Objectives: Presenteeism is known to be a much more economically damaging social cost than disease rest while going to work despite physical pain. Since COVID-19, social discussions on the sickness benefit have been taking place as a countermeasure against presenteeism, and in particular, farmers and fishermen do not have an institutional mechanism for livelihood support when a disease other than work occurs. This study attempted to examine the relationship between agricultural, fishing, and forestry workers and presenteeism using the 6th Korean Work Conditions Survey. Methods: From October 2020 to January 2021, data from the 6th working conditions survey conducted on 17 cities and provinces in Korea were used, and a total of 34,981 people were studied. Control variables were gender, age, self-health assessment, education level, night work, shift work, monthly income, occupation, working hours per week, and employment status. Results: As a result of the analysis, farmers and fishermen showed the characteristics of the self-employed and the elderly, and as a result of the regression analysis, when farmers and fishermen analyzed the relationship with presenteeism tendency compared to other industry workers, farmers and fishermen increased by 23% compared to other industry groups. Conclusion This study is significant in that it has representation by utilizing the 6th working conditions survey and objectively suggests the need for a sickness benefit for farmers and fishermen who may be overlooked in the sickness benefit.

Objectives: Presenteeism is known to be a much more economically damaging social cost than disease rest while going to work despite physical pain. Since COVID-19, social discussions on the sickness benefit have been taking place as a countermeasure against presenteeism, and in particular, farmers and fishermen do not have an institutional mechanism for livelihood support when a disease other than work occurs. This study attempted to examine the relationship between agricultural, fishing, and forestry workers and presenteeism using the 6th Korean Work Conditions Survey. Methods: From October 2020 to January 2021, data from the 6th working conditions survey conducted on 17 cities and provinces in Korea were used, and a total of 34,981 people were studied. Control variables were gender, age, self-health assessment, education level, night work, shift work, monthly income, occupation, working hours per week, and employment status. Results: As a result of the analysis, farmers and fishermen showed the characteristics of the self-employed and the elderly, and as a result of the regression analysis, when farmers and fishermen analyzed the relationship with presenteeism tendency compared to other industry workers, farmers and fishermen increased by 23% compared to other industry groups. Conclusion This study is significant in that it has representation by utilizing the 6th working conditions survey and objectively suggests the need for a sickness benefit for farmers and fishermen who may be overlooked in the sickness benefit.

Objectives: Presenteeism is known to be a much more economically damaging social cost than disease rest while going to work despite physical pain. Since COVID-19, social discussions on the sickness benefit have been taking place as a countermeasure against presenteeism, and in particular, farmers and fishermen do not have an institutional mechanism for livelihood support when a disease other than work occurs. This study attempted to examine the relationship between agricultural, fishing, and forestry workers and presenteeism using the 6th Korean Work Conditions Survey. Methods: From October 2020 to January 2021, data from the 6th working conditions survey conducted on 17 cities and provinces in Korea were used, and a total of 34,981 people were studied. Control variables were gender, age, self-health assessment, education level, night work, shift work, monthly income, occupation, working hours per week, and employment status. Results: As a result of the analysis, farmers and fishermen showed the characteristics of the self-employed and the elderly, and as a result of the regression analysis, when farmers and fishermen analyzed the relationship with presenteeism tendency compared to other industry workers, farmers and fishermen increased by 23% compared to other industry groups. Conclusion This study is significant in that it has representation by utilizing the 6th working conditions survey and objectively suggests the need for a sickness benefit for farmers and fishermen who may be overlooked in the sickness benefit.

Background: Gastrointestinal (GI) drugs are often co-prescribed with other medications to prevent GI complications. This study aimed to evaluate the prescribing pattern of potentially unnecessary GI drugs in patients with acute cystitis who were prescribed oral antibiotics and investigate the influencing factors affecting this. Methods: We identified female patients ≥20 years with acute cystitis who visited the outpatient clinic and were prescribed oral antibiotics between July and December by analyzing Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA)-National Patients Sample (NPS)-2019 data. Patients with no prior history of GI disorders within 180 days prior to acute cystitis, excluding or including the date of diagnosis of acute cystitis, were selected (Group A and B). Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the factors affecting the prescription of potentially unnecessary GI drugs. Results: A total of 1,544 in Group A and 552 patients in Group B were included for the final analysis. Potentially unnecessary GI drugs were presc ribed in 1,176 patients in Group A (76.2%) and 231 patients in Group B (41.8%). Third generation cephalosporines and sulfonamides showed the lower odds ratio for prescribing GI drugs than penicillins. Prescribers from Urology clinics showed more than twice odds ratio for the prescription of GI drugs compared to prescribers from internal medicine clinics. Conclusion The results of this study showed that potentially unnecessary GI drug prescriptions for patients with acute cystitis were high in South Korea. The positive risk factors affecting the prescription of unnecessary GIs were not patient-related factor but healthcare facility and prescriber-related factors.

