BACKGROUND: The mortality rate from tuberculosis in Korea is the highest among OECD countries. However, general public's knowledge of tuberculosis is limited. Currently, exposure to tuberculosis in high school students is a big problem. METHODS: A written questionnaire was distributed to 78 high school students in Busan. RESULTS: Almost all the students had heard of tuberculosis (95%). However, their knowledge of tuberculosis was very superficial and limited. The attitude about tuberculosis was 'nothing to worry about' and there was no systemic education in the school or home. CONCLUSION: Although tuberculosis is quite serious in Korea, most people know little about it and have the wrong attitude. In particular, high school students are easily exposed to tuberculosis because they spend most of their time as a group. Therefore, education of high school students on tuberculosis is strongly recommended in schools and the home. In addition, medical practitioners should play a role in education and prevention programs.
Humans ; Korea ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Tuberculosis

BACKGROUND: In addition to Klinefelter's syndrome, microdeletion of Yq is the most common genetic cause of male infertility; 15% of azoospermic or 5-10% of oligozoospermic males have Yq deletions. We evaluated a Yq microdeletion kit (LG Life Sciences, Korea) for identifying microdeletions in the azoospermic factor (AZF) regions of the Yq. METHODS: The kit was designed to amplify 3 regions of the AZF gene (AZFa, AZFb, and AZFc) using 15 sequence-tagged sites. We evaluated the preclinical performance of the kit. For clinical validation, 58 patients including 25 idiopathic azoospermic or oligozoospermic patients were examined. RESULTS: We observed clear bands on electrophoresis of DNA, up to a DNA concentration of 3.12 ng/microliter; the known microdeletion regions of all 6 reference cell-lines (Coriell, USA) were accurately detected and no false positive/negative results showed with normal female (n=11) and fertile male (n=15) specimens. This kit could identify the same microdeletions in the common regions, similar to another commercial kit. Among the 58 male infertile patients, 7 (12.1%) had microdeletions of the Yq. Among the idiopathic azoospermic (n=22) and oligozoospermic (n=3) patients, 3 (12.0%) had microdeletions. Further, 2 of 21 varicocele patients (9.5%), 1 of 4 patients with testicular failure, and 1 patient with a 45,X/46,XY mosaic had microdeletions. CONCLUSIONS: The kit was effective for detecting microdeletions of the Yq. We identified microdeletions in 12% of the infertile patients. This Y chromosome microdeletion detection kit is useful for screening Yq microdeletions in infertile patients.
Azoospermia/genetics ; *Chromosome Deletion ; *Chromosomes, Human, Y ; Electrophoresis, Agar Gel/methods ; Female ; Humans ; Infertility, Male/genetics ; Male ; Oligospermia/genetics ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/*methods ; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic ; Reproducibility of Results ; Seminal Plasma Proteins/*genetics ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Varicocele/genetics

The genetic variant rs16754 of Wilms tumor gene 1 (WT1) has recently been described as an independent prognostic factor in AML patients. It is of great interest to test whether WT1 single nucleotide polymorphism can be used as a molecular marker in other types of cancer, to improve risk and treatment stratification. We performed sequencing analysis of exons 7 and 9 of WT1, which are known mutational hotspots, in a total of 73 patients with BCR-ABL1-negative myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) and 93 healthy controls. No previously reported WT1 mutations were identified in the present study. In Korean patients with BCR-ABL1-negative MPN, WT1 genetic variant rs16754 had no significant impact on clinical outcomes. We observed a significant difference in the allelic frequencies of WT1 rs16754 in Koreans between BCR-ABL1-negative MPN cases and healthy controls. Individuals carrying variant G alleles of WT1 rs16754 showed a relatively low prevalence of BCR-ABL1-negative MPN, compared with those carrying wild A alleles of WT1 rs16754 (Hazard ratio 0.10-0.65, P<0.05). Therefore, possession of the variant G allele of WT1 rs16754 may reduce the risk of developing BCR-ABL1-negative MPN.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Alleles ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group/*genetics ; Case-Control Studies ; Exons ; Female ; Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl/genetics ; Gene Frequency ; Genotype ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/pathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myeloproliferative Disorders/*genetics/pathology ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Prognosis ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Republic of Korea ; Risk ; Sequence Analysis, DNA ; WT1 Proteins/*genetics ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: Examination of peripheral blood smear (PBS) is the gold standard for the diagnosis of malaria; however, its diagnostic utility will be dependent on the examiner's microscopic experience, the quality of the smear, and the degree of parasitemia. Therefore, it is essential to have available a rapid and simple test that is as sensitive and specific as PBS, at a small-middle range medical center, a health care center, and a military hospital in a malaria endemic area. METHODS: Malaria antigen and antibody tests were performed on 120 febrile patients who were requested for complete blood count (CBC) and PBS at two military hospitals from May 2004 to August 2005. RESULTS: Of the 45 patients who were diagnosed with malaria by examination of peripheral blood smears, 42 were positive on both malaria antigen and antibody tests, and 2 were positive on either antigen or antibody test. Only 1 patient was negative on the both test. Furthermore, all 75 patients with negative microscopic examinations also had negative malaria antigen and antibody tests. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that a rapid differential diagnosis of malaria can be made by performing malaria antigen and antibody tests on febrile patients at hospitals in malaria endemic areas. Moreover, the test is simple and convenient enough to be performed without any special equipment or experience.
Blood Cell Count ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential* ; Fever of Unknown Origin* ; Fever* ; Hospitals, Military ; Humans ; Malaria* ; Malaria, Vivax* ; Parasitemia

