• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.115-120
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• 2010

Background: Pediatric deep neck infection can cause critical complications in that they are seldom able to verbalize symptoms or cooperate with physical examination. The objective of this study is to identify the clinical characteristics according to age. Material and Method: A retrospective study was performed on 26 cases with pediatric deep neck infection during 12 years. Patients were classified infancy group (1-7 yr, 19.2%), preschool age group (7-15 yr, 30.8%) and school age group (15 yr-, 50%). We analyzed the age, sex, sites of abscess, predisposing factors, symptoms and compared onset, hospital date, laboratory and outcomes at each group. Results: In pediatric patients with deep neck infection, the age distribution was 18 males (69.2%) and 8 females (30.8%), the mean age was 7.4 years. The most common infection site was the anterior cervical triangle and submandibular space (19.2%). The most commonly known associated preceding disease was upper viral infection (34.6%), but we could not find the preceding diseases in most of cases (50%). Neck swelling (69.2%) was the most frequent symptom. The mean age of patients who performed neck CT was 8.23 years and neck US was 2.75 years. The younger patients were preferred to perform the neck US than the neck CT (p=0.022). The mean time from disease onset to admission was 9 days in the infancy, 5.5 days in the preschool aged and 5 days in the school aged group. The surgical treatment was performed in 30.8% of school aged, 62.5% of preschool aged and 100% of infancy group. Surgical treatment was preferred to younger patients (p=0.026). Conclusion: Abscess sites, size, and antibiotics susceptibility and especially patient age should be carefully considered in treating pediatric deep neck infection.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.346-350
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• 2010

Purpose: Diagnosis of diabetic foot infection is sometimes difficult, since the classical inflammatory signs and leukocytosis may be absent due to the decreased host immune response in diabetics. Therefore inflammatory blood markers, such as white blood cell (WBC) count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) have been commonly needed to confirm the diagnosis of infection. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic usefulness of WBC, ESR and CRP for detection of diabetic foot infection. Methods: Peripheral blood samples were taken from 113 patients with diabetic foot ulcers admitted from June 2007 to April 2009. Diabetic foot infection was diagnosed according to the microbiological culture from soft tissue and bone specimens. Reference values of tests were 4500-11000 /${\mu}L$ for WBC count, 0-20 mm/hr for ESR, and 0-5 mg/L for $CRP^{13,14}$. Sensitivities, specificities, positive and negative predictive values of laboratory tests were calculated and analysed. Receiver-operator characteristic (ROC) curve was also created. Results: There was a significant difference in WBC, ESR, and CRP between infectious group and noninfectious group (p<0.05). The sensitivity of WBC>11,000 /${\mu}L$ ESR > 20 mm/hr, and CRP > 5 mg/L was 30%, 96%, and 84%. The specificity was 86%, 14%, and 50% for WBC, ESR, and CRP, respectively. Positive predictive value was 88%, 78%, and 84%, and negative predictive value was 28%, 50%, and 50% respectively. The areas under the ROC curve for WBC, ESR and CRP were 0.72, 0.75, and 0.78 respectively. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, we conclude that CRP is more useful method in predicting and diagnosing infection than WBC, ESR in diabetic foot ulcer patients.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.75-83
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• 2021

