COVID-19 Vaccine Prioritisation in Japan and South Korea

BackgroundDue to a limited initial supply of COVID-19 vaccines, the prioritisation of individuals for vaccination is of utmost importance for public health. Here, we provide the optimal allocation strategy for COVID-19 vaccines according to age in Japan and South Korea. MethodsCombining national case reports, age-specific contact matrices, and observed periods between each stages of infection (Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Quarantined), we constructed a compartmental model. We estimated the age-stratified probability of transmission given contact (qi) using Bayesian inference method and simulated different vaccination scenarios to reduce either case numbers or death toll. We also performed sensitivity analyses on the proportion of asymptomatic cases and vaccine efficacy. FindingsThe model inferred age-stratified probability of transmission given contact (qi) showed similar age-dependent increase in Japan and South Korea. Assuming the reported COVID-19 vaccine efficacy, our results indicate that Japan and South Korea need to prioritise individuals aged 20-35 years and individuals aged over 60 years, respectively, to minimise case numbers. To minimise the death toll, both countries need to prioritise individuals aged over 75 years. These trends were not changed by proportions of asymptomatic cases and varying vaccine efficacy on individuals under 20 years. InterpretationWe presented the optimal vaccination strategy for Japan and South Korea. Comparing the results of these countries demonstrates that not only the effective contact rates containing qi but also the age-demographics of current epidemic in Japan (dominance in 20s) and South Korea (dominant cases over 50s) affect vaccine allocation strategy.

Guidelines for Cancer Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

At the end of 2019, the cause of pneumonia outbreaks in Wuhan, China, was identified as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. In February 2020, the World Health Organization named the disease cause by SARS-CoV-2 as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In response to the pandemic, the Korean Cancer Association formed the COVID-19 task force to develop practice guidelines. This special article introduces the clinical practice guidelines for cancer patients which will help oncologists best manage cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contact-adjusted Immunity Levels against SARS-CoV-2 in Korea and Prospects for Achieving Herd Immunity

The proportion of population vaccinated cannot be directly translated into the herd immunity. We have to account for the age-stratified contact patterns to calculate the population immunity level, since not every individual gathers evenly. Here, we calculated the contact-adjusted population immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in South Korea using age-specific incidence and vaccine uptake rate. We further explored options to achieve the theoretical herd immunity with age-varying immunity scenarios. As of June 21, 2021, when a quarter of the population received at least one dose of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, the contact-adjusted immunity level was 12.5% under the social distancing level 1. When 80% of individuals aged 10 years and over gained immunity, we could achieve a 58.2% contact-adjusted immunity level. The pros and cons of vaccinating children should be weighed since the risks of COVID-19 for the young are less than the elderly, and the long-term safety of vaccines is still obscure.

Contact-adjusted Immunity Levels against SARS-CoV-2 in Korea and Prospects for Achieving Herd Immunity

The proportion of population vaccinated cannot be directly translated into the herd immunity. We have to account for the age-stratified contact patterns to calculate the population immunity level, since not every individual gathers evenly. Here, we calculated the contact-adjusted population immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in South Korea using age-specific incidence and vaccine uptake rate. We further explored options to achieve the theoretical herd immunity with age-varying immunity scenarios. As of June 21, 2021, when a quarter of the population received at least one dose of a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine, the contact-adjusted immunity level was 12.5% under the social distancing level 1. When 80% of individuals aged 10 years and over gained immunity, we could achieve a 58.2% contact-adjusted immunity level. The pros and cons of vaccinating children should be weighed since the risks of COVID-19 for the young are less than the elderly, and the long-term safety of vaccines is still obscure.

