• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.389-398
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• 2000

The work of visiting nursing personnel consists mostly of direct nursing and it is absolutely necessary that training of the nursing personnel for infection control be emphasized because most of patients are composed of elderly people with chronic diseases and malnutrition who are highly susceptible to infection. Accordingly. this study was designed to provide basic data for the development of an infection control program in public health centers as well as the promotion of perception and performance of infection control by analysing the perception of importance and performance in the infection control of visiting nursing personnel who carry out visiting nursing services. The subjects of this study consisted of a number of visiting nursing personnel working for 15 public health centers. 15 health-center branches. and 16 health clinics. The collection of data was grounded on a questionnaire method. The questionnaire breaks down to 8 questions about general characteristics and 108 questions in connection with the perception and performance of infection control. The results of this study are as follows: 1. 82 subjects (78.1%) responded that it is necessary to control infection. 79 subjects(75.3%) responded that education is necessary for infection control. 50 respondents (47.6%) answered in the affirmative in regard to the role of infection carriers. 2. The mean score for the perception of importance in infection control was 4.55 and that performance accounts for 4.03. this turns out to be very high. 3. In terms of the perception of importance per each field of infection control. medication. the management of contamination and sterilization, the control of environments and instruments. washing hands and individual hygiene as well as the prevention of cross-infection and the supervision of infection stand at 4.72. 4.64. 4.60. 4.58. 4.52 and 4.21 respectively. In terms of performance. the supervision of infection. the control of environments and instruments, individual hygiene and the prevention of cross infection. medication. washing hands, and the management of contamination and sterilization was 4.21. 4.12. 4.10. 4.03. 3.91 and 3.81 respectively. 4. In terms of the correlation between the perception of importance and the performance of infection control. the score stands high in all fields: this means the high perception of importance leads to high performance statistically (P< .05). 5. In terms of the perception of importance in general characteristics. there is no significant difference while the form of working places. working career and the career as visiting nursing personnel show a significant difference in terms of performance(P< .05). From the results. it is suggested that the visiting nursing personnel should be constantly educated with the aid of the development of infection control programs and that instructions and instruments for the management of infection should be worked out so as to enhance the performance of infection control on the part of nurses in applicable communities.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.103-106
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• 2015

The importance of disease prevention and risks of infection for funeral workers is present but it has not been studied about disease prevention of funeral workers in Korea. Health cares of funeral workers in Korea live in poor surroundings, because it depends on only effort of Funeral home or workers. And nationwide survey and guideline made for the infection of funeral workers almost do not exist. We propose the guideline about high infectious disease, personal hygiene, physical and spatial management in Korea. We aim to exploit the guidelines in the control, or ideally the eradication, of the disease or infection conditions we are considering. This guidelines contain a guide to funeral director's control procedures and equipment for infectious disease.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.43-54
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the factors influencing infection-related characteristics and patient safety culture on awareness of blood-borne infection prevention between operating room nurses and general ward nurses. Methods: Participants were 198 nurses(operating room nurses 98 and general ward nurses: 100) working at three general hospitals and three university hospitals in three cities. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from September 11 to October 14, 2020. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and multiple regression with IBM SPSS/WIN 26.0 program. Results: Typically, 39.8% of nurses in the operating room and 24.0% of ward nurses experienced injuries such as needles and sharp instruments used by the patient. The awareness of patient safety culture was identified to be higher for the ward nurses. Factors influencing the awareness of blood-borne infection prevention in operating room nurses were patient safety culture and wearing protective equipment for infection prevention while nursing infected patients. Moreover, the explanatory power of these variables was 19.4%. In general ward nurses, the patient safety culture was identified as a significant predictor, which accounted for 16.5% of awareness of blood-borne infection prevention. Conclusion: To prevent hospital infection, a strategy is needed to improve the level of awareness of blood-borne infection prevention and patient safety culture of operating room nurses. To this end, the difference in infection-related characteristics and influencing factors between the operating room nurses and the general ward nurses should be considered and planned.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.135-143
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aimed to provide basic data for the development of education programs which improve the nurses' infection control performance by investigating the knowledge, performance, and educational needs of infection control among nurses in long-term care hospitals, and analyzing the relationship between these parameters. Methods: This was a descriptive study. A self-reported questionnaire was provided to 153 nurses in 210 long-term care hospitals on Jeju Island. Their knowledge, performance, and educational needs of infection control, data were analyzed using SAS Window(ver. 9.4), t-test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results: Both knowledge (r=0.16, p=.042) and performance (r=0.52, p<.001) of infection control had positive correlations with the educational needs of the infection control. Conclusion: The higher the knowledge of infection control was, the higher the educational needs of the nurses were. However, knowledge of infection control did not correlate with performance of infection control. Therefore to increase the knowledge and performance of infection control, infection control education programs should suit the educational needs and the actual conditions of long-term care hospitals.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.245-250
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• 2021

