no abstract available.

no abstract available.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease caused by a novel SFTS bunyavirus (SFTSV), a member of the genus Phlebovirus in the family Bunyaviridae. SFTSV is believed to be transmitted by Haemaphysalis longicornis. Common symptoms of SFTS include high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, thrombocytopenia, leukocytopenia, and multi-organ failure with an average case-fatality rate of 12~30%. In 2009, SFTS was firstly reported in China. In 2013, 27 cases of SFTS were documented in Korea, and 6 cases were confirmed on Jeju Island. Although the pathogenesis and transmission mode of SFTS remain unclear, SFTS is now considered endemic in East Asia. Accordingly, SFTS needs to be differentiated from scrub typhus, leptospirosis, and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. We here report 4 cases of SFTS preceded by a tick bite, which were in need of a differential diagnosis of scrub typhus.
Bunyaviridae ; China ; Communicable Diseases, Emerging ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Diarrhea ; Far East ; Fever* ; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome ; Humans ; Korea ; Leptospirosis ; Leukopenia ; Phlebovirus ; Scrub Typhus ; Thrombocytopenia* ; Tick Bites ; Vomiting

Some herbal medications induce acute kidney injury. The acute kidney injuries caused by herbal medications are mild and commonly treated by palliative care. A 51-years-old man who drank the juice squeezed from the raw tubers of Dioscorea quinqueloba (D. quinqueloba) was admitted with nausea, vomiting and chilling. He developed a seizure with decreased level of consciousness. He was diagnosed with acute kidney injury, which was cured by continuous venovenous hemodialfiltration. Non-detoxified D. quinqueloba can cause severe acute kidney injury with toxic encephalopathy. It is critical to inform possible adverse effects of the medicinal herbs and to implement more strict regulation of these products.
Acute Kidney Injury/*chemically induced/*complications ; Dioscorea/*adverse effects ; Disease Progression ; Electroencephalography ; Humans ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neurotoxicity Syndromes/*complications

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tick-borne infectious disease that is caused by the genus phlebovirus in the family Bunyaviridae. The syndrome is characterized by fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia. The number of reported cases and deaths in endemic areas, such as China and Japan, has increased each year. Since the first SFTS patient was identified in 2013, the number of cases have also been increasing every year in South Korea and the disease is posing a great public health concern. The number of patients is increasing and there is a high mortality rate, but there is no established treatment that has proven to be effective. The purpose of this review was to elucidate the various treatment modalities, such as plasma exchange, antiviral agents, e.g. ribavirin, high-dose steroids, and interferon.
Antiviral Agents ; Bunyaviridae ; China ; Communicable Diseases ; Fever* ; Humans ; Interferons ; Japan ; Korea* ; Mortality ; Neutropenia ; Phlebovirus ; Plasma Exchange ; Public Health ; Ribavirin ; Steroids ; Thrombocytopenia*

Kikuchi disease, also called histiocytic necrotizing lymphadenitis, is an uncommon, idiopathic and generally self-limited disease, characterized by cervical lymphadenopathy. It can present systemic symptoms and signs, but ocular involvement is unusual. We report a 35-year-old woman who presented sudden decreased visual acuity and a swollen lymph node on the left side of her neck. On laboratory findings, there were no evidences of infection, autoimmune disease and systemic vasculitis. She was diagnosed with Kikuchi disease and bilateral retinal vasculitis by histologic analysis of lymph node, fundoscopy and fluorescein angiography.
Adult ; Autoimmune Diseases ; Female ; Fluorescein Angiography ; Histiocytic Necrotizing Lymphadenitis ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Neck ; Retinal Vasculitis ; Retinaldehyde ; Systemic Vasculitis ; Visual Acuity