Guidelines for Cancer Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea / Journal of the Korean Cancer Association, 대한암학회지

At the end of 2019, the cause of pneumonia outbreaks in Wuhan, China, was identified as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. In February 2020, the World Health Organization named the disease cause by SARS-CoV-2 as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In response to the pandemic, the Korean Cancer Association formed the COVID-19 task force to develop practice guidelines. This special article introduces the clinical practice guidelines for cancer patients which will help oncologists best manage cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transmission onset distribution of COVID-19 in South Korea

ObjectivesThe distribution of the transmission onset of COVID-19 relative to the symptom onset is a key parameter for infection control. It is often not easy to study the transmission onset time, as is difficult to know who infected whom exactly when. MethodsWe inferred transmission onset time from 72 infector-infectee pairs in South Korea, either with known or inferred contact dates by means of incubation period. Combining this data with known information of infectors symptom onset, we could generate the transmission onset distribution of COVID-19, using Bayesian methods. Serial interval distribution could be automatically estimated from our data. ResultsWe estimated the median transmission onset to be 1.31 days (standard deviation, 2.64 days) after symptom onset with peak at 0.72 days before symptom onset. The pre-symptomatic transmission proportion was 37% (95% credible interval [CI], 16-52%). The median incubation period was estimated to be 2.87 days (95% CI, 2.33-3.50 days) and the median serial interval to be 3.56 days (95% CI, 2.72-4.44 days). ConclusionsConsidering the transmission onset distribution peaked with the symptom onset and the pre-symptomatic transmission proportion is substantial, the usual preventive measure might be too late to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

Clinical Score System to Differentiate Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Patients from Patients with Scrub Typhus or Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome in Korea

BACKGROUND: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease with high mortality in East Asia. This study aimed to develop, for primary care providers, a prediction score using initial symptoms and basic laboratory blood tests to differentiate between SFTS and other endemic zoonoses in Korea.METHODS: Patients aged ≥ 18 years diagnosed with endemic zoonoses during a 3-year period (between January 2015 and December 2017) were retrospectively enrolled from 4 tertiary university hospitals. A prediction score was built based on multivariate logistic regression analyses.RESULTS: Of 84 patients, 35 with SFTS and 49 with other endemic zoonoses were enrolled. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, independent predictors of SFTS included neurologic symptoms (odds ratio [OR], 12.915; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.173–76.747), diarrhea (OR, 10.306; 95% CI, 1.588–66.895), leukopenia (< 4,000/mm3) (OR, 19.400; 95% CI, 3.290–114.408), and normal C-reactive protein (< 0.5 mg/dL) (OR, 24.739; 95% CI, 1.812–337.742). We set up a prediction score by assigning one point to each of these four predictors. A score of ≥ 2 had 82.9% sensitivity (95% CI, 71.7%–87.5%) and 95.9% specificity (95% CI, 88.0%–99.2%). The area under the curve of the clinical prediction score was 0.950 (95% CI, 0.903–0.997).CONCLUSION: This study finding suggests a simple and useful scoring system to predict SFTS in patients with endemic zoonoses. We expect this strategic approach to facilitate early differentiation of SFTS from other endemic zoonoses, especially by primary care providers, and to improve the clinical outcomes.

Clinical Score System to Differentiate Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Patients from Patients with Scrub Typhus or Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome in Korea

BACKGROUND@#Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease with high mortality in East Asia. This study aimed to develop, for primary care providers, a prediction score using initial symptoms and basic laboratory blood tests to differentiate between SFTS and other endemic zoonoses in Korea.@*METHODS@#Patients aged ≥ 18 years diagnosed with endemic zoonoses during a 3-year period (between January 2015 and December 2017) were retrospectively enrolled from 4 tertiary university hospitals. A prediction score was built based on multivariate logistic regression analyses.@*RESULTS@#Of 84 patients, 35 with SFTS and 49 with other endemic zoonoses were enrolled. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, independent predictors of SFTS included neurologic symptoms (odds ratio [OR], 12.915; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.173–76.747), diarrhea (OR, 10.306; 95% CI, 1.588–66.895), leukopenia (< 4,000/mm3) (OR, 19.400; 95% CI, 3.290–114.408), and normal C-reactive protein (< 0.5 mg/dL) (OR, 24.739; 95% CI, 1.812–337.742). We set up a prediction score by assigning one point to each of these four predictors. A score of ≥ 2 had 82.9% sensitivity (95% CI, 71.7%–87.5%) and 95.9% specificity (95% CI, 88.0%–99.2%). The area under the curve of the clinical prediction score was 0.950 (95% CI, 0.903–0.997).@*CONCLUSION@#This study finding suggests a simple and useful scoring system to predict SFTS in patients with endemic zoonoses. We expect this strategic approach to facilitate early differentiation of SFTS from other endemic zoonoses, especially by primary care providers, and to improve the clinical outcomes.