Odontogenic infection in the oral and maxillofacial regions caused by bacteria (mostly of oral origin) is one of the most common diseases encountered by dentists. Localized infection can easily be treated with incision and drainage followed by antibiotics. Emergence of multidrug resistant (MDR) bacteria called "Superbacteria" has become one of the serious problems in modern society, due to its small window of opportunity for treatment and high casualty. The acronym "ESKAPE", encompassing the common and serious MDR pathogens stand for Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter spp. Literature search was performed in Medline, PubMed and Google Scholar ranging from 2012 to 2020. ESKAPE patient's infection period was longer than that of non-ESKAPE group, and the treatment method due to antibiotic resistance was also complicated. The purpose of this study is to investigate infection caused by ESKAPE pathogens in the oral and maxillofacial regions through literature review and to inform dental surgeons of the danger of ESKAPE pathogens and to suggest viable treatment options. Many studies worldwide reported infections associated with ESKAPE pathogens, but only limited number of studies targeted infection in oral and maxillofacial regions. Further research is required with more data on ESKAPE bacteria and their infection, especially in oral and maxillofacial regions.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.1-12
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• 2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the western countries with advanced medical technology failed to contain coronavirus. This fact triggered our research question of what factors influence the clinical outcomes like infection rates and case mortality rates. This study aims to identify the determinants of COVID-19 related infection rates and case mortality rates. We considered three sets of independent variables: 1) socio-demographic characteristics; 2) cultural characteristics; 3) healthcare system characteristics. For the analysis, we created an international dataset from diverse sources like World Bank, Worldometers, Hofstede Insight, GHS index etc. The COVID-19 related statistics were retrieved from Aug. 1. Total cases are from 95 countries. We used hierarchical regression method to examine the linear relationship among variables. We found that obesity, uncertainty avoidance, hospital beds per 1,000 made a significant influence on the standardized COVID-19 infection rates. The countries with higher BMI score or higher uncertainty avoidance showed higher infection rates. The standardized COVID-19 infection rates were inversely related to hospital beds per 1,000. In the analysis on the standardized COVID-19 case mortality rates, we found that two cultural characteristics(e.g., individualism, uncertainty avoidance) showed statistically significant influence on the case mortality rates. The healthcare system characteristics did not show any statistically significant relationship with the case mortality rates. The cultural characteristics turn out to be significant factors influencing the clinical outcomes during COVID-19 pandemic. The results imply that the persuasive communication is important to trigger the public commitment to follow preventive measures. The strategy to keep the hospital surge capacity needs to be developed.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.41
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• pp.49.1-49.8
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• 2019

Background: The purpose of this study was to review the clinical features of oromaxillofacial infections in patients presenting to a hospital emergency ward, to identify the key factors affecting the requirement for hospitalization, and the potential risk factors predisposing to a prolonged length of hospital stay. Methods: A retrospective medical record review of the 598 patients treated for oromaxillofacial infection from 2013 to 2017 at the oral and maxillofacial surgery department, Yangsan Pusan National University Hospital, was conducted. The following information was collected from each patient: sex, age, past medical history, site of infection, etiology, admission or outpatient care, level of C-reactive protein (mg/dL), fascial spaces involved, treatment method, and duration of hospitalization. Chi-squared tests were used to identify risk factors, which were further analyzed using multivariable logistic regression. Results: A total of 606 patients were eligible for inclusion in the study, of which eight were excluded due to having incomplete charts; thus, 598 patients were included: 55% were male, mean patient age was 47.1 ± 19.9 years, and 12.9% of patients were diabetic. Furthermore, 71.2% of patients had infection originating in the mandible; the most common tooth of origin was lower posterior, and 29.8% of patients were hospitalized. Risk factors for hospital admission were elderly patients with concurrent disease, elevated C-reactive protein level, and multiple-space infection in the oromaxillofacial area. The duration of hospitalization was correlated with both diabetes and age. Conclusions: The requirement for hospital admission is determined by the severity of the infection; even severe infections, once treated with appropriate surgery, have no relation to the length of hospital stay. The important risk factors for increased duration of hospitalization are diabetes mellitus and older age. The understanding of risk factors associated with a prolonged hospital stay during the treatment of oromaxillofacial infection will aid in treatment planning as well as highlight the importance of adequate diabetes control in patients at risk of such infection.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.253-261
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• 2021

This study was conducted to investigate the factors influencing in the infection control performance of coronavirus infection disease-19 in registered nurse. Data were collected using descriptive structured questionnaires to examine the factors of influencing in the infection control performance. General characteristics, knowledge of infection control, anxiety, fatigue, and coronavirus infection-19 (COVID-19) respiratory infection management performance were identified from structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using independent t-test, ANOVA, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis were performed using the IBM SPSS 21.0 program. Anxiety and respiratory infection management performance was a negative correlation. Multiple regression analysis indicated anxiety was predicted component of performance of coronavirus infection-19 respiratory infection management. The results indicate a need to decrease degree of anxiety by developing educational programs to improve nurses' ability to manage coronavirus infection-19 respiratory infections. In addition, it is necessary to consider applying a role-play or simulation education method so that registered nurse can take care of patients with emerging infectious diseases in advance.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.211-215
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• 2004