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a medical ethics course taught in medical school by examining the students' abilities to identify medical ethics issues, the applicability of a medical ethics course, and self-efficacy. METHODS: 366 subjects were recruited from three different groups (medical students, interns, and residents) who had completed a medical ethics course. Data were collected using a 20-item questionnaire. Analysis was done with a SPSS statistics program. RESULTS: Of the three groups, the students scored the highest in identifying medical ethics issues. When asked how often they see medical ethics issues in real medical situations (students were asked how often they would expect to see these ethical issues in medical settings), the students responded with the highest number, followed by the interns. The residents responded with the lowest number. Regarding the applicability of the medical ethics course, while students believed the course was highly useful and applicable to real medical settings, interns and residents did not agree. The participants' self-efficacy and satisfaction were generally low. The majority of all three groups thought that medical ethics education should be more practical and that it should be taught during internship as well as during residency. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest two important directions for medical ethics education. First, the current medical ethics curriculum should be offered during both internship and residency. Second, the content should focus more on actual clinical scenarios ('clinical ethics') than theoretical principles.
Curriculum ; Ethics, Medical ; Humans ; Internship and Residency ; Schools, Medical ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVESChunghyuldan (CHD), a combinatorial drug that has anti-hyperlipidemic and antiinflammatory activities, has been shown to reduce infarct volume in a focal ischemia-reperfusion rat model. To explore the molecular basis of CHD's neuroprotective effect, we examined whether CHD shows a cell-protective activity and has a regulatory effect on Bax and/or B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) expression in mouse neuroblastoma 2a (N2a) cells subjected to hypoxia-reoxygenation (H/R).

METHODSIn order to evaluate the effects of CHD on the cytotoxicity induced from hypoxia or H/R condition, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay was performed. To explore whether the suppression of neural damage when pre-treated with CHD is associated with its anti-apoptotic effect, the CHD effect on the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax was analyzed by Western blotting analysis.

RESULTSCytotoxicity of N2a cell line was slightly increased in 42 h hypoxia condition and dramatically increased under the H/R condition. CHD treatment markedly decreased the cytotoxicity in both conditions (P<0.01, P<0.05). H/R markedly increased the expression of the pro-apoptotic protein, Bax, but slightly increased the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein, Bcl-2, compared with the normoxia or hypoxia group. CHD significantly decreased Bax expression (P<0.01) and slightly decreased Bcl-2 expression (P>0.05), resulted in a reduction of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in N2a cells subjected to H/R.

CONCLUSIONCHD has neuroprotective effect in N2a cells subjected to H/R, which might be derived at least in part from its ability to decrease the expression of the pro-apoptotic protein, Bax.

Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Hypoxia ; prevention & control ; Mice ; Neuroblastoma ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neuroprotective Agents ; pharmacology ; Reperfusion Injury ; prevention & control

No abstract available.