Objectives: Jeju Province in Korea reported 627 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases between January 20, 2020, and March 31, 2021. This study analyzed the sources of infection among confirmed cases in Jeju Province, a self-governed island. Methods: The sources of infection were broadly categorized as follows: (1) infections from overseas (confirmed patients who reported travel overseas or contact with overseas travelers); (2) infections from outside Jeju Province (confirmed patients who had visited other provinces or had contact with individuals who had traveled to other provinces in Korea); and (3) unknown sources of infection (confirmed patients who were infected following contact with an infected person whose source of infection was unknown). The chi-square test was used to analyze the differences in the distributions of related variables for each source of infection. Results: Of the 627 confirmed cases, 38 (6.1%) were infections from overseas sources, 199 (31.7%) were from outside of Jeju Province, and 390 (62.2%) were from unknown sources. Jeju Province had no cases with an unknown source of infection during the first and second waves of the nationwide outbreak. Conclusions: Infections from overseas sources could be blocked from spreading to local communities in Jeju Province by conducting screening at the airport, along with the preemptive suspension of visa-free entry. In addition, considering the scale of the nationwide outbreak, measures must be established to delay outbreaks from unknown sources of infection caused by sources outside Jeju Province.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.7039-7043
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• 2013

A liver fluke, Opisthorchis viverrrini (OV), is the major cause of the high incidence of cholangiocarcinoma in North-eastern Thailand. The prevalence of OV infection remains high in various parts of the country, especially in wetland rural areas where a large proportion of the community work in agriculture and continue the traditional practice of eating raw or uncooked cyprinoid fish products. The national control program seems to have had little impact in many of these areas, and it has been difficult to make precise assessments of the overall effectiveness of the program. Therefore there is a need for a community-based approach to prevent infection with the parasite, ideally involving as many players as possible. Here we document an attempt to assess the best means to prevention on the basis of a community intervention in three villages in north-east Thailand, with participation of representatives of Health Promotion Hospitals of the Ministry of Public Health with dedicated staff, but also school teachers, independent government sponsored village health volunteers, and housewives responsible for cooking and diet selection. An action plan was followed, allowing detailed discussions of practical proposals, their introduction and then repeated reflection and further proposals at the individual village level.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.12
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• pp.1728-1735
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• 2014

Scrub typhus, caused by infection with Orientia tsutsugamushi, is a mite-borne zoonotic disease endemic to the Asian-Pacific region. In Korea, the incidence of this disease has increased with climate changes, and over 10,000 cases of infection were reported in 2013. Although this infection is treatable with antibiotics such as doxycycline and azithromycin, an effective prophylactic vaccine against O. tsutsugamushi would be more desirable for preventing scrub typhus in endemic areas. In this study, we investigated the 56-kDa type-specific antigen (TSA56), which is a major outer membrane protein of O. tsutsugamushi, as a vaccine candidate. Intranasal immunization of recombinant TSA56 (rec56) induced a higher level of TSA56-specific IgG than that induced by intramuscular immunization of tsa56-expressing DNA (p56). Both types of immunization induced a cell-mediated immune response to TSA56, as demonstrated by the splenic cell proliferation assay. Mice immunized with p56, followed by rec56 plus heat-labile enterotoxin B subunit from E. coli, had a stronger protection from a homologous challenge with the O. tsutsugamushi Boryong strain than with other combinations. Our preliminary results suggest that an effective human vaccine for scrub typhus can include either recombinant TSA56 protein or tsa56-expressing DNA, and provide the basis for further studies to optimize vaccine performance using additional antigens or different adjuvants.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.53-63
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• 2024

