• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.407-415
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• 1992

Among 85 patients with anti-HCV positive chronic liver disease, only 21.2% have past history of blood transfusion and over half the cases, they do not have any suspicious risk factors for HCV infection, 3 of 85 families show anti-HCV positive family members. On the other hand, 40 of 60 patients with HBsAg positive chronic liver disease show HBsAg positive family members. In Korea, HBV is transmitted mainly through vertical and intrafamilial infection but HCV disease might be rather horizontal and sporadic than vertical. To define the evident source of infection in sporadic hepatitis C, first of all, simple test with high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis of HCV infection would be needed.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.136-148
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• 2016

Purpose: This study was done to investigate the level of nursing students' awareness, attitude, safety climate, and performance of infection control, and to identify factors influencing performance. Methods: The sample consisted of 239 nursing students from 5 nursing schools. Data were collected from November 15 to December 11, 2013 and analyzed by frequency, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple stepwise regression with SPSS/WIN 21.0. Results: Of the participants, 216 (90.4%) had experienced contact with infectious diseases. The performance of personal hygiene was scored the highest followed by standard precautions, transmission precautions, and vaccination. There were significant correlations between awareness, attitude, safety-climate and performance. Awareness, safety-climate, attitude, contents of infection control education, and direct exposure to infectious disease collectively explained 30% of the variance in performance, and awareness was the most influential factor. Conclusion: The results indicate that performance of infection control by nursing students can be increased if awareness, safety climate, attitude, and contents of infection control education are improved, and exposure to infectious disease is decreased. These findings can be utilized to improve performance by developing education programs for infection control.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.63-67
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• 2012

Mosquitoes are the vectors of a number of viral diseases in cattle, such as Akabane disease, bovine ephemeral fever, Ainovirus infection, Chuzan virus infection, and Ibaraki disease. These diseases are transmitted from an infected animal to a non-infected host via the blood feeding of the vector. In Korea, the National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Services, Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is responsible for planning, implementation, laboratory investigations and reporting the results of the national surveillance program for mosquito-borne bovine diseases (MBD). The surveillance program, which was started in 1993, focused to determine the seroprevalence of each disease in cattle herds in space and time. From the epidemiological point of view, more important component of the surveillance program is to monitor infection rates in vectors for specific pathogens because this information is essential for a more precise understanding the dynamics of these diseases in a given environment and for determining risk of transmission. The aim of this study was to describe and compare methods for estimation of vector infection rates using maximum likelihood (MLE) and minimum infection rate in pooled samples. Factors affecting MLE such as number of pools, pooling size and diagnostic test performance are also discussed, assuming some hypothetical sampling scenarios for MBD.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.4469-4475
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• 2016

Indonesia is a developing country, in most of which the infection rates of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) have been reported to be high. However, the prevalence of H. pylori infection in Indonesia has been unexpectedly reported to be low. The purpose of our study was to confirm whether the prevalence of H. pylori infection is low among healthy inhabitants in Northern Jakarta by 13C-urea breath test (UBT), and to examine the association of their lifestyle/environmental factors with H. pylori infection and to identify potential routes of transmission. We recruited a total of 196 subjects from a low-income community in Northern Jakarta, Indonesia. Of them, 193 subjects who completed a questionnaire about their lifestyle/environment and had UBT were included in this study. Odds ratios (ORs) adjusted for sex and age with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using logistic regression model. The overall H. pylori infection rate was 15.0%. There was difference in H. pylori infection rates among Buginese (40.0%), Betawi (9.1%), Sundanese (3.7%), and Batak (9.1%). After multivariate analysis, the ORs of intake of soybean milk, cucumber more than one time a week, infrequent hand washing before meals, and alcohol consumption were 0.10 (95%CI: 0.01-0.97), 6.61 (95%CI: 1.87-23.3), 4.10 (95%CI: 1.15-14.6), and 61.9 for former drinkers (95%CI: 1.67-2300.8), respectively. Buginese (OR=7.84; 95%CI: 1.82-33.8) and Batak ethnic groups (OR=20.1; 95%CI: 1.90-213.2) were infected more frequently, compared with Javanese. The H. pylori infection rate in this study was low, as reported previously. After we scrutinized the factors, Buginese and Batak ethnic groups eat food using fingers more frequently than Javanese, Betawi, and Sundanese. In addition, infrequent hand wash practice before meal increased the risk. Our study indicated that person-person transmission was possible in this low prevalence area. The low infection rates of H. pylori among those of Javanese, Betawi, and Sundanese ethnicity could be partly due to sanitary practice.

