• 한국보건간호학회지
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.115-125
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• 2010

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the knowledge of infectious diseases and the management of children with infectious diseases among daycare facility teachers. Methods: This study was based on survey questionnaires completed by 122 day care facility teachers from 36 daycare center sin one district in Seoul. Results: Seventy three (72.8%) of the participating daycare facility teachers had not received infectious disease prevention education. They recognized that they did not have enough knowledge of infectious diseases. The average knowledge level of infectious diseases was scored as 9.30 on a 0-30 scale, with 0 representing no knowledge and 30 expert knowledge, and compliance level of management of children with infectious diseases was scored as 4.29 on a 0-16 scale, with 0 present no compliance and 16 representing total compliance Confidence of management of children with infectious diseases (r=0.24, p=.031) and the compliance level of management (r=0.35, p=.001) were higher with increased knowledge of infectious diseases. Conclusions: Daycare facility teacher scan lack sufficient knowledge about b infectious diseases. The education about infectious diseases and management of children with infectious diseases is indispensable to prevent trans mission of infectious diseases in daycare facilities.

• Diabetes and Metabolism Journal
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• 제42권6호
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• pp.538-543
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• 2018

Globally, diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the leading causes of blindness, that diminishes quality of life. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of DR, and its associated risk factors. This cross-sectional study was carried out among 478 diabetic patients in a referral center in Fars province, Iran. The mean${\pm}$standard deviation age of the participants was $56.64{\pm}12.45$ years old and DR prevalence was 32.8%. In multivariable analysis, lower education levels (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.43; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.24 to 0.76), being overweight (aOR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.02 to 2.83) or obese (aOR, 1.88; 95% CI, 1.09 to 3.26), diabetes duration of 10 to 20 years (aOR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.48 to 3.73) and over 20 years (aOR, 5.63; 95% CI, 2.97 to 10.68), receiving insulin (aOR, 1.99; 95% CI, 1.27 to 3.10), and having chronic diseases (aOR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.02 to 2.85) were significantly associated with DR. In conclusion, longer diabetes duration and obesity or having chronic diseases are strongly associated with DR suggesting that control of these risk factors may reduce both the prevalence and impact of retinopathy in Iran.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제47권3호
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• pp.269-273
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• 2009

A 57-year old man who was admitted to an emergency room of a tertiary hospital with hemoptysis developed malarial fever 19 days later and then died from severe falciparum malaria 2 days later. He had not traveled outside of Korea for over 30 years. Through intensive interviews and epidemiological surveys, we found that a foreign patient with a recent history of travel to Africa was transferred to the same hospital with severe falciparum malaria. We confirmed through molecular genotyping of the MSP-1 gene that Plasmodium falciparum genotypes of the 2 patients were identical. It is suggested that a breach of standard infection control precautions resulted in this P. falciparum transmission between 2 patients in a hospital environment. This is the first report of a nosocomial transmission of falciparum malaria in Korea.

• Journal of Medicine and Life Science
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• 제20권3호
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• pp.107-114
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• 2023

Epidemiological control of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is needed to estimate the infection period of confirmed cases and identify potential cases. The present study, targeting confirmed cases for which the time of COVID-19 symptom onset was disclosed, aimed to investigate the relationship between intervals (day) from symptom onset to testing the cycle threshold (CT) values of real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Of the COVID-19 confirmed cases, those for which the date of suspected symptom onset in the epidemiological investigation was specifically disclosed were included in this study. Interval was defined as the number of days from symptom onset (as disclosed by the patient) to specimen collection for testing. A locally weighted regression smoothing (LOWESS) curve was applied, with intervals as explanatory variables and CT values (CTR for RdRp gene and CTE for E gene) as outcome variables. After finding its non-linear relationship, a polynomial regression model was applied to estimate the 95% confidence interval values of CTR and CTE by interval. The application of LOWESS in 331 patients identified a U-shaped curve relationship between the CTR and CTE values according to the number of interval days, and both CTR and CTE satisfied the quadratic model for interval days. Active application of these results to epidemiological investigations would minimize the chance of failing to identify individuals who are in contact with COVID-19 confirmed cases, thereby reducing the potential transmission of the virus to local communities.

• Healthcare Informatics Research
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• 제24권4호
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• pp.300-308
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• 2018

Objectives: Prompt detection is a cornerstone in the control and prevention of infectious diseases. The Integrated Disease Surveillance Project of India identifies outbreaks, but it does not exactly predict outbreaks. This study was conducted to assess temporal correlation between Google Trends and Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) data and to determine the feasibility of using Google Trends for the prediction of outbreaks or epidemics. Methods: The Google search queries related to malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya, and enteric fever for Chandigarh union territory and Haryana state of India in 2016 were extracted and compared with presumptive form data of the IDSP. Spearman correlation and scatter plots were used to depict the statistical relationship between the two datasets. Time trend plots were constructed to assess the correlation between Google search trends and disease notification under the IDSP. Results: Temporal correlation was observed between the IDSP reporting and Google search trends. Time series analysis of the Google Trends showed strong correlation with the IDSP data with a lag of -2 to -3 weeks for chikungunya and dengue fever in Chandigarh (r > 0.80) and Haryana (r > 0.70). Malaria and enteric fever showed a lag period of -2 to -3 weeks with moderate correlation. Conclusions: Similar results were obtained when applying the results of previous studies to specific diseases, and it is considered that many other diseases should be studied at the national and sub-national levels.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제58권3호
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• pp.301-308
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• 2020

