• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.155-161
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• 2021

Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has necessitated a redistribution of resources to meet hospitals' service needs. This study investigated the impact of COVID-19 on a regional trauma center in South Korea. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed cases of polytrauma at a single regional trauma center in South Korea between January 20 and September 30, 2020 (the COVID-19 period) and compared them to cases reported during the same time frame (January 20 to September 30) between 2016 and 2019 (the pre-COVID-19 period). The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality, and secondary outcomes included the number of daily admissions, hospital length of stay (LOS), and intensive care unit (ICU) LOS. Results: The mean number of daily admissions decreased by 15% during the COVID-19 period (4.0±2.0 vs. 4.7±2.2, p=0.010). There was no difference in mechanisms of injury between the two periods. For patients admitted during the COVID-19 period, the hospital LOS was significantly shorter (10 days [interquartile range (IQR) 4-19 days] vs. 16 days [IQR 8-28 days], p<0.001); however, no significant differences in ICU LOS and mortality were found. Conclusions: The observations at Regional Trauma Center, Pusan National University Hospital corroborate anecdotal reports that there has been a decline in the number of patients admitted to hospitals during the COVID-19 period. In addition, patients admitted during the COVID-19 pandemic had a significantly shorter hospital LOS than those admitted before the COVID-19 pandemic. These preliminary data warrant validation in larger, multi-center studies.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.14-21
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• 2022

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has been rampant since the end of 2019, has evidently affected pain management in clinical practice. Fortunately, a COVID-19 vaccination program is currently in progress worldwide. There is an ongoing discussion that pain management using steroid injections can decrease COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, although currently there is no direct evidence to support this statement. As such, the feeling of pain in patients is doubled in addition to the co-existing ill-effects of social isolation associated with the pandemic. Thus, in the COVID-19 era, it has become necessary that physicians be able to provide high quality pain management without negatively impacting COVID-19 vaccine efficacy. Steroids can alter the entire process involved in the generation of adaptive immunity after vaccination. The period of hypophysis-pituitary-adrenal axis suppression is known to be 1 to 4 weeks after steroid injection, and although the exact timing for peak efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines is slightly different for each vaccine, the average is approximately 2 weeks. It is suggested to avoid steroid injections for a total of 4 weeks (1 week before and after the two vaccine doses) for the double-shot vaccines, and for 2 weeks in total (1 week before and after vaccination) for a single-shot vaccine. This review focuses on the basic concepts of the various COVID-19 vaccines, the effect of steroid injections on vaccine efficacy, and suggestions regarding an appropriate interval between the administration of steroid injections and the COVID-19 vaccine.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.7
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• pp.370-372
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• 2021

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.11
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• pp.596-598
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• 2021

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.269-271
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• 2022

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.627-628
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• 2020

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.84 no.3
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• pp.176-181
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• 2021

At the beginning of February 2020, Daegu faced a serious situation due to the rapid outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. The healthcare system in Daegu Metropolitan City was ill-prepared for this sudden disaster situation. The COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing in South Korea. Daegu has limited medical resources compared to the Seoul Metropolitan Area, and it is hypothesized that a review of the outbreak therein could provide information that will be valuable for dealing with future outbreaks. The likelihood of death due to COVID-19 depends on the capacity of the area for the treatment of critically ill patients. This report reviews the overall treatment process followed for critically ill patients in Daegu.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.392-400
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• 2021

It has been more than a year since severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) first emerged. Many studies have provided insights into the various aspects of the immune response in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Especially for antibody treatment and vaccine development, humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2 has been studied extensively, though there is still much that is unknown and controversial. Here, we introduce key discoveries on the humoral immune responses in COVID-19, including the immune dynamics of antibody responses and correlations with disease severity, neutralizing antibodies and their cross-reactivity, how long the antibody and memory B-cell responses last, aberrant autoreactive antibodies generated in COVID-19 patients, and the efficacy of currently available therapeutic antibodies and vaccines against circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants, and highlight gaps in the current knowledge.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Computer Information Conference
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• 2021.01a
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• pp.31-32
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• 2021

신종 코로나바이러스 감염증(Coronavirus disease 2019; COVID-19)이 빠르게 확산됨에 따라 세계적인 전염병 대유행인 팬데믹(Pandemic)으로 선언되었다. 감염자들은 꾸준히 증가하고 있고 최근에는, 무증상 감염자들이 나타나고 있어 의심 환자를 조기에 판단하고 선별할 수 있는 기술이 필요하다. 본 논문에서는 흉부 방사선 검사(chest Radiography; CXR) 영상을 딥러닝(Deep Learning)하여 정상인, 폐렴 환자, 코로나바이러스 감염자를 분류할 수 있도록 한다.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.541-544
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• 2020

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia is a recent outbreak in mainland China and has rapidly spread to multiple countries worldwide. Pulmonary parenchymal opacities are often observed during chest radiography. Currently, few cases have reported the complications of severe COVID-19 pneumonia. We report a case where serial follow-up chest computed tomography revealed progression of pulmonary lesions into confluent bilateral consolidation with lower lung predominance, thereby confirming COVID-19 pneumonia. Furthermore, complications such as mediastinal emphysema, giant bulla, and pneumothorax were also observed during the course of the disease.