Toxoplasmosis has been well known as an important human infection to consider especially in pregnant women. Although many serologic methods are available, the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis can be extremely difficult. The presence of increased levels of Toxoplasma-specific IgG antibodies indicates an infection, but it does not differentiate between a recent and past infection. The purpose of our study was to compare the performance of the ELISA T. gondii IgG/IgM test, a widely used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, to the ELISA IgG avidity method. One hundred and four serum samples (from 38 males and 66 females) were tested and evaluated from symptomatic patients (chorioretinitis, lymphadenopathy), and from women in their first trimester of pregnancy who were suspected of having toxoplasmosis, The high IgG avidity and ELISA IgG antibody levels were in agreement for 51 of the specimens (49.0％). Thirty-eight discrepant (borderline) results from the IgG avidity method were positive for IgM (3 specimens) and IgG (37 specimens). Interestingly, out of the eight serum samples that were positive for both IgG and IgM antibodies, two samples were low IgG avidity, and three samples were borderline. There was no statistically significant relation observed between the results of the IgG avidity method and the ELISA IgG test, and the IgG avidity method and ELISA IgM test (X$^2$=1.987; p=0.370 and X$^2$=2.152; p=0.341, respectively). The IgG avidity method was considered easy to perform and an acceptable approach for the differentiation of discrepant results (recent/chronic) and for the current detection of T. gondii antibodies. We concluded that the determination of IgG avidity is a helpful tool for the diagnosis of the ocular form of toxoplasmosis and it is a safe method for screening this disease in the first trimester of pregnancy.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1118-1124
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• 2014

Porcine respiratory disease complex (PRDC) is a common respiratory disease in nursery and grow-finishing pigs. A complex of viral and bacterial agents is known to be involved in the etiology of PRDC. The purpose of this study was to investigate common etiologic agents associated with PRDC in the field and compare detection methods for identifying these agents. To understand the mechanism of polymicrobial infection in PRDC, changes in the expression of cytokines were investigated. In 461 pig samples examined, most of the affected pigs ranged from 3 to 10 weeks old (73.4%), and 348 (75.4%) samples were confirmed as polymicrobial infection. Of the polymicrobial-infected cases, two (50.3%), three (32.2%), four (13.8%), five (3.2%), and six (0.5%) agents were detected. Two- or three-agent infections were the most common, with PRRSV/PCV-2 (44.6%) the most common two-agent infection. PRRSV/PCV-2/H. parasuis (11.0%) was the most common three-agent infection. Comparison of two detection methods (PCR and IHC) in the polymicrobial cases showed that 78.4% were PCV-2 positive with the PCR method, and 26.2% were PCV-2 positive with IHC. SIV was 7.8% by the PCR method and 3.7% positive by the IHC. This result indicates that the PCR method is more useful than IHC for detecting causative agents in PRDC. In the analysis of cytokines in the two- and three-agent infected samples, interleukin (IL)-$1{\alpha}$, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, and INF-${\alpha}$ showed the same expression pattern. All cytokines were suppressed, except IL-6. These findings indicate that changes in cytokine expression could be used to understand the mechanism of polymicrobial infection in PRDC.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.42-44
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• 1966

Survey of the infection rate of Dirofilaria immitis in Korean dogs was made in Chunju area by means of Kume's Aectone-Concentrating method. During the period of 60 days(July August) 1cc of the blood was collected from Vena mediana antebrachii of each of 205 dogs over the age of one year regardless of its sex.(In this case 2cc syringe was used.) Time for collecting the blood was from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The collected blood was checked, using Kume's acetone-concentrating method.: The results were summarized as followings. Microfilaria was detected in 47 dogs(23%) out of 205. Based on the dog's age, microfilaria possitive rate is 15.5% (12 dogs out of 77) at one age; 24%(14 dogs out of 59) at the age of two; 28%(12 dogs out of 43) at the age of three; 5%(5 dogs out of 15) at the age of four.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 1977

Two patients with funnel chest deformity corrected in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Korea University Hospital are presented. The first case was a 21 year old male suffering from exertional dyspnea and recurrent upper respiratory tract infection with asymmetrical funnel Chest deformity, which the hollow cavity was measured 250ml of water. He was corrected by Ravitch method. The result was uneventful. The second case was a 34 year old male with symmetrical and asymptomatic deformity which the hollow cavity was measured 45ml of water. He was corrected by the method of sternal turnover [Wada Method]. On postoperative 8th day, seroma was noted in subxiphoid space and followed secondary infection of the pseudomonas. So, the infected cartilages were resected and curetted. The result was uneventful.