Owing to global climate change, the global resurgence of vector-borne infectious diseases and their potential to inflict widespread casualties among human populations has emerged as a pivotal burden on public health systems. Tsutsugamushi disease (scrub typhus) in the Republic of Korea is steadily increasing and was designated as a legal communicable disease in 1994. The disease is a mite-borne acute febrile disease most commonly contracted from October to December. In this study, we tried to determine the prevalence of tsutsugamushi disease transmitted by chigger mites living on rodents and investigated their target vector diversity, abundance, and distribution to enable the mapping of hotspots for this disease in 2015. A total of 5 species belonging to 4 genera (109 mites): Leptotrombidium scutellare 60.6%, L. pallidum 28.4% Neotrombicula tamiyai 9.2%, Euschoengastia koreaensis/0.9%), and Neoschoengastia asakawa 0.9% were collected using chigger mite collecting traps mimicking human skin odor and sticky chigger traps from April to November 2015. Chigger mites causing tsutsugamushi disease in wild rodents were also collected in Hwaseong for the zoonotic surveillance of the vector. A total of 77 rodents belonging to 3 genera: Apodemus agrarius (93.5%), Crocidura lasiura (5.2%), and Micromys minutus (1.3%) were collected in April, October, and November 2015. The most common mite was L. pallidum (46.9%), followed by L. scutellare (18.6%), and L. orientale (18.0%). However, any of the chigger mite pools collected from rodent hosts was tested positive for Orientia tsutsugamushi, the pathogen of tsutsugamushi disease, in this survey.

• 대한간호학회지
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• 제36권4호
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• pp.596-603
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• 2006

Purpose. This study examined Korean clinical nurses' intentions to care for SARS patients and identify determinants of the intentions. Theory of planned behavior was the framework to explain the intentions of Korean nurses for SARS patients care. Methods. A convenient sample of six hundreds and seventy nine clinical nurses from four university-affiliated hospitals located in Seoul and in Kyung-gi province was used. Self-administered (83-items) questionnaire was used to collect data. Intentions, attitude, subjective norm, perceive behavioral control, behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs were the study variables. All items were measured using 7point Likert scale (-3 to +3). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation method, and stepwise multiple regression methods. Results. Intentions and attitudes toward SARS patient care among Korean clinical nurses were moderate, but their subjective norm and perceive behavioral control of SARS patients care were negative. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that attitude toward SARS patient care, perceived behavioral control, subjective norm were the determinants of the intentions for SARS patients care as theory proposed. Among the behavioral beliefs, 'SARS-patient caring would be a new experience', 'during SARS-patient caring, I should be apart from my family', 'after completing SARS-patient caring, I would be proud of myself being able to cope with a stressful event' and 'with my SARS-patient caring, patients could recover from SARS' were the significant determinants. Among the normative beliefs, colleague approval, spouse approval, and physician approval were significant determinants of the intentions. Among the control beliefs, 'SARS-patient caring would be a challenge' 'SARS-patient caring is a professional responsibility', 'tension during the care of SARS patients' and 'support from team members' were the significant determinants of the intentions. Conclusions. Korean clinical nurses in this study were not willing to care for SARS patients and showed negative attitude toward the care. They believed their friends and family were not approved their care for SARS patients. Nurses were in conflicts between professional responsibilities to care for SARS patients and personal safety. This study was the first to understand stress and burden of Korean clinical nurses who are in front line to care for newly developed communicable disease such as SARS. Under the circumstance where several fatal communicable diseases are predictable, conflicts between professional responsibility and their personal risks should be taken into considerations by nurses themselves and by nursing administrators in order to improve quality of care.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• 제56권6호
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• pp.589-596
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• 2018

