• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.377-383
• /
• 2012

Bovine diarrhea is a major economical burden to the bovine industry in Korea. Since multiple infectious agents can be involved in bovine diarrhea, differential diagnosis is essential for effective treatment. Therefore, a panel of two multiplex real-time PCR assays which can simultaneously detect six major bovine enteric pathogens [i.e., bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), bovine coronavirus (BCoV), group A bovine rotavirus (BRV), Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli (E. coli) $K99^+$, and Cryptosporidium parvum] was developed and applied to test 97 fecal samples collected from cattle farms in Korea. In addition, microscopic examination was also preformed on the samples to detect Coccidium oocyst. The estimated sensitivity of the multiplex PCR was 0.1 $TCID_{50}$ for BVDV, BCoV and group A BRV, 5 and 0.5 CFU for E. coli $K99^+$ and Salmonella, respectively, and 50 oocysts for Cryptosporidium. The amplification efficiency of the multiplex PCR ranged between 0.97 and 0.99 for each pathogen. Among 97 samples, 36 samples were positive for at least one of the 6 major pathogens and 6 samples were simultaneously positive for 2 pathogens by the multiplex PCR assay. Coccidium oocysts were also detected in 48 samples, which were all collected from over 1 month old calves. In conclusion, the multiplex real-time PCR panel can be a useful tool for fast and accurate diagnosis of calf diarrhea associated with BVDV, BCoV, group A BRV, E. coli $K99^+$, Salmonella, and/or Cryptosporidium and Coccidium may be an important target which needs to be included in the multiplex PCR panel in the future.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.61-72
• /
• 2009

Purpose : We evaluated the clinical features of Norovirus gastroenteritis compared with Rotavirus gastroenteritis in hospitalized children. Methods : We detected causative agents in 3,261 samples of children hospitalized with gastroenteritis symptoms at a single center of pediatrics between 2005 and 2006. Among 266 and 303 samples which tested positive for Norovirus and Rotavirus, we selected 73 and 182 samples of children with relatively pure gastroenteritis symptoms and retrospectively analyzed the corresponding medical records. Results : The male-to-female ratio of the Norovirus (+) and Rotavirus (+) groupswas 1.43:1 and 1.56:1 both groups were predominantly in males. The mean age of the Norovirus (+) and Rotavirus (+) groups was 36.7 and 24.4 months, respectively the children in the former group were older than the children in the latter group. The incidence in the Norovirus (+) group was more concentrated in the winter. The symptoms in the Norovirus (+), in decreasing order, included vomiting, diarrhea, and fever. The duration of vomiting, diarrhea, and fever was 2.1, 1.2, and 1.2 days. The maximum number of episodes of vomiting and diarrhea per day was 3.5 and 4.5, respectively. The severity score was 10.16. The symptoms inthe Rotavirus (+) group, in decreasing order, included diarrhea, vomiting, and fever. The duration of diarrhea, vomiting, and fever was 2.2, 4.3, and 2.2 days, respectively. The maximum number of episodes of vomiting and diarrhea per day was 3.3 and 6.5, respectively. The severity score was 11.9. The severity in the Norovirus (+) group was somewhat lower than the Rotavirus (+) group. The younger the child, the more severe the symptoms in the Norovirus (+) group. There was no difference between mono-and co-infection in severity and between the two groups regarding the hematologic findings. Conclusion : Based on the findings reported herein, additional studies about prophylaxis, as well as the epidemiology and clinical features of pediatric Norovirus gastroenteritis, are required.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.21 no.10
• /
• pp.1026-1035
• /
• 2011

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, which owes its origin to the marine environment, is considered as one of the most common causes of infectious diarrhea worldwide. The present study investigated the pathogenicity of V. parahaemolyticus against the model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans. Infection in the host was localized with GFP-tagged V. parahaemolyticus using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The times required for causing infection, bacterial load in intestine, chemotactic response, and alteration in pharyngeal pumping were analyzed in the host system. In addition, the regulation of innate immune-related genes, lys-7, clec- 60, and clec-87, was analyzed using real-time PCR. The role of immune-responsible pmk-1 was studied using mutant strains. The pathogenicity of environmental strain CM2 isolated from the Gulf of Mannar, India was compared with that of a reference strain obtained from ATCC. The pathogen infected animals appeared to ward off infection by up-regulating candidate antimicrobial genes for a few hours after the exposure, before succumbing to the pathogen. For the first time, the pathogenicity of V. parahaemolyticus at both the physiological and molecular levels has been studied in detail using the model organism C. elegans.

