Infection & Chemotherapy

BACKGROUND: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), which was first discovered in China in 2009, is an infectious disease with a high mortality rate, particularly in East Asia. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics and risk factors for mortality by analyzing SFTS cases accumulated for up to ten years in Jeju, Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records of patients diagnosed with SFTS between March 2013 and August 2022 at a tertiary hospital in Jeju were analyzed retrospectively...

BACKGROUND: The 2015 Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus outbreak in Korea led to profound emotional and social burdens, especially in patients and health care professionals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Focus group interviews were conducted with 2 patients, 1 family member and 6 health care professionals about psychological distress related to MERS in 2017 and analyzed the interview data using the consensual qualitative research method. RESULTS: Four domains and 17 core ideas were identified within three interview groups, including psychological distress during the outbreak, problems regarding the response to the outbreak, positive experiences, and future directions for enhancing intervention to improve mental health and prevent psychosocial problems during the outbreak...

BACKGROUND: There are limited data on the clinical characteristics and the vertical transmission rate of pregnant women with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and their neonates in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pregnant women who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection were retrospectively reviewed in Asan Medical Center from September 1, 2020, to April 26, 2022. All neonates and infected women underwent a polymerase chain reaction test for severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 within 24 hours of birth and at 48-hour interval if they stayed in the hospital...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculous peritonitis is difficult to diagnose due to its non-specific clinical manifestations and lack of proper diagnostic modalities. Current meta-analysis was performed to find the overall diagnostic accuracy of adenosine deaminase (ADA) in diagnosing tuberculous peritonitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane library were searched to retrieve the published studies which assessed the role of ascitic fluid ADA in diagnosing tuberculous peritonitis from Jan 1980 to June 2022...

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of using bacteriophage therapeutics in spinal epidural abscess (SEA) by reviewing the causes and outcomes of SEA at a single institution and testing a bacteriophage for activity against preserved SEA clinical isolates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records were reviewed of patients that received incision and drainage for SEA at a single medical center. Causative organisms, incidence of coinciding bacteremia and outcomes were recorded...

BACKGROUND: Pyrazinamide (PZA) is often used as an add-on agent in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, regardless of phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (pDST) results. However, evaluating the effectiveness of PZA is challenging because of its low pH activity, which can result in unreliable pDST results. This study aimed to investigate the genomic characteristics associated with PZA resistance that can be used to develop genotypic DST. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A publicly available whole genome sequencing (WGS) dataset of 10,725 Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex genomes (3,326 phenotypically PZA-resistant and 7,399 phenotypically PZA-susceptible isolates) were analyzed...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to identify the trends in pharmaceutical expenditure (PE), share of PE in health expenditure (HE), and trends in expenditure by pharmacological groups (ATC level 1 classification) in Korea for a 10-year period (2011 - 2020) and compare the data with those of other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Using the findings, we determined the current status of pharmaceutical expenditure (PE) management in Korea and derived the implications for establishing future macroscopic policies on PE...

BACKGROUND: Neonatal jaundice is commonly seen in term and preterm newly born babies. It could be either physiologic or secondary to multiple underlying pathologies like urinary tract infection (UTI). Our main objective was to confirm the relationship between neonatal jaundice without apparent cause like hemolysis and the presence of UTI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We, retrospectively over a period extended from 2017 to 2020, included 496 babies admitted for elevated indirect hyperbilirubinemia for whom demographic, clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic data were collected through a detailed questionnaire...

Scrub typhus can be adequately treated with doxycycline or azithromycin unless it is treated too late. Such cases present as severe scrub typhus, and their treatment remains a challenging problem. In this article, we briefly review the literature on the treatment of scrub typhus and the limitations of the combination of doxycycline and azithromycin. Several options are suggested for further study in the treatment of severe scrub typhus (such as encephalitis, myocarditis, and pneumonia), including dose escalation of doxycycline, the adjuvant use of steroids, the selective use of beta-lactam antibiotics, and the use of tigecycline...

