference was statistically significant(P<0.05). The secular trend of experience rates for measles infections showed decreasing tendency from 1971 to 1980 except an outbreak in 1976. 4. The birth cohort analysis of experience rates for measles infections showed that the rate was higher in the later cohort groups than that of the earlier cohort groups. This decreasing tendency was prominent between $1973{\sim}1974$ and $1976{\sim}1977$. 5. The distribution of age specific incidence rates for measles infections showed unimodal curve with the peak at the age of 12 to 18 months. This findings were same in both two surveys. 6. Seasonal variations of the measles infections showed two peaks, one major peak in March through May and the another minor peak in September through December. 7. The 5-year reduction rate for measles infections among those vaccinated was 90.4% between 1971 and 1975 and 88% between 1976 and 1980.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.189-198
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• 2008

Objective: The study aimed to provide basic data for enhancing dental hygienists' practice of prevention for infections of dental hygienists by examining what factors there were in their preventing the infections in dental clinics. Method: The subjects of study were 168 dental hygienists who participated in continuing medical education of Incheon & Gyeonggi-do association and Seoul city association in October and November 2005. For the data analysis, an SPSS WIN 13.0 program was used and its significance level was 0.05. In terms of analysis methods, frequency analysis and technical statistics analysis were performed for general characteristics, ANOVA was performed for general traits, practice, medical environments for knowledge and practice analysis, correlation analysis was performed for the relation between knowledge & organization-related factors and practice, Chi-Square Tests were performed for the relation between general traits and educational experiences, T-test was performed for practice and knowledge according to the educational experiences for preventing infections and multiple regression analysis was performed for the factors that affect the practice for preventing infections. Result: knowledge showed statistically significant differences by age (F=4.895, p=0.003) and those with the education experiences in preventing infections had higher scores in practice of prevention for infections than those without them (t=3.315, p=0.001). The correlation between knowledge and practice was significant statistically (p<0.05), the factors related to organization showed significant correlation (p<0.01) and the higher the factors related to organizations, knowledge, education experiences, service career, the higher the practice for prevention of infections was ($R^2=0.32$). Conclusions: In order to enhance the dental hygienists' practice for the prevention of infections, it would be necessary to treat the contents of the infection prevention in educational curriculum at schools and enhance dental hygiene students' knowledge on the prevention of infection and to develop the programs, with which continuous education and PRS could be conducted through in-house education and continuing medical education of the hospital after school graduation and it has been believed that it would be the most important for dental hygienists to make efforts and interest in organizations actively so as to build up safe working environments.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.186-194
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• 2017

Objectives: A significant concern has been raised about the emerging resistance that is largely caused by the excessive or inappropriate use of antibacterial agents for viral respiratory infections. This study investigated the trend of respiratory tract infections (RTIs) and the use of antibiotics. Methods: Utilizing the national level health insurance claims data from 2005 to 2008, we examined encounter days, antibiotic use, and the prescription rate for respiratory tract infections including upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs), and otitis media in outpatient settings. The antibiotic use was measured as defined daily dose per 1,000 patients per day (DDD/1,000 patients/day). Results: The visit for URTI increased from 141,693,465 in 2005 to 120,717,966 in 2008 and the visit for LRTI decreased from 61,778,718 to 66,930,122. For RTIs, prescription rates of antibiotics decreased from 65.2% to 58.5% for URTIs and 76.9% to 68.3% for LRTIs from 2005 to 2008. The antibiotic use decreased to 20.85 DDD/1,000 patients/day after a significant increase of 22.01 DDD/1,000 patients/day in 2006. Among antibiotics, J01CR had the highest use- 7.93 DDD/1,000 patients/day followed by J01DC of 3.71 DDD/1,000 patients/day and J01FA of 3.2 DDD/1,000 patients/day. One notable trend is that J01FA presented a continuous increase in antibiotic use from 2.3 in 2005 to 3.26 DDD/1,000 patients/day in 2008. Conclusion: The use of antibiotics had poor compliance to guidelines for RTIs. Despite decrease in the use of antibiotics, prescription rates for URTIs were still about 50% indicating that the delayed prescribing antibiotics (or wait-and-see) were not observed.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 1972

