• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.85 no.3
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• pp.279-282
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• 2022

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.484-494
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• 2018

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which occurred in the Middle East in 2015, is the most acute respiratory infectious disease in Korea. The limitations of the government's ability to respond to the spread of MERS and the inadequate communication of the government to the public have reduced the public's confidence in the government's infectious disease management policy. And it became an opportunity to raise awareness that infectious diseases could easily break down the national anti-virus system. Therefore, this study investigated the emergency response system of the infectious disease in the United States and sought to improve the infection control system in Korea. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, we analyzed the government's response to the MERS in 2015, analyzed the organization structure and role of the US CDC, and IMS.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2008

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.73-94
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• 2020

Particulate infectious sources, including infectious viruses, can float in the air, causing airborne infections. To prevent indoor airborne infection, dilution control by ventilation and indoor air cleaners are frequently used. In this study, the risk of airborne infection by the operation of these two techniques was evaluated. In case of dilution control by ventilation, a high efficiency air filter was embedded at the inlet of supply air. In this study, infectious source reduction devices such as indoor air cleaner include all kinds of mechanical-filters, UV-photo catalysts and air ionizers through which air flow is forced by fans. Two mathematical models for influenza virus were applied in an infant care room where infants and young children are active, and the risk reduction efficiency was compared. As a result, in the case of individually operating the ventilator or the infectious source reduction device, the airborne infection risk reduction efficiencies were 55.2~61.2% and 53.8~59.9%, respectively. When both facilities were operated, it was found that the risk of airborne infection was reduced about 72.2~76.8%. Therefore, simultaneous operation of ventilation equipment and infectious source reduction device is the most effective method for safe environment that minimizes the risk of airborne infection of respiratory infectious diseases. In the case of a space where sufficient ventilation operation is difficult, it was found that the operation of an infectious source reduction device is important to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. This study is meaningful in that it provides an academic basis for strategies for preventing airborne infection of respiratory infectious diseases.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.323-330
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• 2009

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are a major cause of opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients, making the reliable and rapid identification of NTM to the species level very important for the treatment of such patients. Therefore, this study evaluated the usefulness of the novel target genes tuf and tmRNA for the identification of NTM to the species level, using a PCRrestriction fragment length polymorphism analysis (PRA). A total of 44 reference strains and 17 clinical isolates of the genus Mycobacterium were used. The 741 bp or 744 bp tuf genes were amplified, restricted with two restriction enzymes (HaeIII/MboI), and sequenced. The tuf gene-PRA patterns were compared with those for the tmRNA (AvaII), hsp65 (HaeIII/HphI), rpoB (MspI/HaeIII), and 16S rRNA (HaeIII) genes. For the reference strains, the tuf gene-PRA yielded 43 HaeIII patterns, of which 35 (81.4%) showed unique patterns on the species level, whereas the tmRNA, hsp65, rpoB, and 16S rRNA-PRAs only showed 10 (23.3%), 32 (74.4%), 19 (44.2%), and 3 (7%) unique patterns after single digestion, respectively. The tuf gene-PRA produced a clear distinction between closely related NTM species, such as M. abscessus (557-84-58) and M. chelonae (477-84-80-58), and M. kansasii (141-136-80-63-58-54-51) and M. gastri (141-136-117-80-58-51). No difference was observed between the tuf-PRA patterns for the reference strains and clinical isolates. Thus, a diagnostic algorithm using a tuf gene-targeting PRA is a promising tool with more advantages than the previously used hsp65, rpoB, and 16S rRNA genes for the identification of NTM to the species level.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.136-142
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• 2015

The Korean Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (KSPID) has participated in the task force team consisting of government authorities as well as civil medical experts and facilities to block the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in 2015. KSPID posted the "Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Pop-up" in the homepage of The Korean Pediatric Society and The Korean Society of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. KSPID also released the "Guidelines for testing for MERS in children and adolescents" and the "Instructions for the Operation of National Safe Hospital" for children and adolescents in a timely manner. Such actions were aimed to prevent unnecessary anxieties, studies and isolation of pediatric patients with respiratory symptoms and signs caused by other common microbial etiologies as being suspected for MERS patients. This strategy relieved the doctors and parents from unnecessary fear and prevented the loss of unnecessary health care costs, and has proven to be a well-judged guideline and management protocol as evaluated after the final end of MERS outbreak. KSPID and its members should support the presence of pediatric infectious disease (PID) specialists in every medium size hospitals in Korea by developing the need for consultation fees for PID consultation in the hospital based practice and promoting the potential for cost savings related to prevention of health care associated infections and optimal prescription of antimicrobial agents. KSPID and its members need to approach and develop a communication plan to political decision makers to demonstrate and convince them of the importance of a PID specialist service.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.515-518
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• 2000