Clinical Score System to Differentiate Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Patients from Patients with Scrub Typhus or Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome in Korea

BACKGROUND@#Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease with high mortality in East Asia. This study aimed to develop, for primary care providers, a prediction score using initial symptoms and basic laboratory blood tests to differentiate between SFTS and other endemic zoonoses in Korea.@*METHODS@#Patients aged ≥ 18 years diagnosed with endemic zoonoses during a 3-year period (between January 2015 and December 2017) were retrospectively enrolled from 4 tertiary university hospitals. A prediction score was built based on multivariate logistic regression analyses.@*RESULTS@#Of 84 patients, 35 with SFTS and 49 with other endemic zoonoses were enrolled. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, independent predictors of SFTS included neurologic symptoms (odds ratio [OR], 12.915; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.173–76.747), diarrhea (OR, 10.306; 95% CI, 1.588–66.895), leukopenia (< 4,000/mm3) (OR, 19.400; 95% CI, 3.290–114.408), and normal C-reactive protein (< 0.5 mg/dL) (OR, 24.739; 95% CI, 1.812–337.742). We set up a prediction score by assigning one point to each of these four predictors. A score of ≥ 2 had 82.9% sensitivity (95% CI, 71.7%–87.5%) and 95.9% specificity (95% CI, 88.0%–99.2%). The area under the curve of the clinical prediction score was 0.950 (95% CI, 0.903–0.997).@*CONCLUSION@#This study finding suggests a simple and useful scoring system to predict SFTS in patients with endemic zoonoses. We expect this strategic approach to facilitate early differentiation of SFTS from other endemic zoonoses, especially by primary care providers, and to improve the clinical outcomes.

Delays in Isolating Patients Admitted to Hospital with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Korea

BACKGROUND: Delays in isolating patients admitted to hospital with active pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) can contribute to nosocomial transmission; however, in Korea, patients with clinically diagnosed PTB are not routinely isolated while awaiting microbiological confirmation of the diagnosis. We aimed to assess the extent of delays in isolating patients admitted with PTB and to identify the factors associated with delayed isolation. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of patients aged ≥ 18 years with active PTB, between January 2008 and December 2017, from two Korean hospitals. RESULTS: Among 1,062 patients, 612 (57.6%) were not isolated on admission day. The median time from admission to isolation was 1 day (interquartile range: 0–2 days). The independent risk factor most strongly associated with delayed isolation was admission to departments other than pulmonology or infectious diseases departments (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 5.302; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.177–8.847; P 50% were not isolated on admission day. We suggest that the patients with clinically suspected PTB including the elderly who have a past history of TB, night sweats, or apical infiltration on chest radiographs, be presumptively isolated on admission, without waiting for microbiological confirmation of the diagnosis.

Optimal Timing of Zoster Vaccination After Shingles: A Prospective Study of the Immunogenicity and Safety of Live Zoster Vaccine / 감염과화학요법

BACKGROUND: Zoster vaccination is recommended for people with a history of herpes zoster (HZ), but the most effective timing of vaccine administration after zoster illness is unresolved. This prospective observational study compared the immunogenicity and safety of administering HZ vaccine at 6-12 months and 1-5 years after zoster illness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples were collected before the administration of live zoster vaccine and 6 weeks after vaccination. Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) IgG concentrations and T-cell responses were assessed by glycoprotein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT), respectively. RESULTS: The baseline geometric mean value (GMV) of VZV IgG was higher in the 6-12 months group than in the 1-5 years group (245.5 IU/mL vs. 125.9 IU/mL; P = 0.021). However, the GMV increased significantly in both groups (P = 0.002 in the 6-12 months group; P 1 year after zoster illness. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02704572