Community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is an increasingly common worldwide and colonizing S. aureus strains may serve as the causative pathogen for overt clinical infections. This study was performed to determine whether the pathogenic CA-MRSA isolate in clinical infections was genetically related to the MRSA isolates in community carriers. We prospectively collected a total of 42 CA-MRSA isolates (23 clinical infection isolates and 19 colonization isolates) in a local region of Korea. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests, staphylococcal toxin assays, SCCmec typing, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and spa (staphylococcal protein A) typing were performed with all isolates. Thirty-four (81%) of 42 CA-MRSA isolates belonged to sequence type (ST) 72 in the MLST analysis. The distribution of STs did not differ significantly between colonization and clinical infection isolates (89.5% [17/19] vs. 73.9% [17/23], P=0.26). Among the ST72-MRSA isolates, spa type t664 (18, 52.9%) and t324 (8, 23.5%) were common in both groups. This study demonstrates that the community-associated MRSA strains from patients with clinical infections are closely related to the strains found in carriers from one local community.
Community-Acquired Infections/microbiology ; Genotype ; Humans ; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus/*genetics/isolation & purification ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Prospective Studies ; Republic of Korea ; Staphylococcal Infections/*microbiology

BACKGROUND: North Korea's economic and public health problems began in the early 1990s as a result of the gradual loss of economic support from its communist allies, combined with an inordinate number of natural disasters. The decline in public health has increased the incidence of tuberculosis in North Koreans and refugees. This study investigated tuberculosis situation in North Korean refugees in order to prepare for the future impact of tuberculosis control in Korea. MATERIAL AND METHODS: From 2001 to 2005, tuberculosis patients among North Korean refugees who were diagnosed before or after arriving in South Korea, based on the official records of OO hospital, were enrolled in this study. The demographic and clinical data of the cases were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: A total of 42 TB cases were reviewed during the study period. Of these, 37 (88.1%) cases were pulmonary TB. based on the cases identified among the number of North Korean refugees' arriving each year, the annual incidence of pulmonary TB were 900 per 100,000 in 2004, 700 in 2003, The number of smear-positive patients was 20 (47.6%) and the number of culture-positive patients was 18 (42.9%). Of the M. tuberculosis isolates, 2 cases were found to be susceptible to all anti-TB drugs available, 4 were resistant to isoniazid, and 3 were multi-drug resistant. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of pulmonary TB in North Korean Refugees is high. In addition, North Korean refugees suffer from more severe tuberculosis in bacteriological and radiological aspects.
Disasters ; Humans ; Incidence ; Isoniazid ; Korea ; Prevalence ; Public Health ; Refugees* ; Retrospective Studies ; Tuberculosis*

In this study, we report the first clinically identified case of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in a 73-year old man from Jeju Island, South Korea. Although his initial manifestation suggested tsutsugamushi disease with cutaneous lesion, later the patient presented with symptoms characteristic of SFTS. Despite intensive medical therapies upon the clinical diagnosis of SFTS, patient's condition rapidly deteriorated. SFTS is a fatal disease that requires early diagnosis and appropriate supportive treatment.
Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis ; Fever* ; Humans ; Korea ; Scrub Typhus ; Thrombocytopenia*

There has been a controversy over data of thrombolytic and endovascular surgical treatment about cerebral infarction secondary to infective endocarditis. We report a woman who received early mechanical embolectomy as a treatment of acute stroke with infective endocarditis. A 35-yr-old woman was hospitalized due to right hemiparesis. Brain image showed cerebral infarction at the middle cerebral artery and echocardiography demonstrated vegetation at the mitral valve. She was successfully treated with embolectomy and parenteral antibiotics without any neurologic sequelae. This report shows that the early retrieve of septic cerebral emboli can be a helpful treatment of acute stroke associated with endocarditis.
Adult ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/therapeutic use ; Cerebral Arteries/radiography/*surgery ; Embolectomy ; Endocarditis/complications/*diagnosis/drug therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Intracranial Embolism/surgery ; Mitral Valve/ultrasonography ; Streptococcus/isolation & purification ; Stroke/*diagnosis/etiology/surgery ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed