The incidence of gonorrhea has increased significantly in recent years in the United States, especially among sexually active twenty-year-olds. Although the incidence of gonorrhea has decreased in Korea since the early 2000s, it is still common among people in their twenties. Nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) is the most sensitive diagnostic test for detecting gonococcal infection. Gram-staining is a simple and useful laboratory test for diagnosing symptomatic male gonococcal urethritis. Although bacterial culture can be used to detect antimicrobial susceptibility, its sensitivity is lower than that of NAAT. Treatment for uncomplicated gonorrhea infection is a single intramuscular injection of ceftriaxone 500 mg. Doxycycline (100 mg twice daily for 7 days) is added if there is a possibility of co-infection with chlamydia. If ceftriaxone is difficult to use, spectinomycin 2 g can be injected intramuscularly in Korea. Patients with gonorrhea should have repeated examinations within three months at the exposure site because of a high risk of re-infection. A person diagnosed with gonorrhea should discuss the nature of the infection, the importance of informing partners, when sexual activity can resume, and how to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infections.

Purpose: Current clinical practices favor less or no thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression for low- to intermediate-risk thyroid cancer patients who receive thyroid lobectomy. The association of TSH suppression on healthrelated quality of life (HR-QoL) in patients after thyroid lobectomy is not well studied. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of TSH suppression on patient HR-QoL after thyroid lobectomy. Methods: This study included patients enrolled in an ongoing, multicenter, randomized controlled study investigating the effects of TSH suppression. Patients were randomized to either the low-TSH group (TSH target range, 0.3–1.99 μIU/ mL) or the high-TSH group (TSH target range, 2.0–7.99 μIU/mL). The HR-QoL, hyperthyroidism symptom, and depression symptom questionnaires performed preoperatively and 2 weeks and 3 months postoperatively were evaluated. Results: Total of 669 patients (low-TSH group, 340; high-TSH group, 329) were included. Although total HR-QoL score changes were not different between the 2 groups, the high-TSH group had a significantly higher score in the physical domain at postoperative 3 months (P = 0.046). The 2 groups did not have significant differences in hyperthyroidism and depression scores. Conclusion In the short-term postoperative period, the physical HR-QoL scores in thyroid lobectomy patients were better when they did not receive TSH suppression. This study suggests the importance of considering HR-QoL when setting TSH suppression targets in thyroid lobectomy patients.

This study was conducted to investigate potential differences in vaccine efficacy between patients undergoing palliative chemotherapy and receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. Additionally, the study proved the influence of vaccination timing on vaccine efficacy during active chemotherapy. Anti-receptor-binding domain (RBD) IgG binding antibody assays and surrogate neutralizing antibody assays were performed after BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccination in 45 solid cancer patients (23 adjuvant and 22 palliative chemotherapy) and in 24 healthy controls before vaccination (baseline), at every two to four weeks after the first (post-dose 1) and the second vaccination (post-dose 2). The levels of anti-RBD IgG and neutralizing antibodies increased significantly from baseline through post-dose 1 to post-dose 2 in all three groups. At the post-dose 1, the anti-RBD IgG and neutralizing antibody levels were significantly lower in cancer patients than in healthy controls. However, by post-dose 2, the seropositivity of anti-RBD IgG and neutralizing antibodies uniformly reached 100% across all groups, with no significant disparity in antibody levels among the three groups. Moreover, the antibody titers were not significantly different between patients with a vaccine and chemotherapy interval of more than 14 days or those with less than 14 days. This study demonstrated that after second doses of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, humoral immune responses in patients receiving chemotherapy were comparable to those of healthy controls, regardless of whether the purpose of the anti-cancer treatment was palliative or adjuvant. Furthermore, the timing of vaccination did not affect the level of humoral immunity after the second vaccination.

