Aims: This study was aimed to identify the risk factors for the acquisition of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae on non-ventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia (NV-HAP) patients in a tertiary care hospital in Indonesia. Methodology and results: A case-control study was performed between March 31, 2018, and August 31, 2019. Twenty-eight ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae isolates and 28 susceptible strains of E. coli and K. pneumoniae obtained from NV-HAP patients were included in this study. Phenotypic screening for ESBL production was performed by the Vitek2 system and subsequently confirmed by double-disk synergy tests. The use of 3rd generation cephalosporin as initial antibiotic therapy for more than three days was the significant risk factor for the acquisition of ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae among NV-HAP patients (odds ratio [OR] 41.827; p=0.001). The length of stay of patients with NV-HAP acquiring the ESBL strains was longer than 10 days (OR 17.334; p=0.001). Conclusion, significance and impact of study The use of 3rd generation cephalosporin as the initial antibiotic for NV-HAP should be restricted to prevent the emergence of ESBL-producing strains. Infection prevention measures are required to control the acquisition of ESBL-producing E. coli and K. pneumoniae in NV-HAP patients.
beta-Lactamases ; Escherichia coli ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Cross Infection ; Healthcare-Associated Pneumonia ; Tertiary Care Centers

tertiary care hospital in the ROK between 2017 and 2018 were evaluated.RESULTS: Out of 37 patients with hvKP liver abscess, 11 patients were noted to have K. pneumoniae isolated from stool samples and were enrolled for analysis. The median age was 71 years. For hvKP isolates from the liver aspirate samples, the most common serotype was K1 (72.7%) followed by K2 (27.3%). For K. pneumoniae isolates from the stool sample, the majority was non-K1/K2 serotype (72.7%). Among non-K1/K2 serotype isolates, high variability of sequence type (ST; ST15, ST307, ST37, ST273, ST2622, and ST42) with high rate of presence of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (100.0%) was noted. The concordance rate of the K. pneumoniae isolates between the liver aspirate samples and the stool samples from the primary hvKP liver abscess was low (27.3%).CONCLUSION: This study suggests that significant heterogeneity of K. pneumoniae colonizing intestinal tract of the hvKP liver abscess patients. Further studies involving a larger number of hvKP liver abscess patients with continuing surveillance are needed to define the changing epidemiology and the role of gastrointestinal K. pneumoniae in the hvKP liver abscess patients in the ROK.]]>
beta-Lactamases ; Colon ; Epidemiology ; Far East ; Humans ; Klebsiella pneumoniae ; Klebsiella ; Liver Abscess ; Liver ; Pneumonia ; Population Characteristics ; Republic of Korea ; Serogroup ; Tertiary Healthcare

PURPOSE: While there is an urgent need for diagnosis and therapeutic intervention in patients with primary immunodeficiency diseases (PIDs), current genetic tests have drawbacks. We retrospectively reviewed the usefulness of flow cytometry (FCM) as a quick tool for immunophenotyping and functional assays in patients suspected to have PIDs at a single tertiary care institute.METHODS: Between January 2001 and June 2018, patients suspected of having PIDs were subjected to FCM tests, including lymphocyte subset analysis, detection of surface- or intracellular-target proteins, and functional analysis of immune cells, at Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. The genetic diagnosis was performed using Sanger or diagnostic exome sequencing.RESULTS: Of 60 patients diagnosed with definite or probable PID according to the European Society of Immune Deficiencies criteria, 24 patients were provided with useful information about immunological dysfunction after initial FCM testing. In 10 patients, the PID diagnosis was based on abnormal findings in FCM testing without genetic tests. The FCM findings provided strong evidence for the diagnosis of severe combined immunodeficiency (n = 6), X-linked chronic granulomatous diseases (CGD) (n = 6), leukocyte adhesion deficiency type 1 (n = 3), X-linked agammaglobulinemia (n = 11), autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome-FASLG (n = 1), and familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis type 2 (n = 1), and probable evidence for autosomal recessive-CGD (n = 2), autosomal dominant-hyper-immunoglobulin E (IgE)-syndrome (n = 1), and STAT1 gain-of-function mutation (n = 1). In PIDs derived from PIK3CD (n = 2), LRBA (n = 2), and CTLA4 mutations (n = 3), the FCM test provided useful evidence of immune abnormalities and a tool for treatment monitoring.CONCLUSIONS: The initial application of FCM, particularly with known protein targets on immune cells, would facilitate the timely diagnosis of PIDs and thus would support clinical decisions and improve the clinical outcome.
Agammaglobulinemia ; Diagnosis ; Exome ; Flow Cytometry ; Genetic Testing ; Granulomatous Disease, Chronic ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Korea ; Leukocytes ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Lymphohistiocytosis, Hemophagocytic ; Phenotype ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul ; Severe Combined Immunodeficiency ; Tertiary Healthcare

healthcare worker (HCW) is important for preventing transmission in the hospital. We evaluated the seroprevalence of mumps in HCWs in a tertiary care hospital in Republic of Korea. A total of 6,055 HCWs born between 1950 and 1995 underwent antibody testing. The overall seropositivity rate of mumps was 87% (95% confidence interval, 86%–87%). Our data indicates that, in Korean HCWs, testing for mumps antibody followed by mumps vaccination is more appropriate than routine mumps vaccination without testing for mumps antibody.]]>
Delivery of Health Care ; Health Personnel ; Humans ; Korea ; Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine ; Mumps ; Republic of Korea ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Vaccination

