• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2017

The length of hospital stay (LOS) for patients with respiratory virus infections has been reported to depend the virus type and infection severity. However, the impact of co-infections remains unclear. Patients with suspected respiratory virus infections, who visited Dankook University Hospital between December 2006 and February 2014, were included to examine the relationship between co-infections and LOS. Multiplex reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reactions were used to identify the causative viruses. LOS was analyzed with respect to sex, age, virus, and co-infection. During this period, 5,310 out of the 8,860 patients (59.9%; median age, 1.5 years) were respiratory virus-positive. In respiratory virus-positive patients with single, double, and three-or-more infections, the average LOS was 7.3, 6.7, and 6.6 days, respectively. Longer LOS was observed for older patients and those with human coronavirus OC43 infections compared with adenovirus or respiratory syncytial virus A infections. LOS differed significantly according to age, virus type, and co-infection, but not between double and three or more infections.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.83-99
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• 2002

Respiratory tract symptoms such as cough, wheeze, and strider may occur frequently or persist for long periods in a substantial number of children, others may have persistent or recurring lung infiltrates with or without symptoms. It is important to study on clinical significance of this symptoms for avoiding unnecessary test or treatment. Chronic or Recurrent Respiratory Symptoms are similar to cold(感冒) and cough(咳嗽) in Oriental Medicine. Diagnostic criteria is followed : in case of children less than three years old, upper respiratory infections are more than seven per year or lower respiratory infections are more than three ; in case of children three to five years old, upper respiratory infections are more than six per year or lower respiratory infections are more than two ; in case of children six to twelve years old, upper respiratory infections are more than five per year or lower respiratory infections are more than two. In oriental medical treatment is classified into the treatment of internal use, external use, internal and external use, acupuncture, cupping therapy, and combination treatment of chinese and western medicine.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.74 no.2
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• pp.63-69
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• 2013

Background: Aiming to improve outcome of lung transplantation (LTx) patients, we reviewed risk factors and treatment practices for the LTx recipients who experienced respiratory infection in the late post-LTx period (>1 month after LTx). Methods: We analyzed the clinical data of 48 recipients and donors from 61 LTx, who experienced late respiratory infections. Late respiratory infections were classified according to the etiology, time of occurrence, and frequency of donor-to-host transmission or colonization of the recipient prior to transplantation. Results: During the period of observation, 42 episodes of respiratory infections occurred. The organisms most frequently involved were gram (-) bacteria: Acinetobacter baumannii (n=13, 31.0%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (n=7, 16.7%), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (n=4, 10.0%). Among the 42 episodes recorded, 14 occurred in the late post-LTx period. These were bacterial (n=6, 42.9%), fungal (n=2, 14.3%), viral (n=4, 28.5%), and mycobacterial (n=2, 14.3%) infections. Of 6 bacterial infections, 2 were from multidrug-resistant (MDR) A. baumannii and one from each of MDR P. aeruginosa, extended spectrum ${\beta}$-lactamase (+) K. pneumoniae, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Infection-related death occurred in 6 of the 14 episodes (43%). Conclusion: Although the frequency of respiratory infection decreased sharply in the late post-LTx period, respiratory infection was still a major cause of mortality. Gram (-) MDR bacteria were the agents most commonly identified in these infections.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.182-190
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• 2017

Background: Respiratory viruses play a significant role in the etiology of acute respiratory infections and exacerbation of chronic respiratory illnesses. This study was conducted to identify the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of children with acute viral lower respiratory infections. Methods: This study investigated 1,168 children diagnosed with acute viral lower respiratory tract infections (RTIs) between January 2012 and December 2014. Specimens of respiratory viruses were collected using a nasopharyngeal swab and analyzed by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and analyzed the clinical features of children hospitalized for acute lower respiratory infections. Results: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), the main cause of infection in children aged <5 years, was the most commonly detected pathogen in children with bronchiolitis and pneumonia, and resulted in high proportions of children requiring oxygen treatment and intensive care unit admission. Rhinovirus was preceded by RSV as the second most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia, and was detected most frequently in the children aged ${\geq}6$ years. In addition, asthma was predominantly caused by rhinovirus in children aged ${\geq}6$ years, whereas croup was mostly caused by parainfluenza virus in those aged <5 years. Rhinovirus infection (p<0.001) and history of asthma (p=0.049) were identified as significant risk factors for readmission within a month. Conclusion: We identified the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of respiratory viruses in children with acute lower respiratory infections during the last 3 years. Our findings may provide useful clinical insight to comprehend the acute viral lower RTIs in children.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.210-219
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of emergency setting visitors' knowledge and behavior patterns in relation to prevention of respiratory tract infections. Methods: A descriptive survey was used. The participants were visitors to the emergency service in 'D' general hospital in 'D' city, and the data were collected from July 1 to September 1, 2016. The collected data were analyzed using frequency analysis, t-test, ANOVA, $Scheff{\acute{e}}$ test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple regression analysis. Results: Factors influencing prevention of respiratory tract infections were visitors' education level, methods of dissemination of prevention information, and participants' knowledge with regard to preventive methods. The explanatory power was found to be 35% in the regression model. Conclusion: The findings indicate that visitors' education level, knowledge of infection prevention, and the dissemination of information regarding infection prevention by the hospital play an important role in the prevention of respiratory tract infections in emergency services in the hospital. These results highlight the need for a customized education program for prevention of respiratory tract infections in emergency settings. Programs should take into consideration the educational background of visitors, and provide them with appropriate information regarding infection prevention.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1495-1499
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• 2020