Optimal Timing of Zoster Vaccination After Shingles: A Prospective Study of the Immunogenicity and Safety of Live Zoster Vaccine / 감염과화학요법

BACKGROUND: Zoster vaccination is recommended for people with a history of herpes zoster (HZ), but the most effective timing of vaccine administration after zoster illness is unresolved. This prospective observational study compared the immunogenicity and safety of administering HZ vaccine at 6-12 months and 1-5 years after zoster illness. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Blood samples were collected before the administration of live zoster vaccine and 6 weeks after vaccination. Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) IgG concentrations and T-cell responses were assessed by glycoprotein enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and interferon-γ enzyme-linked immunospot assay (ELISPOT), respectively. RESULTS: The baseline geometric mean value (GMV) of VZV IgG was higher in the 6-12 months group than in the 1-5 years group (245.5 IU/mL vs. 125.9 IU/mL; P = 0.021). However, the GMV increased significantly in both groups (P = 0.002 in the 6-12 months group; P 1 year after zoster illness. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02704572

Hand hygiene

Healthcare-associated infections are a major concern in relation to patient safety. Of the numerous interventions for infection control, hand hygiene is the main factor that reduces the transmission of nosocomial pathogens. In this review, we cover the history of hand hygiene, evidence supporting its efficacy, and its importance. Then, we briefly introduce the 2017 hand hygiene guidelines of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hand hygiene

Healthcare-associated infections are a major concern in relation to patient safety. Of the numerous interventions for infection control, hand hygiene is the main factor that reduces the transmission of nosocomial pathogens. In this review, we cover the history of hand hygiene, evidence supporting its efficacy, and its importance. Then, we briefly introduce the 2017 hand hygiene guidelines of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gemcitabine-induced myositis in a diabetes mellitus patient on hemodialysis

No abstract available.

Subacute progressive disseminated histoplasmosis in immunocompetent patient

No abstract available.

First Imported Case of Zika Virus Infection into Korea

Since Zika virus has been spreading rapidly in the Americas from 2015, the outbreak of Zika virus infection becomes a global health emergency because it can cause neurological complications and adverse fetal outcome including microcephaly. Here, we report clinical manifestations and virus isolation findings from a case of Zika virus infection imported from Brazil. The patient, 43-year-old Korean man, developed fever, myalgia, eyeball pain, and maculopapular rash, but not neurological manifestations. Zika virus was isolated from his semen, and reverse-transcriptase PCR was positive for the virus in the blood, urine, and saliva on the 7th day of the illness but was negative on the 21st day. He recovered spontaneously without any neurological complications. He is the first case of Zika virus infection in Korea imported from Brazil.

Successful administration of iodinated contrast media in a patient with anaphylaxis to multiple contrast media

Although hypersensitivity reactions to iodinated contrast media (ICM) are uncommon, their clinical impacts are considerable because of their wide use and potential fatality. The best way to prevent ICM-induced hypersensitivity is to avoid re-exposure to the ICM. However, ICM use is inevitable in the evaluation of many diseases. A 64-year-old male with renal cell carcinoma presented with anaphylaxis after computed tomography (CT) using iohexol. Intradermal test results were positive to iohexol, iomeprol, and ioversol. The following 3 CT scans using the test-negative agents iopromide, iopamidol, and iobitridol still provoked hypersensitivity reactions despite premedication using intravenous antihistamine and corticosteroid. For the next step, iodixanol, a nonionic iso-osmolar dimer, was tested by intravenous graded challenges in addition to the intradermal skin test, which and was confirmed to be negative. The patient underwent CT scan using iodixanol after premedication with chlorpheniramine 4 mg and methylprednisolone 40 mg, and hypersensitivity reactions did not recur. We report a case of a patient showing hyper reactivity to multiple ICMs despite negative intradermal skin tests, who eventually underwent successful enhanced CT scans after choosing ICM by the graded challenge test.