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an opportunistic pathogen, often associated with nosocomial infections. Ten S. maltophilia were isolated from clinical samples during the period January 2021 and June 2022. Eight (80%) patients had cancer as a background disease and 2 patients had coronavirus disease 2019. A fatal outcome was recorded in 4 cases (40% of patients). All the isolates were susceptible to minocycline and levofloxacin. Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole and ceftazidime resistance rates were 20% and 40% respectively...

In 2005, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) launched "Health Care Facility Counseling Project on People Living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)" funded by the private-subsidy project for the prevention of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and sexually transmitted diseases to provide people living with HIV (PLWH) psychological support and counsel them about the disease and antiretroviral therapy (ART). Currently, 38 counseling nurse specialists work at 28 healthcare facilities for patient care...

BACKGROUND: The incidence of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)-induced nephrotoxicity ranges from 15.8 to 19.3 percent. Following cessation of TDF, approximately one-half of patients with nephrotoxicity regained full renal functions. This study aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors for nephrotoxicity, as well as the complete recovery of renal function, in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients receiving TDF regimens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective case-control study of HIV-positive patients who received TDF regimens from 2 tertiary hospitals between 2012 and 2018...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: Abacavir/dolutegravir/lamivudine has been indicated in Korea since 2015 for treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in combination. This regulatory post-marketing surveillance (PMS) study evaluated the real-life safety and effectiveness of abacavir/dolutegravir/lamivudine in patients with HIV-1 in clinical practice in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This open-label post-marketing surveillance examined data from consecutive patients (aged ≥12 years) with HIV-1 infection receiving abacavir/dolutegravir/lamivudine according to locally approved prescribing information; treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced patients were permitted...

BACKGROUND: Domestic data on antiretroviral drug (ARV) resistance are limited, while alterations in ARV resistance are expected as the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection increases. We evaluated the ten-year change in ARV resistance in people with HIV (PWH) in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Adults aged ≥19 years and diagnosed with HIV infection between January 2010 and December 2020 at a 750-bed municipal hospital were retrospectively reviewed...

BACKGROUND: We aimed to identify the genes of 35 pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, and protozoa that cause waterborne infectious diseases, and to assess the feasibility of a wastewater-based surveillance system. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Wastewater was aseptically sampled once a month from 2 sites. A total of 1 L of wastewater from each site underwent 0.2 um filtration to generate the sample A. Subsequently, 200 ul of the filtered water was ultra-filtered and concentrated to generate the sample B, which was mixed with sample A in a 1:1 ratio...

BACKGROUND: Bloodstream infections (BSIs) are major cause of morbidity and mortality after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT). This study aimed to analyze the incidence, etiology, risk factors and outcomes of post-engraftment BSI in allo-HCT recipients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The retrospective study included 261 patients with documented engraftment after first allo-HCT performed from January 2018 till September 2021. RESULTS: Of 261 patients 29 (11...

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) suffered more distress from the possibility of contracting the virus, quarantine, social stigma, and prejudice against their families. Many studies have investigated the impact of the pandemic on HCWs; however, studies or guidelines presenting strategies to overcome these challenges are lacking. As part of a 2020 research project supported by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, titled "Health impact assessment of healthcare workers undertaking coronavirus disease 2019 treatment and management in Korea: Identifying problems and researching effective solutions" (HC20C0003), we created guidelines to respond to serious problems posed by infection control...

Since December 2020, various coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines have been developed and approved. As of February 2023, mRNA vaccines including bivalent vaccines (Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna), recombinant protein vaccines (Novavax, SK Bioscience), and viral vector vaccines (AstraZeneca, Janssen) have been approved in Korea. COVID-19 vaccination can effectively reduce hospitalization and deaths due to symptomatic COVID-19, especially severe and critical COVID-19. The primary series vaccination against COVID-19 is recommended for all adults aged ≥18 years in Korea...