Detailed description of malaria in low transmission areas is crucial for elimination. The current study aimed to provide a comprehensive description for malaria transmission in Jazan, a low transmission district, southwestern Saudi Arabia. Patients at a tertiary care hospital were recruited in our study between August 2016 and September 2018. Malaria diagnosis was performed through a species-specific nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR), microscopy and Paramax-3™ rapid detection test (RDT). Malaria was detected in 30 patients by the PCR, with point prevalence of 10.9%. Of these malaria infections, 80% was imported, 26.6% was asymptomatic and 23.3% was sub-microscopic. Malaria was reported throughout the year, with February/March and September/October peaks. Infection was significantly more in males than in females (P=0.01). Likewise, infections were detected more in febrile than in non-febrile patients (P=0.01). Adult aged 15–24 years, fever and travel were identified as high-risk factors. Malaria was primarily attributed to Plasmodium falciparum mono-infections, followed by P. vivax mono-infections and lastly to falciparum/vivax mixed infections accounting 76.6%, 16.6%, and 6.6% of PCR-confirmed malaria cases, respectively. The nested PCR was superior to the smear microscopy (sensitivity 76.6%; specificity 100%) and the RDT (sensitivity 83.3%, specificity 94.2%). The overall percent agreement between microscopy and the RDT was 92.7% (kappa=0.63). High proportion of imported malaria including sub-microscopic and sub-patent cases were described. We suggest that incorporation of molecular tool into the conventional malaria diagnosis is beneficial in Jazan district.
Adult ; Coinfection ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Malaria ; Male ; Microscopy ; Plasmodium falciparum ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Prevalence ; Saudi Arabia ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Tertiary Healthcare

PURPOSE: Quality indicators of the National Endoscopy Quality Improvement Program (NEQIP) and outcome measures of endoscopy in the National Cancer Screening Program (NCSP) in Korea are not clear. We evaluated the quality indicators of the revised NEQIP and outcome measures of endoscopy at different types of healthcare facilities participating in the NCSP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted between March and August 2018 in primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare facilities that perform endoscopy as a part of the NCSP. Representative endoscopists completed a questionnaire for quality indicators of the NEQIP and provided data on outcome measures for endoscopy. RESULTS: Quality indicators of the NEQIP were mostly acceptable. However, the quality indicators for annual volume of esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and colonoscopy, training for endoscopy quality improvement by endoscopy nursing staff, colonoscopy reports, documentation of pathologic lesions, quality of endoscopy reprocessing areas, and completion of endoscopy reprocessing education programs were suboptimal. For outcome measures of EGD, the number of photo-documentations and total procedure time were higher at tertiary healthcare facilities than at other facilities (p<0.001 and p=0.023, respectively). For the outcome measures of colonoscopy, colonoscopy completion rate and waiting times for colonoscopy were significantly higher at tertiary healthcare facilities than at other facilities (both p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Outcome measures of endoscopy should be included as quality indicators of NCSP. However, universal outcome measures for all types of healthcare facilities should be established because performance levels of some outcome measures differ among individual healthcare facility types.
Colonoscopy ; Delivery of Health Care ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Education ; Endoscopy ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Gastroscopy ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Nursing Staff ; Outcome Assessment (Health Care) ; Quality Improvement ; Tertiary Healthcare

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary infection with nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is increasing in South Korea. Since treatment strategy differs by NTM species, accurate identification is necessary. In this study, using Mycobacterium pulmonary isolates recently recovered from a general hospital in Seoul, the prevalence of NTM isolates was investigated. METHODS: A total of 483 Mycobacterium pulmonary strains isolated between May and November 2018 from an 814-bed general hospital in South Korea were analyzed. Bacterial species were identified based on nucleotide sequences of the 16S–23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer and the rpoB gene. RESULTS: From a total of 1,209 pulmonary specimens from patients suspected to be infected with mycobacteria, 324 deduplicate strains were isolated, comprising 90 Mycobacterium tuberculosis and 229 NTM strains. Among the NTM isolates, 61.5% (n=144) were Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), including 92 M. avium and 52 Mycobacterium intracellulare, while 8.1% (n=19) represented Mycobacterium abscessus, including 10 M. abscessus subsp. abscessus and 9 M. abscessus subsp. massiliense. In addition, 12 (5.1%) Mycobacterium lentiflavum, 12 (5.1%) Mycobacterium gordonae, 6 (2.6%) Mycobacterium kansasii, and 5 (2.1%) Mycobacterium fortuitum were identified. In addition, Mycobacterium mucogenicum (n=2), Mycobacterium septicum (n=1), Mycobacterium colombiens (n=1), Mycobacterium asiaticum (n=1), and Mycobacterium celatum (n=1) were identified. CONCLUSION: Among the recently recovered Mycobacterium pulmonary strains, more than half were identified as NTM, and MAC was the most prevalent NTM, followed by M. abcessuss.
Base Sequence ; DNA, Ribosomal ; Hospitals, General ; Humans ; Korea ; Mycobacterium ; Mycobacterium avium Complex ; Mycobacterium fortuitum ; Mycobacterium kansasii ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; Nontuberculous Mycobacteria ; Prevalence ; Seoul ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Tertiary Healthcare

