Antimicrobial resistance and emerging infectious diseases, including avian influenza, Ebola virus disease, and Zika virus disease have significantly affected humankind in recent years. In the premodern era, no distinction was made between animal and human medicine. However, as medical science developed, the gap between human and animal science grew deeper. Cooperation among human, animal, and environmental sciences to combat emerging public health threats has become an important issue under the One Health Initiative. Herein, we presented the history of One Health, reviewed current public health threats, and suggested opportunities for the field of public health through better understanding of the One Health paradigm.
Animals ; Communicable Diseases ; Communicable Diseases, Emerging ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Ecology ; Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola ; Humans ; Influenza in Birds ; Korea ; Public Health* ; Zika Virus Infection ; Zoonoses

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of childbirth, breastfeeding, and their interaction with breast cancer (BC) risk reduction, and to evaluate the heterogeneity in the BC risk reduction effects of these factors by menopause, hormone receptor (HR) status, and pathological subtype. METHODS: BC patients aged 40+ from the Korean Breast Cancer Registry in 2004-2012 and controls from the Health Examinee cohort participants were included in this study after 1:1 matching (12 889 pairs) by age and enrollment year. BC risk according to childbirth, breastfeeding, and their interaction was calculated in logistic regression models using odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: BC risk decreased with childbirth (3+ childbirths relative to 1 childbirth: OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.56 to 0.78 and OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.68 to 0.95 in postmenopausal and premenopausal women, respectively); and the degree of risk reduction by the number of children was heterogeneous according to menopausal status (p-heterogeneity=0.04), HR status (p-heterogeneity < 0.001), and pathological subtype (p-heterogeneity < 0.001); whereas breastfeeding for 1-12 months showed a heterogeneous association with BC risk according to menopausal status, with risk reduction only in premenopausal women (p-heterogeneity < 0.05). The combination of 2 more childbirths and breastfeeding for ≥13 months had a much stronger BC risk reduction of 49% (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.58). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that the combination of longer breastfeeding and more childbirths reduces BC risk more strongly, and that women who experience both 2 or more childbirths and breastfeed for ≥13 months can reduce their BC risk by about 50%.
Breast Feeding* ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Child ; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Menopause ; Odds Ratio ; Parturition* ; Population Characteristics ; Risk Reduction Behavior*

OBJECTIVES: To relieve the financial burden faced by households, the Korean National Health Insurance (NHI) system introduced a “copayment ceiling,” which evolved into a differential ceiling in 2009, with the copayment ceiling depending on patients’ income. This study aimed to examine the effect of the differential copayment ceiling on financial protection and healthcare utilization, particularly focusing on whether its effects varied across different income groups. METHODS: This study obtained data from the Korea Health Panel. The number of households included in the analysis was 6555 in 2008, 5859 in 2009, 5539 in 2010, and 5372 in 2011. To assess the effects of the differential copayment ceiling on utilization, out-of-pocket (OOP) payments, and catastrophic payments, various random-effects models were applied. Utilization was measured as treatment days, while catastrophic payments were defined as OOP payments exceeding 10% of household income. Among the right-hand side variables were the interaction terms of the new policy with income levels, as well as a set of household characteristics. RESULTS: The differential copayment ceiling contributed to increased utilization regardless of income levels both in all patients and in cancer patients. However, the new policy did not seem to reduce significantly the incidence of catastrophic payments among cancer patients, and even increased the incidence among all patients. CONCLUSIONS: The limited effect of the differential ceiling can be attributed to a high proportion of direct payments for services not covered by the NHI, as well as the relatively small number of households benefiting from the differential ceilings; these considerations warrant a better policy design.
Delivery of Health Care ; Family Characteristics ; Health Care Costs ; Health Expenditures ; Humans ; Incidence ; Insurance, Health ; Korea ; National Health Programs*

OBJECTIVES: Although mercury (Hg) exposure is known to be neurotoxic in humans, its effects on liver function have been less often reported. The aim of this study was to investigate whether total Hg exposure in Korean adults was associated with elevated serum levels of the liver enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), and gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT). METHODS: We repeatedly examined the levels of total Hg and liver enzymes in the blood of 508 adults during 2010-2011 and 2014-2015. Cross-sectional associations between levels of blood Hg and liver enzymes were analyzed using a generalized linear model, and nonlinear relationships were analyzed using a generalized additive mixed model. Generalized estimating equations were applied to examine longitudinal associations, considering the correlations of individuals measured repeatedly. RESULTS: GGT increased by 11.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.5 to 18.0%) in women and 8.1% (95% CI, -0.5 to 17.4%) in men per doubling of Hg levels, but AST and ALT were not significantly associated with Hg in either men or women. In women who drank more than 2 or 3 times per week, AST, ALT, and GGT levels increased by 10.6% (95% CI, 4.2 to 17.5%), 7.7% (95% CI, 1.1 to 14.7%), and 37.5% (95% CI,15.2 to 64.3%) per doubling of Hg levels, respectively, showing an interaction between blood Hg levels and drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Hg exposure was associated with an elevated serum concentration of GGT. Especially in women who were frequent drinkers, AST, ALT, and GGT showed a significant increase, with a significant synergistic effect of Hg and alcohol consumption.
Adult* ; Alanine Transaminase ; Alcohol Drinking ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Drinking ; Female ; gamma-Glutamyltransferase ; Humans ; Linear Models ; Liver* ; Longitudinal Studies* ; Male