BACKGROUND: Rotavirus is the most common cause of childhood diarrhea worldwide. Although rotavirus is also the leading cause of infant and childhood diarrhea in Korea, much remains unknown about the trends of rotavirus infection by month and geographic region in Korea. To monitor epidemiologic trends of rotavirus infection, a laboratory-based rotavirus surveillance network was established in 2002. This is the first nationwide, multicenter evaluation of rotavirus epidemiology in Korea. METHODS: The rotavirus test results were collected retrospectively from eight network laboratories, from July 1999 to June 2002. Four laboratories used latex agglutination, three used immunochromatography, and one used enzyme-linked fluorescent assay for the detection of rotavirus antigen. RESULTS: Of 10, 441 stool specimens, 2, 496 (23.9%) were positive for rotavirus. During the 3-year period, the rotavirus season began in December-January, and ended in April-May. The rotaviruspositive percentage of summer, autumn, winter, and spring was 11.5%, 10.0%, 32.8%, and 30.0%, respectively. A few hospitals revealed summer epidemics. The rotavirus positive rate in each hospital varied from 15.3% to 44.2%. A common feature of the three hospitals showing the lowest rotavirus-positive percentage (i.e. <20%) was their large size (>800 beds). The secondary care hospitals showed a higher positive proportion (27.5%) compared with tertiary care hospitals (21.1%). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the rotavirus-positive percentage among all diarrheal specimens was similar to that of other developed countries. The results of this study showed that the autumn epidemic of the rotavirus has declined or disappeared and the peak season for rotavirus has shifted to late winter/early spring in Korea.
Agglutination ; Developed Countries ; Diarrhea ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Immunochromatography ; Infant ; Korea ; Latex ; Republic of Korea* ; Retrospective Studies ; Rotavirus ; Rotavirus Infections* ; Seasons ; Secondary Care ; Tertiary Healthcare

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial susceptibility of Legionella spp. has rarely been studied in Korea. Therefore, we aimed to determine the susceptibility of Legionella spp. to various antibiotics. METHODS: We assessed the antimicrobial susceptibility of 66 environmental and clinical Legionella isolates collected between January 2001 and December 2008 from Korea and Japan. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 6 antibiotics, namely, azithromycin, ciprofloxacin, clarithromycin, clindamycin, gatifloxacin, and gemifloxacin were determined by the broth microdilution method using buffered starch yeast extract broth. RESULTS: The MIC ranges of the 6 antibiotics used against the Legionella isolates were as follows: 0.004-0.062 microgram/mL (azithromycin), 0.002-0.5 microgram/mL (ciprofloxacin), 0.004-0.5 microgram/mL (clarithromycin), 0.12-4 microgram/mL (clindamycin), 0.002-0.12 microgram/mL (gatifloxacin), and 0.008-1 microgram/mL (gemifloxacin). CONCLUSIONS: Legionella spp. isolates from Korea and Japan were most susceptible to gatifloxacin. Azithromycin, clarithromycin, ciprofloxacin, and gemifloxacin were also effective for treating legionellosis.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/*pharmacology ; Azithromycin/pharmacology ; Ciprofloxacin/pharmacology ; Clarithromycin/pharmacology ; Clindamycin/pharmacology ; Drug Resistance, Bacterial ; Fluoroquinolones/pharmacology ; Humans ; Legionella/*drug effects/isolation & purification ; Legionellosis/diagnosis/microbiology ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Naphthyridines/pharmacology

BACKGROUND: Blood transfusion poses high risks and has a high probability of error because of the complexity and involvement of several people in the process. The purpose of this study was to share our experience in classifying reports related to blood transfusions. We included patient safety reports that were prepared over a 10-year period that began from the opening of the hospital. We then analyzed the causes and the corrective actions. METHODS: We analyzed 125 reports related to blood transfusions, and these reports were included in the patient safety reports received from November 2008 to December 2018. The events were categorized as sampling error, inspection error, testing error, issue error, disposal error, transfusing blood components error, or others error, depending on the stage of the blood transfusion process. Regardless of the cause, the event that led to an inappropriate transfusion was classified as a transfusion incident. RESULTS: The number of blood transfusions per year increased, and the rate of blood transfusion accidents ranged from 0.00% to 0.05% per year. A total of 125 reports were prepared over a 10-year period, and these included 8 blood sampling errors, 11 testing errors, 2 issuing errors, 94 disposal errors, 3 others errors, and 7 errors associated with the transfusing of blood components. After the transfusion incident, PDA was applied as a solution. Transfusing the wrong blood components did not occur, and the incidence of taking blood from the wrong patients was decreased. CONCLUSION We applied corrective actions according to the cause of the event and we confirmed that the blood transfusion incidents decreased.