Ticks are the vectors of various pathogens, threatening human health and animal production across the globe. Here, for the first time we detected Ricketssia spp., Borrelia spp. and protozoan in ticks from Poyang Lake region in Jiangxi Province of eastern China. In 3 habitat categories and on 12 host species, 311 ticks from 11 species were collected. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the predominant species, accounting for 55.63%, followed by Rhipicephalus microplus, Haemaphysalis flava and Ixodes granulatus. Of the collected ticks, 7.07% were positive for tick-borne pathogens, and H. longicornis and H. flava were found to be co-infected with Ricketssia spp. and protozoan. H. flava was the most detected positive for tick-borne pathogens, whereas H. longicornis had the lowest infection rate, and the difference in infection rates between tick species was significant (${\chi}^2=61.24$, P<0.001). Furthermore, adult ticks demonstrated remarkably greater infection rate than immature ticks (${\chi}^2=10.12$, P=0.018), meanwhile ticks on Erinaceidae showed significantly higher positivity than ticks collected on other host species (${\chi}^2=108.44$, P<0.001). Genetic fragment sequencing and analyses showed at least 4 pathogen species presence in ticks, namely Borrelia yangtzensis, Rickettsia slovaca or Rickettsia raoultii related genospecies, Babesia vogeli and Hepatozoon canis or Hepatozoon felis related genospecies. The finding indicates that the abundant ticks can carry diverse pathogens in Poyang Lake region, and pathogen infection is highly related to species, vertebrate hosts and life stages of ticks.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.255-259
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• 2014

Physical activity could be considered one of the factors that affect the immune system status and function. To find the relation between exercise and cytokines, we examined the possible effects of an 8-week endurance training program on the serum levels of cytokines, including tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-${\alpha}$) and interferon-gamma (IFN-${\gamma}$) in sedentary men. A total of 30 healthy young male volunteers were randomly divided into an endurance training group and a control group. The training group followed a specific exercise protocol (running on a treadmill for 15~30 min at 50~70% maximal heart rate) for 8 weeks and the control group did not participate in any exercise program. Venous blood samples were collected from both the groups 24 h before and 24 h and 48 h after the exercise. Repeated ANOVA was used for statistical purposes. The serum levels of TNF-${\alpha}$ and IFN-${\gamma}$ were determined by ELISA. Significant (p<0.05) and non-significant (p>0.05) decreases were observed in the serum levels of IFN-${\gamma}$ and TNF-${\alpha}$, respectively, after the 8-week endurance training program. Our findings indicated that an 8-week endurance exercise may affect the serum levels of some inflammatory cytokines, suggesting the beneficial role of this training protocol in elderly population and people with certain conditions (inflammation of the vertebrae or other inflammatory diseases).

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.19-27
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• 2012

목 적 : 최근 부모들의 맞벌이, 조기 교육 등의 이유로 이른 나이부터 보육시설을 이용하는 영유아가 증가하고 있다. 이러한 사회 환경의 변화 속에 5세 이하 어린이들의 보육시설 이용 현황과 이와 관련된 감염성 질환 실태 및 예방접종 현황에 대하여 조사하였다. 방 법 : 2011년 6월 10일부터 6월 16일까지 전국의 5세 이하의 자녀를 둔 부모 1,000명을 대상으로 온라인 설문조사를 실시하였다. 표본오차는 95% 신뢰수준에서 ${\pm}3.1%$이고, 표본추출은 지역별, 성별, 연령별 비율에 따라 무작위 할당표본 추출(quota sampling)방법을 사용하였다. 설문조사는 크게 인구통계학적 특성, 단체 보육시설 이용 현황, 소아의 감염성 질환 경험, 예방접종 유무 관련 4개 주제로 나누고 그 속에 세부 문항을 두어 총 16개의 문항을 구성하였고, 설문결과를 수집하여 통계적 분석을 시행하였다. 결 과 : 5세이하의 영유아들의 보육시설 이용율은 78.5%였고 이 중 약 84%가 3세 이전부터 보육시설을 처음 이용한 것으로 나타났다. 보육시설을 이용하는 영유아(58%)가 그렇지 않은 영유아(34%)보다 감염성 질환을 경험한 비율이 더 높았다(P<0.001). 감염성 질환 중에서 장염(47.1%), 중이염(41.8%), 폐렴(19.1%) 등의 순으로 경험 비율이 높았고, 각 질환의 재발 여부는 중이염이 28.1%로 가장 높고 뒤이어 장염 (22.4%), 폐렴 (11.9%)의 순으로 조사되었다. 각 질환을 앓은 영유아의 약 70% 정도가 생후 24개월 이전에 이들 질환을 처음 경험한 것으로 나타났다(폐렴 75.2%, 장염 77.1%, 중이염 71%). 예방접종율은 국가필수예방접종이 90.4%인데 반하여 기타예방접종은 중복응답을 포함하여 b형 헤모필루스 인플루엔자 백신(76.6%), A형 간염(63.3%), 폐구균 백신(59.4%), 로타바이러스 백신(43.1%) 순으로 나타났다. 결 론 : 이번 연구에서 이른 나이부터 단체생활을 시작하는 영유아가 많았고, 이들의 감염성 질환 경험률이 더 높은 것으로 나타나 이 시기의 감염성 질환 예방을 위해 손씻기 등의 개인위생에 보다 힘쓰고 시기에 맞게 백신접종을 하도록 해야 한다. 또한 소아 감염 전문가들에 의한 보육시설에서의 표준화된 감염관리 지침 제정과 함께 보육현장에서의 교육을 통하여 보육시설에서의 감염 전파를 막기 위한 보다 적극적인 노력이 필요하다.