OBJECTIVES: Dry eye disease (DED) is an increasingly important public health problem in Korea. Previous studies conducted in Korea have reported inconsistent results regarding the protective effects of vitamin D on DED, and these discrepancies may be related to the relatively simple questionnaire that has been used. Thus, we evaluated the association of serum vitamin D levels with DED using the ocular surface disease index (OSDI). METHODS: The present study evaluated data from participants in the Study Group for Environmental Eye Disease (2014-2015). This group included data from 752 participants, and data from 740 participants (253 men and 487 women) were analyzed in the present study. DED severity was evaluated using the OSDI. RESULTS: Higher serum vitamin D levels were associated with a non-significantly reduced risk of DED in the crude analysis (odds ratio [OR], 0.991; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.971 to 1.011) and in the adjusted analysis (OR, 0.988; 95% CI, 0.966 to 1.010). In the crude analysis of no/mild DED vs. moderate/severe DED, men exhibited a decreased risk with increasing serum vitamin D levels (OR, 0.999; 95% CI, 0.950 to 1.051), while women exhibited an increased risk (OR, 1.003; 95% CI, 0.979 to 1.027). In these analyses, we found no significant associations. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the present study support previous reports that serum vitamin D levels are not associated with DED.
25-Hydroxyvitamin D 2 ; Dry Eye Syndromes ; Eye Diseases* ; Female ; Humans ; Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca ; Korea ; Male ; Public Health ; Vitamin D* ; Vitamins*

There was an error in the numbering of the references in page 375-376: Sue K. Park, Ji-Yeob Choi. Risk Assessment and Pharmacogenomics in Molecular and Genomic Epidemiology. J Prev Med Public Health 2009; 42(6): 371-6.

The authors regret that they incorrectly cited the name of one of the authors and the contact number of the corresponding author in the original publication. The name of the first author should have read: Nasheen Naidoo. The correct contact number of the corresponding author, Kee Seng Chia, is (65)6516-4971.

No abstract available.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the patterns of unintentional home injuries in Korea. METHODS: The study population was 12,382,088 people who utilized National Health Insurance services due to injuries (main diagnosis codes S00 to T28) during 2006. Stratified samples(n=459,501) were randomly selected by sex, age group and severity of injury. A questionnaire was developed based on the International Classification of External Causes of Injury and 18,000 cases surveyed by telephone were analyzed after being projected into population proportionately according to the response rates of their strata. Domestic injury cases were finally included. RESULTS: Domestic injuries (n=3,804) comprised 21.1% of total daily life injuries during 2006. Women were vulnerable to home injuries, with the elderly and those of lower income (medical-aid users) tending to suffer more severe injuries. Injury occurred most often due to a slipping fall (33.9%), overexertion (15.3%), falling (9.5%) and stumbling (9.4%), with severe injury most often resulting from slipping falls, falls and stumbles. Increasing age correlated with domestic injury-related disability. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings provide basic information for development of home injury prevention strategies, with focus on the elderly.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the clustering of selected lifestyle factors (cigarette smoking, heavy alcohol consumption, lack of physical exercise) and identified the population characteristics associated with increasing lifestyle risks. METHODS: Data on lifestyle risk factors, sociodemographic characteristics, and history of chronic diseases were obtained from 7,694 individuals > or =20 years of age who participated in the 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Clustering of lifestyle risks involved the observed prevalence of multiple risks and those expected from marginal exposure prevalence of the three selected risk factors. Prevalence odds ratio was adopted as a measurement of clustering. Multiple correspondence analysis, Kendall tau correlation, Man-Whitney analysis, and ordinal logistic regression analysis were conducted to identify variables increasing lifestyle risks. RESULTS: In both men and women, increased lifestyle risks were associated with clustering of: (1) cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and (2) smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and lack of physical exercise. Patterns of clustering for physical exercise were different from those for cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption. The increased unhealthy clustering was found among men 20-64 years of age with mild or moderate stress, and among women 35-49 years of age who were never-married, with mild stress, and increased body mass index (>30 kg/m2). CONCLUSIONS: Addressing a lack of physical exercise considering individual characteristics including gender, age, employment activity, and stress levels should be a focus of health promotion efforts.