• The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.64-70
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify awareness and knowledge about hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among North Korean immigrants who had resided in South Korea. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, community based study. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 198 North Korean immigrants aged 18 years old through 65 years old among those who had attended community centers, local churches, and gathering places in four cities. The questionnaire included 15 items about participants' knowledge on HBV infection and its consequences, mode of transmission, and preventive measures. Results: The mean score of HBV knowledge was $6.3{\pm}3.8$ (range 0~15). The items that over 60% of the respondents checked correct answer regarding knowledge about HBV were 'There is blood screening for hepatitis B infection', 'Hepatitis B can be transmitted through sharing needles with infected person'. Multivariate analysis showed that received education for the prevention of HBV infection and disease morbidity were significantly associated with the knowledge of HBV infection. Overall, approximately 11% of total variability in the knowledge of HBV infection could be explained by the 2 variables in this model ($R^2=.109$, p<.001). Conclusion: The results showed that North Korean immigrants need more education on HBV infection and prevention to improve their knowledge about HBV.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.83 no.2
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• pp.132-140
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• 2020

In human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) is a well-known opportunistic infection and its management has been established. However, PCP is an emerging threat to immunocompromised patients without HIV infection, such as those receiving novel immunosuppressive therapeutics for malignancy, organ transplantation, or connective tissue diseases. Clinical manifestations of PCP are quite different between patients with and without HIV infections. In patients without HIV infection, PCP rapidly progresses, is difficult to diagnose correctly, and causes severe respiratory failure with a poor prognosis. High-resolution computed tomography findings are different between PCP patients with HIV infection and those without. These differences in clinical and radiological features are due to severe or dysregulated inflammatory responses that are evoked by a relatively small number of Pneumocystis organisms in patients without HIV infection. In recent years, the usefulness of polymerase chain reaction and serum β-D-glucan assay for rapid and non-invasive diagnosis of PCP has been revealed. Although corticosteroid adjunctive to anti-Pneumocystis agents has been shown to be beneficial in some populations, the optimal dose and duration remain to be determined. Recent investigations revealed that Pneumocystis colonization is prevalent and that asymptomatic carriers are at risk for developing PCP and can serve as the reservoir for the spread of Pneumocystis by airborne transmission. These findings suggest the need for chemoprophylaxis in immunocompromised patients as well as infection control measures, although the indications remain controversial. Because a variety of novel immunosuppressive therapeutics have been emerging in medical practice, further innovations in the diagnosis and treatment of PCP are needed.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.57-66
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• 1986

Campylobacter jejuni has been recognized as one of the causes of human gastroenteritis. The feces of a variety of reservoir animals contain c. jejuni as commensals in the intestinal tracts, and are fundamental source of contamination. The intestinal organisms contaminate carcasses, equipment tools hands of the processing line workers and air of the processing facility. Once the contamination happens in the slaughterhouses or the meat processing facilities, it is very difficult to keep the carcasses free from the infection of c. jejuni. Various disinfectants are effective in minimizing the number of Campylobacter infections in the processing facilities by washing contaminated carcasses, tools, and hands. Direct contact with infected animals has been incriminated in transmission of infection caused by C. jejuni. Freezing, cooling with dry air and gamma irradiation are an effective way for preserving the meat and eliminating the transmission, but broad and enforced studies are needed for the practical use.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers D
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• v.50 no.12
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• pp.597-603
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• 2001

In the mathematical model for the transmission dynamics of HIV infection described in previous papers, the population under consideration is assumed to be homogeneous community of homosexual males for which the parameter x represents the constant rate at which individual members of the population acquire new sexual partners. This is a gross oversimplification since it is well known that individuals vary widely in their levels of sexual activity and in this papers the heterogeneous model is modified to allow for this variation. The pattern on the epidemic character of HIV, the causative agent of AIDS, was analysed by heterogeneous-mixing model. The computer simulation was performed using real date.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.39-49
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• 2022

Purpose:The infection and isolation program used at a university hospital in A city was assessed and improved to provide medical staff with easy-to-understand information on isolation precautions and infectious diseases. Methods: Based on the results of the root cause analysis, the infection and isolation alarm computer program was improved. Subsequently, a survey was conducted with infection control leaders and unit managers (n=98) within the department to evaluate the degree of improvement. Results: The isolation registration and release procedures were simplified and unified to prevent confusion among the relevant departments. Additionally, the screen composition was improved so that various information related to infection can be easily accessed. After improvement in the program, the rate of isolation registration (53.0% to 100.0%, p<.001) and user satisfaction (67.6% to 92.2%) improved. Conclusion: This study will help improve the program so that other medical institutions can comply with the isolation precautions in accordance with the type of infections.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.79 no.4
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• pp.234-240
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• 2016

Transmission of tuberculosis (TB) is a recognized risk to patients and healthcare workers in healthcare settings. The literature review suggests that implementation of combination control measures reduces the risk of TB transmission. Guidelines suggest a three-level hierarchy of controls including administrative, environmental, and respiratory protection. Among environmental controls, installation of ventilation systems is a priority because ventilation reduces the number of infectious particles in the air. Natural ventilation is cost-effective but depends on climatic conditions. Supplemented intervention such as air-cleaning methods including high efficiency particulate air filtration and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation should be considered in areas where adequate ventilation is difficult to achieve. Personal protective equipment including particulate respirators provides additional benefit when administrative and environmental controls cannot assure protection.