Purpose: Renal tumors account for approximately 7% of all childhood cancers. These include Wilms tumor (WT), clear cell sarcoma of the kidney (CCSK), malignant rhabdoid tumor of the kidney (MRTK), renal cell carcinoma (RCC), congenital mesoblastic nephroma (CMN) and other rare tumors. We investigated the epidemiology of pediatric renal tumors in Korea. Materials and Methods: From January 2001 to December 2015, data of pediatric patients (0–18 years) newly-diagnosed with renal tumors at 26 hospitals were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Among 439 patients (male, 240), the most common tumor was WT (n=342, 77.9%), followed by RCC (n=36, 8.2%), CCSK (n=24, 5.5%), MRTK (n=16, 3.6%), CMN (n=12, 2.7%), and others (n=9, 2.1%). Median age at diagnosis was 27.1 months (range 0-225.5) and median follow-up duration was 88.5 months (range 0-211.6). Overall, 32 patients died, of whom 17, 11, 1, and 3 died of relapse, progressive disease, second malignant neoplasm, and treatment-related mortality. Five-year overall survival and event free survival were 97.2% and 84.8% in WT, 90.6% and 82.1% in RCC, 81.1% and 63.6% in CCSK, 60.3% and 56.2% in MRTK, and 100% and 91.7% in CMN, respectively (p < 0.001). Conclusion The pediatric renal tumor types in Korea are similar to those previously reported in other countries. WT accounted for a large proportion and survival was excellent. Non-Wilms renal tumors included a variety of tumors and showed inferior outcome, especially MRTK. Further efforts are necessary to optimize the treatment and analyze the genetic characteristics of pediatric renal tumors in Korea.

Background: Although coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a viral infection, antibiotics are often prescribed due to concerns about accompanying bacterial infection. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the number of patients with COVID-19 who received antibiotic prescriptions, as well as factors that influenced antibiotics prescription, using the National Health Insurance System database. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed claims data for adults aged ≥ 19 years hospitalized for COVID-19 from December 1, 2019 to December 31, 2020. According to the National Institutes of Health guidelines for severity classification, we calculated the proportion of patients who received antibiotics and the number of days of therapy per 1,000 patient-days. Factors contributing to antibiotic use were determined using linear regression analysis. In addition, antibiotic prescription data for patients with influenza hospitalized from 2018 to 2021 were compared with those for patients with COVID-19, using an integrated database from Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency-COVID19-National Health Insurance Service cohort (K-COV-N cohort), which was partially adjusted and obtained from October 2020 to December 2021. Results: Of the 55,228 patients, 46.6% were males, 55.9% were aged ≥ 50 years, and most patients (88.7%) had no underlying diseases. The majority (84.3%; n = 46,576) were classified as having mild-to-moderate illness, with 11.2% (n = 6,168) and 4.5% (n = 2,484) having severe and critical illness, respectively. Antibiotics were prescribed to 27.3% (n = 15,081) of the total study population, and to 73.8%, 87.6%, and 17.9% of patients with severe, critical, and mild-to-moderate illness, respectively. Fluoroquinolones were the most commonly prescribed antibiotics (15.1%; n = 8,348), followed by third-generation cephalosporins (10.4%; n = 5,729) and beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitors (6.9%; n = 3,822). Older age, COVID-19 severity, and underlying medical conditions contributed significantly to antibiotic prescription requirement. The antibiotic use rate was higher in the influenza group (57.1%) than in the total COVID-19 patient group (21.2%), and higher in severe-to-critical COVID-19 cases (66.6%) than in influenza cases. Conclusion Although most patients with COVID-19 had mild to moderate illness, more than a quarter were prescribed antibiotics. Judicious use of antibiotics is necessary for patients with COVID-19, considering the severity of disease and risk of bacterial co-infection.

Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH), characterized by elevated serum thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and normal free thyroxine levels, usually presents without symptoms, and is often discovered incidentally during routine blood test. The Task Force of the Korean Thyroid Association Committee of Clinical Practice Guidelines has established a guideline to evaluate and manage SCH; the guideline emphasizes the implementation of diagnostic criteria based on the TSH reference range for Koreans and focuses on the proven health benefits of levothyroxine (LT4) treatment. Based on the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013-2015), serum TSH level of 6.8 mIU/L is considered the reference value for SCH. SCH can be categorized as mild (TSH 6.8-10.0 mIU/L) or severe (TSH ＞10.0 mIU/L), and patients are classified as adults (age ＜70 years) or elderly patients (age ≥70years) depending on the health effects of LT4 treatment. An initial increase in serum TSH levels should be reassessed with a subsequent measurement, along with the thyroid peroxidase antibody test, preferably 2-3 months after the initial evaluation. Usually, LT4 treatment is not recommended for mild SCH in adults; however, treatment is necessary for severe SCH in patients with underlying coronary artery disease or heart failure and can be considered for coexisting dyslipidemia. LT4 treatment is not recommended for mild or even severe SCH in elderly patients, in general. Patients with SCH who receive LT4 treatment, the LT4 dosage should be personalized, and serum TSH levels should be monitored to ensure optimal LT4 dosage (dosage that is neither excessive nor insufficient). Patients with SCH who do not receive LT4 treatment require periodic follow-up at appropriate testing intervals determined by disease severity. The guideline also provides several educational points applicable in clinical settings.

