• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.119-124
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• 2020

A cluster of severe pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan City, Hubei province in China emerged in December 2019. A novel coronavirus named severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was isolated from lower respiratory tract sample as the causative agent. The current outbreak of infections with SARS-CoV-2 is termed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) by the World Health Organization (WHO). COVID-19 rapidly spread into at least 114 countries and killed more than 4,000 people by March 11 2020. WHO officially declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. There have been 2 novel coronavirus outbreaks in the past 2 decades. The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003 caused by SARS-CoV had a case fatality rate of around 10% (8,098 confirmed cases and 774 deaths), while Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) caused by MERS-CoV killed 861 people out of a total 2,502 confirmed cases between 2012 and 2019. The purpose of this review is to summarize known-to-date information about SARS-CoV-2, transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and clinical features.

• 대한예방의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1998.10b
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• pp.121-122
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• 1998

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.131-135
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• 2015

Since April 2012, more than 1,600 laboratory-confirmed human infections with Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) have been reported, occurring primarily in countries in the Arabian Peninsula; the majority in Saudi Arabia. The MERS outbreak in Korea, which began in May 2015 through the importation of a single case who had recently traveled to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. As of November 28th, 186 secondary and tertiary cases had been reported; 38 deaths, mainly associated with underlying chronic illnesses, were reported. One case was exported to China and has been recorded as the first MERS case in China. Thirty-seven confirmed cases were associated with the index case, who was hospitalized from May 15 to May 17. Emergency room at one of the nation's largest hospitals had been affected by hospital-to-hospital and intra-hospital transmissions of MERS-CoV, resulting in an outbreak of 90 infected patients. The vast majority of 186 confirmed cases are linked to a single transmission chain associated with health facilities. The median age of patients is 55 years, with a range of 16 to 87 years. The majority (61%) of patients are men. Twenty-five (14%) of the cases involve healthcare workers. The overall median incubation period was six days, but it was four days for secondary cases and six days for tertiary cases. There has been no evidence of airborne transmission and sustained human-to-human transmission in communities. Intensified public health measures, including contact tracing, quarantine and isolation of all contacts and suspected cases, and infection prevention and control have brought the MERS-CoV under control in Korea. Since 4 July no new cases have been reported.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.2221-2227
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• 2017

Echovirus serotype 30 (ECHO30) has been responsible for several recent worldwide outbreaks of viral meningitis. In Zhejiang Province, China, ECHO30 has been one of the main causes of viral meningitis for years. This study, using phylogenetic analysis of the VP1 gene, was performed to investigate the general molecular epidemiology and genetic patterns of ECHO30 circulating in Zhejiang Province between the years 2002 and 2015. The nucleotide sequences of ECHO30 VP1 showed that they were 64.8% identical with the prototype strain, Bastianni, while the amino acids were 84.9% identical. Phylogenetic analyses showed that ECHO30 in the Zhejiang area has diverged into two genotypes. Genotype I consists of strains isolated since 2002, whereas genotype II includes strains that were mainly isolated during the 2002 to 2004 outbreak. ECHO30 has been endemically circulating in both humans and the environment for a long period of time. Additionally, we evaluated the significance of recombination presented during the years 2005 to 2007 to demonstrate that recombination plays an important role in the prevalence of ECHO30 in the Zhejiang area.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.65-73
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• 2011

Objects: In July 2 2010, a diarrhea outbreak occurred among the workers in a company in Gyeungju city, Korea. An epidemiological investigation was performed to clarify the cause and transmission route of the outbreak. Methods: We conducted a questionnaire survey among 193 persons, and we examined 21 rectal swabs and 6 environmental specimens. We also delegated the Daegu Bukgu public health center to examine 3 food service employees and 5 environmental specimens from the P buffet which served a buffet on June 30. The patient case was defined as a worker of L Corporation and who participated in the company meal service and who had diarrhea more than one time. We also collected the underground water filter of the company on July 23. Results: The attack rate of diarrhea among the employees was 20.3%. The epidemic curve showed that a single exposure peaked on July 1. The relative risk of attendance and non-attendance by date was highest for the lunch of June 30 (35.62; 95% CI, 2.25 to 574.79). There was no specific food that was statistically regarded as the source of the outbreak. $Bacillus$ $cereus$ was cultured from two of the rectal swabs, two of the preserved foods and the underground water filter. We thought the exposure date was lunch of June 30 according the latency period of $B.$ $cereus$. Conclusions: We concluded the route of transmission was infection of dishes, spoons and chopsticks in the lunch buffet of June 30 by the underground water. At the lunch buffet, 50 dishes, 40 spoons, and chopsticks were served as cleaned and wiped with a dishcloth. We thought the underground water contaminated the dishes, spoons, chopsticks and the dishcloth. Those contaminated materials became the cause of this outbreak.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.165-169
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• 1999