A survey of piroplasma infections, and trials of therapy of dairy cattle imported from Canada were conducted. The studies were carried out by hematological and clinical examinations, from May to September, 1970. The result obtained were summarized as follows: 1. A considerable damages due to Babesia and Theileria infections of dairy cattle were observed in several dairy farms where Pamaquine and Quinuroneum sulphate treatment was applied. 2. The infection was more commonly found in farms where Korean native cattle was raised previously. 3. The dairy cattle raised on pasture which is lightly infected with ticks were mostly infected with Theileria. The infected cattle were easily recovered after treatment with Pamaquine. 4. Leukocytosis and the left shift of neutrophils were observed in the cattle showing mixed infection with Babesia and Theileria.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.286-295
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• 2020

Respiratory infections are very common and highly contagious. Respiratory infectious diseases affect not only the person infected but also the family members and the society. As medical sciences advance, several diseases have been conquered; however, the impact of novel infectious diseases on the society is enormous. As the clinical presentation of respiratory infections is similar regardless of the pathogen, the causative agent is not distinguishable by symptoms alone. Moreover, it is difficult to develop a cure because of the various viral mutations. Various respiratory infectious diseases ranging from influenza, which threaten the health of mankind globally, to the coronavirus disease 2019, which resulted in a pandemic, exist. Contrary to human expectations that development in health care and improvement in hygiene will conquer infectious diseases, humankind's health and social systems are threatened by novel infectious diseases. Owing to the development of transport and trading activity, the rate of spread of new infectious diseases is increasing. As respiratory infections can threaten the members of the global community at any time, investigations on preventing the transmission of these diseases as well as development of effective antivirals and vaccines are of utmost importance and require a worldwide effort.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.269-273
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• 2012

We aimed to estimate the prevalence of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infections in women of high socioeconomic status (SES) in Seoul, Republic of Korea and to identify risk factors. This study included 13,386 women visiting a prestigious healthcare center located in Seoul between 2003 and 2008. High-risk HPV infections were detected in 994 (7%) and the age-standardized prevalence was 8%. Abnormal Pap smear results ${\geq}$ atypical squamous cells of unknown significance (ASCUS) were observed in 280 of 12,080 women (2%). Based on univariate analysis, age, level of education and number of children were associated with high-risk HPV infections. Based on multivariate analysis, age and high-risk HPV infections had an inverse relationship. In women with high SES in Seoul, the prevalence of high-risk HPV infection was 7% and the age-standardized prevalence was 8%. Age was a strong determinant of high-risk HPV infection.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.75 no.3
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• pp.125-127
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• 2013

In this paper, we describe 72-year-old female patient without evidence of malignant disease presented with significantly elevated serum carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 levels by respiratory infections. She was diagnosed with respiratory infections due to Mycobacterium avium complex and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The serum CA 19-9 levels remarkably increased (1,453-5,300 U/mL; reference range, <37 U/mL) by respiratory infection and abruptly decreased (357-534 U/mL) whenever infection was controlled by specific treatments. This case suggests that serum CA 19-9 levels may be used as a diagnostic marker to indicate new or resistant infections to previous antibiotics in chronic lung diseases without significant changes in chest X-ray findings.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.213-217
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• 2005

Group A Streptococcus(GAS) is one of the most common cause of pediatric infection. Although known invasive GAS infections such as, meningitis, pneumonia and osteomyelitis are rare, there has been an increasing incidence of invasive GAS infections recently. Invasive GAS infections, including GAS meningitis can be easily treated if diagnosed early. However, delayed diagnosis and treatment may be fatal. We experienced one case of GAS meningitis. Although a few cases of GAS meningitis have been reported worldwide, it seems to be the first report from Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society of School Health
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.48-58
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• 2018

Purpose: This study was to identify the factors that influence sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents in Korea. Methods: The data from the 10~12th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey (2014~2016) were used to assess the effects of individual, family, and school-related factors on sexually transmitted infections. The participants of this study were 9,760 adolescents who had experienced sexual intercourse. The participants consisted of 6,905 boys and 2,855 girls. Results: Out of 9,760 adolescents with sexual intercourse experience, 9.7% (908) had STIs. Grade, substance abuse, age at first sexual intercourse, having sexual intercourse after drinking alcohol, the type of sex partner and family structure were significantly related STIs in both boys and girls. Using condoms was related to STIs only in boys. Drinking alcohol and smoking were related to STIs only in girls. However, sex education at school was not related to STIs in both boys and girls. Conclusion: In this study, Individual and family factors were associated with STIs in male and female adolescents. The results of this study suggest the need for systematic research on the factors influencing STIs and health eduation for STI prevention.