BACKGROUND: Severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCAR) to drugs are a crucial public health issue and the use of systemic corticosteroids in SCAR has been controversial. OBJECTIVE: To analyze clinical features, causative drugs, treatment, outcomes, and prognostic factors of SCAR in the case-series of 173 patients, and add more information to the debate of using systemic corticosteroids in SCAR management. METHODS: A retrospective study of 173 SCAR patients diagnosed with drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS), Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS)/toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) or acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP) at a tertiary care institution in China between January 2014 and December 2017 was conducted. RESULTS: Of 173 patients, allopurinol, carbamazepine, and antibiotics are the most frequently implicated drugs for DRESS (40.4%), SJS/TEN (26.0%), and AGEP (40.0%) respectively. Moreover, there is a strongly negative correlation between early corticosteroids use and the progression (p=0.000) and severity (p=0.01) of skin lesions. However, there is no association between early corticosteroids use and the mortality of SCAR (odds ratio: 1.01, 95% confidence interval: 0.95~1.08). In addition, lymphadenopathy, eosinophilia, and interval from onset to corticosteroids treatment were correlated with SCAR prognosis. CONCLUSION: Prompt short-course systemic corticosteroids use is associated with early-stage skin lesions remission without influencing the disease mortality. Lymphadenopathy and eosinophilia were the independent poor prognostic factors of SCAR.
Acute Generalized Exanthematous Pustulosis ; Adrenal Cortex Hormones ; Allopurinol ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Carbamazepine ; China ; Cicatrix ; Drug Hypersensitivity Syndrome ; Eosinophilia ; Humans ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Mortality ; Prognosis ; Public Health ; Retrospective Studies ; Skin ; Stevens-Johnson Syndrome ; Tertiary Healthcare

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective clinical study. PURPOSE: We evaluated the challenges faced during diagnosis and management of patients with subacute pyogenic discitis and discussed various clues in clinical history, radiologic and hematologic parameters of these patients that helped in establishing their diagnosis. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Present literature available shows that in patients with subacute spondylodiscitis and infection with less virulent organisms, the clinical picture often is confusing and the initial radiologic and hematologic studies do not contribute much toward establishing the diagnosis. METHODS: Demographic pattern, predisposing factors, clinical presentation, comorbidities, microbiology, treatment, neurologic recovery, and complications of 11 patients were prospectively reviewed regarding their contribution toward the conformation of diagnosis of subacute pyogenic discitis. RESULTS: Mean age at presentation was 46.0 years with average preoperative Oswestry Disability Index and Visual Analog Scale scores of 83.4 and 7.18, respectively. Mean follow-up duration was 12.0 months. The most common site of infection was the lumbar spine, followed by the thoracic spine (n=1). Infective organisms were isolated in only 45% of cases. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common causative organism isolated. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnosing subacute spondylodiscitis in a patient presenting with subacute low backache poses a diagnostic challenge. Clinical and radiologic picture are deceiving, and bacteriologic results often are negative, further complicating the picture. A detailed medical history along with clinical, radiologic, and biochemical parameters prevents missing the diagnosis. Serial serum C-reactive protein and alkaline phosphatases were more reliable blood parameters in cases of subacute presentation.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; C-Reactive Protein ; Causality ; Clinical Study ; Comorbidity ; Diagnosis ; Discitis ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; Lumbar Vertebrae ; Phosphoric Monoester Hydrolases ; Prospective Studies ; Spine ; Staphylococcal Infections ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Visual Analog Scale

The susceptibility of Escherichia coli from community onset urinary tract infection (UTI) was evaluated by dividing community onset UTI into the simple community acquired-UTI (CA-UTI) and healthcare associated UTI (HCA-UTI) groups for a period of 10 years. The susceptibility of E. coli to most antibiotics, except amikacin and imipenem, continued to decrease. In the CA-UTI group, the susceptibility to cefotaxime was 88% in 2015, but rapidly decreased to 79.3% in 2017. The susceptibility to cefepime and piperacillin-tazobactam were 88.8% and 90.5% in 2017, respectively. In the HCA-UTI group, the susceptibility to most antibiotics markedly decreased to less than 60% by 2017. The incidence of ESBL-producing E. coli increased to 23.3% in the CA-UTI group in 2017.
Amikacin ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Cefotaxime ; Delivery of Health Care ; Escherichia coli ; Escherichia ; Imipenem ; Incidence ; Korea ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Urinary Tract