The incidence of aseptic meningitis infection is ensuing and threatening the health of children. Enteroviruses are the major agents of aseptic meningitis and identification of virus has been a clue to diagnosis and epidemiology. The outbreak of aseptic meningitis occurred in Pusan, 1998. Patients were concentrated from April through November. Children were more susceptible than adults. Among 306 cases of specimens from stool, throat swab tested, only 7.2% were positive on virus isolation, 12 cases from stool and 10 from throat, respectively. All isolated 7 serotypes of viruses represented cytopathic effect on cultured cells. Three types of echovirus 6.25, 30 and coxsackievirus B2, B3, B4, B6 were identified by neutralizing antibody test. Isolated coxsackievirus and echovirus were observed by an electron microscope with negative staining.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.229-234
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• 2006

Varicella, which is mostly a benign disease, but also can cause considerable health burden in the community, can be prevented by immunization with live attenuated varicella vaccine. Higher uptake of varicella vaccine by universal immunization in North America has apparently been associated with decline in the number of reported cases of varicella, varicella-related hospitalizations, and the number of deaths caused by complications of varicella. On the contrary, there has been some reluctance in endorsing varicella vaccine for universal immunization in most of European countries. Concerns include unanticipated outbreaks of varicella among vaccine recipients, risk of varicella among unvaccinated adults, risk of herpes zoster among vaccinees as well as unvaccinees. Recently developed measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella combination vaccine and herpes zoster vaccine that may be licensed in the upcoming years may be the solution for varicella vaccine to be utilized in a greater scale. In Korea several varicella vaccine products have been utilized since late 1980. The adoption of varicella vaccine for universal immunization since 2005 along with the changing view in varicella prevention strategy mandates more studies for immunogenecity and efficacy of varicella vaccines as well as more surveillance to delineate the changes in epidemiology of varicella in Korea.

• Journal of environmental and Sanitary engineering
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• v.2 no.2 s.2
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• pp.61-67
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• 1987

The genus Vibrio contains some of the most important intestinal pathogens of humans, including Vibrio cholerae, the cause of epidemic Asiatic cholera. A group of organisms which have been reffered to as the non-agglutinating vibrio (NAG) do not agglutinate in the Vibrio cholerae 0 group 1 antisera, but are indistinguishable from the 0-1 group both chemically and genetically. Non-O-l Vibrio cholerae can cause isolated as well as focal outbreaks of diarrhea, but the volume of fluid loss does not approach that of classic cholera, and the disease is usually self-limiting. These free-living organisms are found world-widely distributed in the environment including sewage, contaminated water, estuaries, seafood and animals. These strains involved in several cases were isolated from the environment and some patients of diarrhea, and a few epidemiologic reports indicated the wide distribution of the strains throughout the country, giving an attention to the role the organisms may play in an outbreak of diarrhea in Korea. More research on the epidemiology, serologic typing and virulence of the group of organisms, should be, therefore, done to obtain a complete understanding of their role in human disease.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.7
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• pp.322-327
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• 2021

School closures during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic have been outlined in studies from different disciplines, including economics, sociology, mathematical modeling, epidemiology, and public health. In this review, we discuss the implications of school closures in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. Modeling studies of the effects of school closures, largely derived from the pandemic influenza model, on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 produced conflicting results. Earlier studies assessed the risk of school reopening by modeling transmission across schools and communities; however, it remains unclear whether the risk is due to increased transmission in adults or children. The empirical findings of the impact of school closures on COVID-19 outbreaks suggest no clear effect, likely because of heterogeneity in community infection pressure, differences in school closure strategies, or the use of multiple interventions. The benefits of school closings are unclear and not readily quantifiable; however, they must be weighed against the potential high social costs, which can also negatively affect the health of this generation.

• 한국환경농학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2009.07a
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• pp.283-297
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• 2009

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has become an important concern in food safety. Until now, 36 cases of BSE have been detected in Japan. Control programs have led to a decrease in the annual numbers, and Japan has now been categorized as a "controlled risk" country by the World Animal Health Organization (OIE). In spite of a worldwide decrease in the number of BSE cases, sporadic occurrences of atypical BSE cases have been reported. In Japan, 2 atypical BSE cases were confirmed. A Japanese L-type-BSE (BSE/JP24) has exhibited transmissibility to bovinized transgenic mice (TgBoPrP) it has a shorter incubation period than that of classical BSE. Although the origin of atypical BSE is obscure, risk analysis of newly emerged BSE prions of cattle and humans is required.