• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.132-143
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• 2023

Objectives: We aimed to describe the reporting patterns of 6 notifiable surveillance diseases in the Republic of Korea, including water- and foodborne infections, from 2012 to 2021. Methods: For the 12,296 cases that met the reporting criteria, we calculated the number of reported cases, including the number of cases confirmed by lab tests or suspected by a physician, the number of cases with delayed reporting and their average days of delay, and the median days required to report the confirmatory test results. Results: The overall number of reported cases consistently increased over the ten years, with a significant rise in the reported cases of typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, and EHEC. Ninety-five percent of all reported cases were timely reported within one day of diagnosis. Vibrio vulnificus had the highest rate of delayed reporting (6.8% delayed over 1 day, 3.0% delayed over 3 days), while cholera had the lowest rate (1.9% delayed over 1 day, 0.1% delayed over 3 days). The average days of delayed reporting was 6.1 days: the highest for paratyphoid fever (10.8 days) and the lowest for cholera (2.7 days). For typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever, there has been an increase in the proportion of cases with negative test results. For vibrio vulnificus, there has been an increase in the proportion of cases with confirmed positive test results. As for EHEC, there has been a recent increase in cases with no confirmatory tests. Conclusions: Reported cases of water- and foodborne infectious diseases increased, indicating improved surveillance system completeness. However, for paratyphoid fever, improvements are needed in terms of timely notification by healthcare facilities and timely reporting of confirmatory test results.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.240-255
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• 2014

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the correlates of bone mineral density of Korean adults. Methods: This study was based on the data from the 2010-2011 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES, 2010~2011) V. Among 8,473 subjects of the survey, who were adults 19 years old or over with bone mineral density data, the current study excluded those whose data include a missing study variable or the response of 'I don't know', and finally analyzed the data of 5,986 subjects (2,692 males and 3,294 females). This study employed the following statistical methods of analysis: t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and hierarchical multivariate linear regression analysis. Results: In multivariate analysis, in the case of men, the significant associated factors in bone mineral density were age, education level, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, total muscle mass, exercise, and weight control; in the case of women, the significant associated factors in bone mineral density were age, education level, economic activity, BMI, total muscle mass, exercise, weight control. fat intake, uptake female hormone, menopause, and age of menarche. Conclusion: For both sexes, the strongest modifiable factor in influencing bone mineral density was total muscle mass. Therefore, to prevent osteoporosis and promote health, active health education and interventions such as regular exercise for total muscle mass increase should be implemented from an early growth period.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.452-461
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• 1994

Background: Tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-$\alpha$ and Interleukin(lL)-$1{\beta}$ are thought to play a major role in the pathogenesis of the septic syndrome, which is frequently associated with adult respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS). In spite of many reports for the role of TNF-$\alpha$ in the pathogenesis of ARDS, including human studies, it has been reported that TNF-$\alpha$ is not sensitive and specific marker for impending ARDS. But there is a possibility that the results were affected by the diversity of pathogenetic mechanisms leading to the ARDS because of various underlying disorders of the study group in the previous reports. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the roles of TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-$1{\beta}$ as a predictable marker for development of ARDS in the patients with septic syndrome, in which the pathogenesis is believed to be mainly cytokine-mediated. Methods: Thirty-six patients of the septic syndrome hospitalized in the intensive care units of the Asan Medical Center were studied. Sixteens suffered from ARDS, whereas the remaining 20 were at the risk of developing ARDS(acute hypoxemic respiratory failure, AHRF). In all patients venous blood samples were collected in heparin-coated tubes at the time of enrollment, at 24 and 72 h thereafter. TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-$1{\beta}$ was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All data are expressed as median with interquartile range. Results: 1) Plama TNF-$\alpha$ levels: Plasma TNF-$\beta$ levels were less than 10pg/mL, which is lowest detection value of the kit used in this study within the range of the $mean{\pm}2SD$, in all of the normal controls, 8 of 16 subjects of ARDS and in 8 in 20 subjects of AHRF. Plasma TNF-$\alpha$ levels from patients with ARDS were 10.26pg/mL(median; <10-16.99pg/mL, interquartile range) and not different from those of patients at AHRF(10.82, <10-20.38pg/mL). There was also no significant difference between pre-ARDS(<10, <10-15.32pg/mL) and ARDS(<10, <10-10.22pg/mL). TNF-$\alpha$ levels were significantly greater in the patients with shock than the patients without shock(12.53pg/mL vs. <10pg/mL) (p<0.01). There was no statistical significance between survivors(<10, <10-12.92pg/mL) and nonsurvivors(11.80, <10-20.8pg/mL) (P=0.28) in the plasma TNF-$\alpha$ levels. 2) Plasma IL-$1{\beta}$ levels: Plasma IL-$1{\beta}$ levels were less than 0.3ng/mL, which is the lowest detection value of the kit used in this study, in one of each patients group. There was no significant difference in IL-$1{\beta}$ levels of the ARDS(2.22, 1.37-8.01ng/mL) and of the AHRF(2.13, 0.83-5.29ng/mL). There was also no significant difference between pre-ARDS(2.53, <0.3-8.34ngfmL) and ARDS(5.35, 0.66-11.51ng/mL), and between patients with septic shock and patients without shock (2.51, 1.28-8.34 vs 1.46, 0.15-2.13ng/mL). Plasma IL-$1{\beta}$ levels were significantly different between survivors(1.37, 0.4-2.36ng/mL) and nonsurvivors(2.84, 1.46-8.34ng/mL). Conclusion: Plasma TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-$1{\beta}$ level are not a predictable marker for development of ARDS. But TNF-$\alpha$ is a marker for shock in septic syndrome. These result could not exclude a possibility of pathophysiologic roles of TNF-$\alpha$ and IL-$1{\beta}$ in acute lung injury because these cytokine could be locally produced and exert its effects within the lungs.