The intracellular parasite Babesia microti is among the most significant species causing human babesiosis and is an emerging threat to human health worldwide. Unravelling the pathogenic molecular mechanisms of babesiosis is crucial in developing new diagnostic and preventive methods. This study assessed how priming with B. microti surface antigen 1 (BHSA 1) and seroreactive antigen 5-1-1 (BHSA 5-1-1) mediate protection against B. microti infection. The results showed that 500 ㎍/ml rBMSA1 and rBMSA5-1-1 partially inhibited the invasion of B. microti in vitro by 42.0±3.0%, and 48.0±2.1%, respectively. Blood smears revealed that peak infection at 7 days post-infection (dpi) was 19.6%, 24.7%, and 46.7% in the rBMSA1, rBmSA5-1-1, compared to the control groups (healthy mice infected with B. microti only), respectively. Routine blood tests showed higher white blood cell, red blood cell counts, and haemoglobin levels in the 2 groups (BMSA1 and BMSA5 5-1-1) than in the infection control group at 0-28 dpi. Moreover, the 2 groups had higher serum interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α and Interleukin-17A levels, and lower IL-10 levels than the infection control group throughout the study. These 2 potential vaccine candidate proteins partially inhibit in vitro and in vivo B. microti infection and enhance host immunological response against B. microti infection.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.408-415
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• 2009

Objectives : This study was performed to investigate the mumps transmission control status and inapparent infection rate among middle and high school students in Daegu City during a mumps outbreak. Methods : Nine schools (two middle schools and seven high schools), which reported a number of mumps cases between 2007 and 2008 were selected for investigation. During March-May 2008, a standard questionnaire was distributed to gather information about case identification, instructed isolation measure, isolation status of mumps cases and related factors, and outdoor activities of nonisolated mumps case. Inapparent infection rate was estimated by serum mumps IgM and IgG antibodies status and self-reported mumps symptoms in three of the nine schools. Results : Among 2,560 respondents, more than half of students answered that they did not receive instructions in mumps transmission control measures during the outbreak. Among the 327 mumps cases identified by the questionnaire, 131 cases (40.1%) were considered as isolated and the isolation rates were significantly different among schools, grades, and gender. Of the non-isolated cases, 88.3% continued attending school. Inapparent mumps infection rates were between 56.3% and 70.2%. Conclusions : Mumps transmission control was inadequate to control the mumps outbreak. Although high inapparent infection rate would mitigate the transmission control effect of case isolation, this measure is fundamental for infection control. The reasons of this inadequate status need to be explored to develop an effective intervention strategy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3603-3606
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• 2013

Background: To investigate the infection status and predominant genotype distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among Chinese patients with mucopurulent cervicitis (MPC) or cervical cancer (CC) in Hangzhou. Methods: Initially, 217 cases of healthy cervix controls (n=50), acute MPC (n=89), and CC (n=78) were included; samples were collected between January 1, 2010, and January 30, 2013. Cervical specimens were screened for HPV using a nested polymerase chain reaction assay and DNA sequencing. Results: Overall prevalence of HPV infection was 16.7% in the control group, 51.9% in the MPC group, and 84.4% in the CC group. The predominant genotype detected in all 3 groups was the oncogenic variant HPV 16 (55.8%, 17.3%, and 6.3% in the CC, MPC and control specimens, respectively), HPV58 was the second most predominant HPV type in CC (9.1%), MPC (8.6%), and control group (4.2%). Most or all of the genotypes were oncogenic in the three groups. Conclusions: Infection with HPV was found to be prevalent among Chinese women with MPC or CC and oncogenic variants were in the majority. Therefore, peoples who suffered MPC with HPV DNA positive should be regularly followed-up, for prevention and early treatment of cervical cancer.