PURPOSE: To improve the quality of the vaccination program, analyze the cause and identify the influencing factors for not being registered in the National Immunization Registry Information System even once. METHODS: We conducted one-on-one household visit interview surveys after, using a list supplemented with addresses from the Ministry of the Interior. We identified the basic respondent information, information on relevant children (those born in 2012), the reasons for omission from computerized vaccination registration, and the actual residence of the registered children. RESULTS: The total number of unvaccinated children born in 2012 was 1,870. The final contact result of the household surveys was 1,254 successful contacts, 51 refused to be interviewed, and 565 were not found. The reason for missed vaccination registration was 928 cases of long-term stay overseas, 241 cases of missing registration owing to intentional refusal of vaccination, and 57 cases of illness. A comparison of complete vaccination rates between non-registrants and those of computerized registrants revealed rates of 17.9% and 96.3% for the 3 doses hepatitis B vaccine, 14.9% and 95.6% for the 4doses DTaP vaccine, 16.1% and 97.4% for the 3 doses polio vaccine, and 3.9% and 92.5% for the 3 (or 2) doses Japanese encephalitis vaccine, respectively. CONCLUSION: Vaccination is the most effective national health policy and one of the most remarkable accomplishments in medical history. Through great effort, Korea has started to transcribe vaccination records since 2000, and the records are now reaching a considerable level. However, there is an unregistered population of around 0.3%. Several measures can be taken to improve the registration rate in the vaccination records, such as managing non-registrants through education and interviews, and sharing vaccination data with foreign countries. The non-registrant management plan should include periodically compiling a list of children who are not registered in the National Immunization Registry Information System, conducting of household visits using survey forms, and data analysis to establish appropriate measures.
Child* ; Diphtheria-Tetanus-acellular Pertussis Vaccines ; Education ; Encephalitis, Japanese ; Family Characteristics ; Health Policy ; Hepatitis B Vaccines ; Humans ; Immunization* ; Information Systems* ; Korea ; Poliomyelitis ; Statistics as Topic ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Vaccination*

Synovial sarcoma is a rare malignancy in the thoracic cavity, especially in the mediastinum. In this paper, a case of primary mediastinal synovial sarcoma is reported. A 34-year-old woman was hospitalized with dyspnea. Her chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) showed a 16x13x11 cm mass in her anterior mediastinal space. Surgical resection was performed but was incomplete. The pathological and immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the diagnosis of monophasic spindle cell synovial sarcoma. The patient underwent adjuvant radiotherapy for two months, but local recurrence and metastasis occurred in her pleural cavity. She eventually underwent chemotherapy for one year and died 18 months after her operation.
Dyspnea ; Female ; Humans ; Mediastinum ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Pleural Cavity ; Radiotherapy, Adjuvant ; Recurrence ; Sarcoma ; Sarcoma, Synovial ; Thoracic Cavity ; Thorax

BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the most common organism associated with nosocomial infections. MRSA infections are becoming increasing important because they have emerged no only as healthcare-associated (HA) infections but also as community-associated (CA) ones. This study examined the moleculo-epidemiology of MRSA, which was isolated from nasal swabs in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Konyang University Hospital. MRSA are classified into HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA. METHODS: From June to September 2006, 353 patients who were admitted to the ICU in Konyang University Hospital were enrolled in this study. Single nasal swabs were obtained for culture in the ICU on the 1st day. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and the antimicrobial resistant patterns were analyzed between HA- and CA-MRSA. An antimicrobial sensitivity test was also performed. RESULTS: Forty two strains of MRSA were isolated from 353 patients (11.9%). Among the 42 isolates, HA-MRSA and CA-MRSA were found in 33 (78.6%), and 9 (21.4%), respectively. Eleven different PFGE types (type A to K) were identified. Types A (n=9) and B (n=7) were the most common for HA-MRSA, and types A (n=2) and B (n=2) were identified in CA-MRSA. The proportion of types A and B in CA-MRSA (44.4%) was similar to that in HA-MRSA (48.5%). The rates of resistance rates to erythromycin and ciprofloxacin were higher in HA-MRSA than in CA-MRSA. CONCLUSION: The rate of isolation of MRSA in an ICU setting was 11.9%. HA-MRSA was isolated more frequently than CA-MRSA. The rate of resistance of HA-MRSA to erythromycin and ciprofloxacin was higher than that of CA-MRSA. Despite the small number of subjects, the main isolates (type A and B) of CA-MRSA were similar to those of HA-MRSA.
Ciprofloxacin ; Cross Infection ; Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field ; Erythromycin ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Methicillin Resistance ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ; Molecular Epidemiology ; Staphylococcus aureus

Receptor-interacting serine/threonine-protein kinase (RIPK) 3 is a member of the TNF receptor-I signaling complex and mediates necroptosis, an inflammatory cell death. Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an excessive inflammatory disease caused by uncontrolled T cell activation. The current study is aimed to determine whether RIPK3 inhibitor attenuates UC development inhibiting inflammation and necroptosis using experimental colitis mice model. Dextran sulfate sodium-induced colitis mice were administered RIPK3 inhibitor (3 mg/ml) 3 times and their tissues were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. RIPK3, mixed lineage kinase domain-like (MLKL), phosphorylated MLKL, IL-17, and CD4 in colitis patient colon tissues were detected using confocal microscopy. Protein levels were measured using immunohistochemistry and ELISA. The differentiation of Th17 cells was evaluated using flow cytometry. The expression of proinflammatory cytokines and necroptosis in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from UC patients was decreased markedly by RIPK3 inhibitor treatment. We also observed that the injection of RIPK3 inhibitor improves colitis severity and protects intestinal destruction. RIPK3 inhibitor reduced necroptosis factors and proinflammatory cytokines in the colon and consequently protected colon devastation. The expression of inflammatory mediators in experimental colitis mice splenocytes was decreased significantly by RIPK3 inhibitor treatment. These results suggest that RIPK3 inhibitor ameliorates severity of experimental colitis and reduces inflammation through the inhibition of inflammatory response and necroptosis and support RIPK3-targeting substances for treatment of UC.