Objective: This study evaluated the anxiety, work, and socioeconomic burden of emergency physicians (EP) during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in South Korea. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted using data from the 2020 Korean Emergency Physician Survey that included the following domains: hospital resources of suspected COVID-19 patients, availability of personal protective equipment, levels of home and workplace anxiety, the severity of work burnout, identification of stressors, changes in personal environments, and measures to decrease stress/anxiety. Results: Totally, 855 eligible participants were enrolled in the study. A statistically significant deterioration was observed in response to decreased working income or an unstable employment situation (0.46±0.88 points). The median number of patients with confirmed COVID-19 was 2.72. The risk of infection during emergency department (ED) work was found to be significantly increased (P<0.01). Of the 751 respondents (91.4%) who reported patient contact during their survey phase, 516 (62.8%) reported having taken the COVID-19 reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction test. The major factors that affected worsening of the work burden were determined to be unsuitable inter-hospital transfer arrangements for febrile patients (3.46±1.06 before vs. 1.99±1.16 after the pandemic, P<0.01) and delayed consultation for patients with fever or respiratory symptoms in the ED (3.20±1.06 before vs. 2.66±1.10 after the pandemic, P<0.01). Conclusion During the peak phase, the COVID-19 pandemic induced substantial workplace and socioeconomic burdens for Korean EPs. The sustained impact of the pandemic on the wellness of EPs deserves further investigation to guide targeted interventions.

Objective: Machine learning is emerging as a new alternative in various scientific fields and is potentially a new method of interpretation. Using the Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM), we analyzed the factors that influence the rechoice of emergency medicine responders. The survey is a cross-sectional study which provides an accurate understanding of a responder's current status. However, the results may vary depending on the composition, format, and question, and the relationship between the answers may be unclear. Methods: This study evaluated the modified 2020 Korean Emergency Physician Survey raw data. We applied the preferred model for random relationship check, random forest, support vector machine, and LightGBM models. The stacking ensemble model was used for the final decision process. Results: ‘It is fun working in an emergency room’was the most selected response factor for re-choice, followed by ‘interesting major’. The physical burden of age and lack of identity had a negative impact, whereas burnout and emotional stress factors had a lesser effect. Anxiety caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is thought to have a significant impact on this decision making. Conclusion Establishing the identity of emergency medicine and being faithful to its fundamental mission is a way to increase the rate of re-choice. Decreasing the burden of workload modified according to age is recommended to establish career longevity. The method of machine learning presents us with a new possibility of checking the relevance of survey results quickly and easily.

Objective: It has been reported that emergency physicians experience high levels of depression and psychological burnout due to night shifts and tend to consider early retirement. This study intended to check working hours and intensity, individual health, satisfaction, and overall welfare, given the increase in the numbers of emergency physicians. Methods: The study used the results of the ‘2020 Korean Emergency Physician Survey (KEPS)’ conducted from January 15 to February 26, 2021, which targeted 2,138 emergency physicians registered with the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine. The survey was conducted online through the web and mobile application. Results: One thousand three hundred seven out of the 2,167 emergency physicians (60.3%) registered at the society responded. The average age of the respondents was 42.6 years, and there were 1,148 male emergency physicians and 158 female emergency physicians. The average professional experience was 8.2 years, with 325 professors, 122 commissioned doctors, 648 public servants of which 90 had military service, and 45 medical practitioners. Conclusion In conclusion, the number of working hours of emergency physicians showed a decreasing trend compared to 2010 and 2015. However, emergency physicians often expected early retirement. This suggests that, while the absolute working hours are decreasing, the actual working intensity has not decreased. For the proper development of the emergency medical system, it is necessary to establish a stable working environment for emergency physicians. A systematic study is needed on the working hours and work intensity of emergency physicians.