The mortalities of the gorals (Nemorhaedus goral raddeanus) that have been raised in Everland Zoological Gardens were retrospectively analyzed based on the clinical charts and autopsy reports from 1976 to 1999. During that Period a total of 17 gorals were died. Infectious factos (35.2%), digestive (23.5%) and respiratory disorders (17.6%) account feta the majority of cause of death. The The mortality of newborn gorals (50%) were significantly higher than that of adult (20%) and juvenile gorals (0%) due to infectious disease. 83.5% of the infectious disease were found in the garals younger than 5 months old. The cause of death of 5 newborn gorals died by infectious disease were as follows: 1aryngeal diphtheria, 2 (40%); actinobacillosis,2 (40%): coccidiosis. 1 (20%). It was considered that proper hygenic epic precautions in goral Pens ir feeding Places together with avoidance of rough feed are needed for the prevention of death of infectious cause at the goral raising in zoo-logical gardens.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.45-56
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• 2016

Purpose: The MERS(Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) outbreaks in Korea highlighted dramatically the failings of traditional hospital environment for controlling or preventing infections among both patients and healthcare workers. MERS is transmitted by droplets that can be airborne over a limited area. The point should be emphasized that MERS in South Korea was predominantly a hospital-acquired (not a community-acquired) infection, because approximately 93% of MERS cases were resulted from exposure in hospital settings. This paper tries to suggest the design guidelines of negative pressured isolation ward for the sake of proper control of severe respiratory infectious diseases. Methods: Literature survey on the design guideline and regulations of airborne infection wards in Korea, Europe U.K. and CDC of U.S. have been carries out. 4 special infection wards in Hongkong, Germany, Japan and Korea have been surveyed in order to make the best use of the experiences related to facility design and operations. Results: Operating system influencing the facility design, space organizations of infectious ward including required space and zoning, and circulations of patients, staffs and materials are proposed. Implications: The results of this paper can be the basic data for the design of the airborne infection ward and relevant regulations. Afterwards in-depth study such as the development of space standards for the single bedroom, locker room and so on could be explored.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.1-3
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• 2020

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which originated in Wuhan, China, is pandemic. It has occurred in more than 170 countries on six continents. In Korea, COVID-19's cases are more than 9,000. The reasons of pandemic COVID-19 are that COVID-19 can spread asymptomatic or early in symptoms although similar reproductive number to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS), that there are more travelers in China and world than the SARS of 2003, and that the control of COVID-19 was contaminated to political considerations in China, World Health Organization (WHO), and Korea. Emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19 will occur in the future. To prepare for control of emerging infectious disease, first, the Ministry of Health should be independent from Ministry of Health and Welfare and the department of disease management should be established. Second, experts for making evidence about the emerging infectious diseases should be trained and the plan that is the mobilization of manpower and facilities in large cases will be established. Third, the WHO should enhance its capacity to manage emerging infectious diseases and Korea will support the country of occurred emerging diseases through experts in the analysis of emerging infectious diseases.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.22-34
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• 2021

The coronavirus pandemic, known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is an infectious respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel coronavirus first identified in patients from Wuhan, China. Since December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 has spread swiftly around the world, infected more than 25 million people, and caused more than 800,000 deaths in 188 countries. Chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) appear to be risk factors for COVID-19, however, their prevalence remains controversial. In fact, studies in China reported lower rates of chronic respiratory conditions in patients with COVID-19 than in the general population, while the trend is reversed in the United States and Europe. Although the underlying molecular mechanisms of a possible interaction between COVID-19 and chronic respiratory diseases remain unknown, some observations can help to elucidate them. Indeed, physiological changes, immune response, or medications used against SARS-CoV-2 may have a greater impact on patients with chronic respiratory conditions already debilitated by chronic inflammation, dyspnea, and the use of immunosuppressant drugs like corticosteroids. In this review, we discuss importance and the impact of COVID-19 on asthma and COPD patients, the possible available treatments, and patient management during the pandemic.