• Child Health Nursing Research
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.128-135
• /
• 2007

Purpose: To investigate health problems in child day care centers, needs for Child Care Health Programs, and management of sick children by day-care staff. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study. Day-care staff (N=206) from 33 day care centers in Seoul, completed a structured questionnaire. Results: Almost half of the day-care staff (53.4%) experienced sick events in their child at least once a month. The most frequently reported difficulty in having a sick child was in not having a health professional to consult, and almost all day-care staff (99.5%) had asked parents not to bring a sick child to the day care center. The biggest reason of exclusion was due to infectious disease including measles, chicken pox, mumps, diarrhea·vomiting, and pink eye. The majority of day-care staff (97.6%) agreed that there is a need for Center-based Child Care Health Program (CCCHP), and expected general health & illness management, and special care for chronic disease from CCCHP. Conclusion: These results showed a high incidence of sickness in children in day care centers, and there were great demands for a Center-based Child Care Health Program for day-care staff. Also the results of this study can be utilized as a basis for the establishment of child care policy in Korea.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
• /
• v.5 no.1
• /
• pp.136-138
• /
• 1998

Shigella spp. cause classic bacillary dysentery that rarely result in extraintestinal complications. Urinary tract infections(UTIs) due to Shigella spp. are rare, and Shigella sonnei UTIs are extremely rare. We report a case of symptomatic UTI due to S. sonnei. A 9-year-old female presented with a history of fever, abdominal pain, loose form diarrhea, vomiting, and dysuria for 1 day. S. sonnei was identified from urine culture and stool culture result was no Salmonella and Shigella isolated. She was treated with gentamicin and cefuroxime intravenously for 5 days, which suscessfully controlled clinical features of infections.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.179-183
• /
• 2014

Reproductive losses in a herd can be huge. Fetal reabsorption or undefined infertility often remain undetected. Routine herds monitoring for exposure, controlling the introduction of potential agent carriers, appropriate biosafety procedures, and vaccination where possible are together the best security against abortion and stillbirth inducing disease. For biosecurity of local farms, we performed antibody titers of abortion and stillbirth related diseases such as bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus (IBRV), Neospora caninum, Toxoplasma gondii and Campylobacter fetus subsp venerealis. The blood samples were collected from 500 female Hanwoo over 1 year old of 100 farms in Jeonbuk eastern area. Champhylobater serological test was evaluated by the standard tube agglutination test (STAT) and other pathogen's antibodies were detected by indirect-enzyme linked immunoassay (I-ELISA). The seroprevalence of abortion and stillbirth inducing disease were BVDV 72.4%, IBRV 13.0%, N. caninum 1.2%, T. gondii 10.4% and C. venerealis 0.6%, irrespectively.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
• /
• v.36 no.4
• /
• pp.1007-1012
• /
• 1996

The purpose of the survey was to understand the field situation on the occurrence of enteric diseases in poultry farms in Korea. During the period from January of 1991 to December, 1992, 279(35.8%) out of 779 farms surveyed experienced the cases of enteritis in their chickens. The farms with diarrheal problems consisted of 157(45.1%) of 348 broiler flock, 28(32.6%) of 86 breeder flock, and 94(27.2%) of 345 layer flock. The main diseases causing enteritis were frequently appeared as infectious bursal disease(27.3%), colibacillosis(22.6%), and coccidiosis(8.6%). Necrotic enteritis(NE) in chicken occurred in 21 farms(2.7%) among 779 farms examined. The outbreaks of NE were divided 4.7% in breeders, 4.0% in broilers, and 0.9% in layers, respectively. NE occurred mainly in the age(71.4%) of 20~30 days and the mortality was varying from 1.4% to 10.0% for broilers, 3.0% for layers and 0.8% for breeders. Seasonal prevalence of NE showed the highest as 52.4% in summer and followed by 33.3% in autumn, 9.5% in spring and 4.5% in winter.