The study of climate and respiratory viral infections using big data may enable the recognition and interpretation of relationships between disease occurrence and climatic variables. In this study, real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR (qPCR) methods were used to identify Human respiratory coronaviruses (HCoV). infections in patients below 10 years of age with respiratory infections who visited Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan, South Korea, from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2018. Out of the 9010 patients who underwent respiratory virus real-time reverse transcription qPCR test, 364 tested positive for HCoV infections. Among these 364 patients, 72.8% (n = 265) were below 10 years of age. Data regarding the frequency of infections was used to uncover the seasonal pattern of the two viral strains, which was then compared with local meteorological data for the same time period. HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43 showed high infection rates in patients below 10 years of age. There was a negative relationship between HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43 infections with air temperature and wind-chill temperatures. Both HCoV-229E and HCoV-OC43 rates of infection were positively related to atmospheric pressure, while HCoV-229E was also positively associated with particulate matter concentrations. Our results suggest that climatic variables affect the rate in which children below 10 years of age are infected with HCoV. These findings may help to predict when prevention strategies may be most effective.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.286-295
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• 2020

Respiratory infections are very common and highly contagious. Respiratory infectious diseases affect not only the person infected but also the family members and the society. As medical sciences advance, several diseases have been conquered; however, the impact of novel infectious diseases on the society is enormous. As the clinical presentation of respiratory infections is similar regardless of the pathogen, the causative agent is not distinguishable by symptoms alone. Moreover, it is difficult to develop a cure because of the various viral mutations. Various respiratory infectious diseases ranging from influenza, which threaten the health of mankind globally, to the coronavirus disease 2019, which resulted in a pandemic, exist. Contrary to human expectations that development in health care and improvement in hygiene will conquer infectious diseases, humankind's health and social systems are threatened by novel infectious diseases. Owing to the development of transport and trading activity, the rate of spread of new infectious diseases is increasing. As respiratory infections can threaten the members of the global community at any time, investigations on preventing the transmission of these diseases as well as development of effective antivirals and vaccines are of utmost importance and require a worldwide effort.

• The Korean Journal of Health Service Management
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.93-102
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• 2020

Objectives: This study analyzed the prescription characteristics of medication for acute respiratory diseases before and after pay-for-performance to provide basic data on effective medical quality management policies. Methods: The research data were collected from the 2013-2014 sample cohort of the National Health Insurance Corporation, from Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Otorhinolaryngology, Family Medicine and General practitioner clinics (classification of disease codes: J00-J06, J20-J22, J40 outpatients). Results: The antibiotics prescription rates decreased from 43.9% in 2013 to 43.5% in 2014 when the major diagnosis was for upper respiratory infections and increased from 62.0% in 2013 to 62.5% in 2014 when the major diagnosis was for lower respiratory infections. Conclusions: There is a need to identify the correct antibiotic prescription method by expanding the current assessment standards. Such standards must include acute lower respiratory infections and minor diagnoses as the current evaluation techniques focus only on the major diagnosis of acute upper respiratory infections.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.227-235
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate disease prevalence, parent's educational needs, and disease management according to severity of respiratory infections in early childhood. Methods: Participants for this study were 173 mothers whose child was admitted to I university hospital in Seoul and whose child was an infant or toddler. Data were collected from December, 17, 2014 to February, 15, 2015 using self-report structured questionnaires. Data were analyzed using IBM/SPSS 21.0 program. Results: There were significant differences in the severity of respiratory infection according to neonatal admission due to dyspnea, feeding type, atopic dermatitis in the infant or allergic disease in father and siblings. Parent's educational needs for the severe respiratory infection group were higher than for the non-severe group. Parent's disease management for the severe respiratory infection group was lower than the non-severe group. Conclusion: As important care factors in neonatal admissions include dyspnea, cow milk feeding, eczema, family history of allergies, parent's educational needs and disease management, they should be considered when caring for young children with respiratory infections and their parents.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge and practice level of infection managements in child guardians with respiratory infections after H1N1 diffusion of 2009. Methods: The data were collected during February and March 2010 using a self-report questionnaire. The participants were 228 child guardians. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, means, SD, t-test, F-test, Pearson correlation coefficients, and Cronbach's alpha with the SPSS 17.0 program. Results: Mean age of the guardians and children were 37.8 years, 4.1 years respectively. For knowledge level of respiratory infections, hand washing method had the highest score and snuffles prevention method, the lowest. For practice level for respiratory infections, environmental hygiene management had the highest score and symptom management, the lowest. Infection management knowledge and practice level had a positively significant correlation in every area. Conclusion: The results indicate the necessity of continual education on infection management, and that the most efficient timing for the education appears be for participants during their first pregnancy or after the woman has delivered her child.