Plasmodium vivax exhibits dormant liver-stage parasites, called hypnozoites, which can cause relapse of malaria. The only drug currently used for eliminating hypnozoites is primaquine. The antimalarial properties of primaquine are dependent on the production of oxidized metabolites by the cytochrome P450 isoenzyme 2D6 (CYP2D6). Reduced primaquine metabolism may be related to P. vivax relapses. We describe a case of 4 episodes of recurrence of vivax malaria in a patient with decreased CYP2D6 function. The patient was 52-year-old male with body weight of 52 kg. He received total gastrectomy and splenectomy 7 months before the first episode and was under chemotherapy for the gastric cancer. The first episode occurred in March 2019 and each episode had intervals of 34, 41, and 97 days, respectively. At the first and second episodes, primaquine was administered as 15 mg for 14 days. The primaquine dose was increased with 30 mg for 14 days at the third and fourth episodes. Seven gene sequences of P. vivax were analyzed and revealed totally identical for all the 4 samples. The CYP2D6 genotype was analyzed and intermediate metabolizer phenotype with decreased function was identified.

Regdanvimab is the only monoclonal antibody available in Korea that targets severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. We retrospectively evaluated the clinical characteristics of 374 adults hospitalized with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who were treated with regdanvimab from September through December 2021. In total, 322 (86.1%) patients exhibited risk factors for disease progression. Most patients (91.4%) improved without additional treatment. No patient died or was transferred to intensive care. This study shows that regdanvimab prevented disease progression in high-risk patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 infections during Delta variant predominance.

A mucocele is a cystic dilatation of the vermiform appendix that contains mucous material. The symptoms associated with it are not specific and the diagnosis is seldom made prior to surgery. The reported prevalence in appendectomy specimens procured during surgery is 0.2-0.3%. Recently, we experienced a case of patient with appendiceal mucocele detected by colonoscopic examination. This case did not show typical colonoscopic features of a mucocele, demonstrating protrusion of mucin, in the absence of a smooth mound with normal overlying mucosa surrounding the appendiceal orifice. The case involved a 64-year-old woman who underwent a colonoscopy. An abdominopelvic computed tomography scan suggested a normal appendix. Subsequently, we performed an appendectomy. The pathologic finding was a low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm.

We performed a point seroprevalence survey of measles among healthcare workers (HCWs) at two Korean teaching hospitals in 2019. A total of 2,830 HCWs underwent an antibody test.The overall seropositivity of measles was 93.1%. The seroprevalence of measles was lowest in HCWs aged 20 - 24 years (81.2%), followed by those aged 25 - 29 years (90.1%). The rates of anti-measles IgG positivity were significantly different between the two hospitals (97.0% vs.89.4%, P <0.001). These results suggest that the seropositivity of measles in HCWs may differ depending on the hospital's vaccination policy.

A mucocele is a cystic dilatation of the vermiform appendix that contains mucous material. The symptoms associated with it are not specific and the diagnosis is seldom made prior to surgery. The reported prevalence in appendectomy specimens procured during surgery is 0.2-0.3%. Recently, we experienced a case of patient with appendiceal mucocele detected by colonoscopic examination. This case did not show typical colonoscopic features of a mucocele, demonstrating protrusion of mucin, in the absence of a smooth mound with normal overlying mucosa surrounding the appendiceal orifice. The case involved a 64-year-old woman who underwent a colonoscopy. An abdominopelvic computed tomography scan suggested a normal appendix. Subsequently, we performed an appendectomy. The pathologic finding was a low-grade appendiceal mucinous neoplasm.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is firstly reported in China in 2011. Thereafter it is reported an infectious disease in Japan and Korea. It is caused by bunyavirus, called SFTS virus (SFTSV). The main vector of SFTS is Haemaphysalis longicornis tick. We investigated the distribution and detection of SFTSV in ticks collected from the environment using the dragging method and dry ice fogging method from May to November 2014 in Jeollanam-do, Korea. Sampling was taken from the province Suncheon, Gokseong, Boseong, Goheung where patients have occurred in 2013 and Gurye as control. Among the total 3,048 ticks collected, 3,030 ticks were H. longicornis (99.4%) and 18 were Amblyomma testudinarium. H. longicornis was collected 1,330 ticks in Gokseong, 1,188 ticks in Boseong, 240 ticks in Suncheon, 150 ticks in Goheung and 140 ticks in Gurye. Developmental stages by month of H. longicornis were revealed that nymph (92%) was collected from May to June, adult (30%) and nymph (70%) in July, and 93% of larvae from September to October. These results showed the different dominant stage of ticks according to seasons. However, no SFTSV-specific gene was detected in 3,030 ticks of H. longicornis.
Adult ; China ; Communicable Diseases ; Dry Ice ; Fever* ; Humans ; Japan ; Jeollanam-do* ; Korea* ; Larva ; Methods ; Nymph ; Orthobunyavirus ; Seasons ; Thrombocytopenia* ; Ticks* ; Weather