• Molecules and Cells
• /
• v.44 no.5
• /
• pp.335-341
• /
• 2021

Zinc is an essential micronutrient with crucial roles in multiple facets of biological processes. Dysregulated zinc homeostasis impairs overall immune function and resultantly increases susceptibility to infection. Clinically, zinc supplementation is practiced for treatment of several infectious diseases, such as diarrhea and malaria. Recent focus on zinc as a beneficial element for immune system support has resulted in investigation of the immunomodulatory roles of zinc in a variety of immune cells. Besides its classical role as a cofactor that regulates the structural function of thousands of proteins, accumulating evidence suggests that zinc also acts, in a manner similar to calcium, as an ionic regulator of immune responses via participation as an intracellular messenger in signaling pathways. In this review, we focus on the role of zinc as a signaling molecule in major pathways such as those downstream of Toll-like receptors-, T cell receptor-, and cytokine-mediated signal transduction that regulate the activity and function of monocytes/macrophages and T cells, principal players in the innate and adaptive immune systems.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.46 no.5
• /
• pp.525-531
• /
• 2020

Objectives: This study was performed to identify the epidemiological features of a food poisoning outbreak in a company cafeteria located in Chungcheongnam-do Province, Korea in June of 2020 and to suggest preventive measures for a similar incidence. Methods: A total of 84 patients with acute gastroenteritis were examined. Environmental samples were obtained from 16 food handlers, six food utensils, 135 preserved foods served over three days and nine menus, and six drinking water samples. These are analyzed to detect viruses and bacteria. Results: Ninety-four out of the 402 people who were served meals (23.4%) predominantly showed symptoms of diarrhea, and the number was over 3 times. Among the 84 patients under investigation, 17 cases (20.2%) were positive for Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) and 18 cases were positive for Clostridium (C.) perfringens (21.4%). Based on the investigation, it was concluded that the main pathogens were EPEC and C. perfringens. For EPEC, it was detected in three of the food service employees and in the preserved food and curry rice. The results of pulsed field gel electrophoresis indicate that all EPEC cases are closely related except for one food service employee. Assuming that isolated EPEC originated from the preserved food, the incubation period is about 25 hours. The origin of the C. perfringens was not determined as it was not detected in the food service employees or environmental samples. Conclusions: This case suggests that food provided in group food service centers must be thoroughly managed. In addition, identifying the pathogens in preserved food is very important for tracing the causes of food poisoning, so food must be preserved in an appropriate condition. To prevent similar food poisoning cases, analyzing cases based on epidemiological investigation and sharing the results is needed.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.77-84
• /
• 2003

Objectives : Two related cases of Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome (HUS) were reported to the Korea National Institute of Health in May, 2001. Shiga toxin 2 genes were detected in both stool samples. We suspected an enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infection as the cause of the HUS, and conducted an investigation to find the source of the infection and its route of transmission. Methods : We peformed case investigations on these two related HUS cases, and obtained interviews and rectal swabs form the family members and other close contacts. Additionally, we peformed rectal swabs on the cattle raised by the household of the index patient. Results : We found a 20 month old index patient and a 6 year-old cousin had developed HUS, where there had been a 2 day history of contact with the index, and bacteriological examinations for these two patients revealed, indistinguishably, the same E. coli O171. The grandmother of the index patient was found to be asymptomatic, but E. coli O26 was isolated. We also found a probable case in the mother of the cousin. She reported a history of contact with the index, and developed bloody diarrhea of 3 days duration. The test results for the cattle revealed E. coli O26 in one cow, and E. coli O26 and O55 in another. E. coli O26, which was isolated in both cows and the grandmother of the index, were indistinguishably the same. Conclusions : We found that the E. coli O26 in the grandmother had originated from the cows, and that the E. coli O171 found in the index patient had been transmitted to the cousin through person-to-person contact.