Changing Epidemiology of Pathogenic Bacteria Over the Past 20 Years in Korea.

Background: The epidemiology of pathogenic bacteria varies according to the socioeconomic status and antimicrobial resistance status. However, longitudinal epidemiological studies to evaluate the changes in species distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility of pathogenic bacteria nationwide are lacking. We retrospectively investigated the nationwide trends in species distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility of pathogenic bacteria over the last 20 years in Korea.

A Case of COVID-19 in a 45-Day-Old Infant with Persistent Fecal Virus Shedding for More Than 12 Weeks.

In this report, we describe the case of a SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) in an infant with mild fever and diarrhea in the absence of respiratory distress. A 45-day-old male infant with COVID-19 was transferred to our pediatric department. He had mild fever and diarrhea at admission.

Multicenter Evaluation of the Implementation Status of Laboratory Tests in Korea and the Potential Usefulness of a Multiplex PCR Assay in Patients with Suspected Central Nervous System Infections.

Background: The rapid diagnosis and treatment of central nervous system (CNS) infections are critical to minimizing morbidity and mortality. We evaluated the implementation status of laboratory tests in patients with suspected CNS infection, and the potential usefulness of a multiplex PCR assay for rapid and simultaneous detection in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of 14 targets capable of causing CNS infections.

Methods: The study was conducted at 5 hospitals located in Daegu and Gyeongju over a period of 6 months.

Peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis due to Halomonas hamiltonii: A first case report.

Introduction: Halomonas hamiltonii is a Gram-negative, halophilic, motile, and nonspore-forming rod bacterium. Although most Halomonas sp. are commonly found in saline environments, it has rarely been implicated as a cause of human infection.

Antifungal Susceptibility Testing with Etest for Candida Species Isolated from Patients with Oral Candidiasis.

Background: The necessity of performing antifungal susceptibility tests is recently increasing because of frequent cases of oral candidiasis caused by antifungal-resistant Candida species. The Etest (BioMerieux, Marcy l'Etoile, France) is a rapid and easy-to-perform in vitro antifungal susceptibility test.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of antifungal agents by using the Etest for Candida species isolated from patients with oral candidiasis.

Chronic renal failure induces cell death in rat hippocampal CA1 via upregulation of αCaMKII/NR2A synaptic complex and phosphorylated GluR1-containing AMPA receptor cascades.

Background: N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propinoic acid (AMPA) receptors bound to postsynaptic density-95 (PSD-95) and α isoform of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (αCaMKII) is fundamentally involved in the regulation of working memory. The aim of present study was to investigate the alterations of NMDA and AMPA receptors responsible for hippocampal synaptic dysfunction and selective neuronal cell death after chronic renal failure (CRF) which may be associated with impairment of working memory.

Methods: Altered interactions between NMDA and AMPA receptors and PSD-95 and αCaMKII were analyzed in the cornu ammonis (CA) 1 and CA3/dentate gyrus (DG) subfields of the uremic rat hippocampi using the immunoblotting and immunoprecipitation methods.

Increase in the Prevalence of Carbapenem-Resistant Acinetobacter Isolates and Ampicillin-Resistant Non-Typhoidal Salmonella Species in Korea: A KONSAR Study Conducted in 2011.

Background: Antimicrobial surveillance is important for providing an up-to-date understanding of the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance and for creating a forum for rational drug development. In this study, we analyzed antimicrobial test data generated in 2011 by hospitals and commercial laboratories participating in the Korean Nationwide Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance program (KONSAR).

Materials And Methods: Data on the results of susceptibility tests conducted in 32 hospitals and two commercial laboratories were analyzed.

Onychomycosis in children: an experience of 59 cases.

Background: Although tinea unguium in children has been studied in the past, no specific etiological agents of onychomycosis in children has been reported in Korea.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate onychomycosis in Korean children.

Methods: We reviewed fifty nine patients with onychomycosis in children (0~18 years of age) who presented during the ten-year period between 1999 and 2009.

Onychomycosis Caused by Chaetomium globosum.

Onychomycosis is usually caused by dermatophytes, but some nondermatophytic molds and yeasts are also associated with invasion of nails. The genus Chaetomium is a dematiaceous nondermatophytic mold found in soil and plant debris as a saprophytic fungus. We report the first Korean case of onychomycosis caused by Chaetomium globosum in a 35-year-old male.

Subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by Exophiala equina, with susceptibility to eight antifungal drugs.

A case of subcutaneous phaeohyphomycosis caused by Exophiala equina is reported in a 75-year-old female, who showed subcutaneous abscesses on both forearms for 8 months. A lesion was initiated by inoculation with a spine from a tree. Histopathologically, suppurative granulomatous inflammation was present and short hyphal elements were observed.

Fingernail Onychomycosis Due to Aspergillus niger.

Onychomycosis is usually caused by dermatophytes, but some species of nondermatophytic molds and yeasts are also associated with nail invasion. Aspergillus niger is a nondermatophytic mold which exists as an opportunistic filamentous fungus in all environments. Here, we report a case of onychomycosis caused by A.

Molecular phylogenetics of exophiala species isolated from Korea.

Background: Recently, identification of fungi have been supplemented by molecular tools, such as ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequence analysis. According to these tools, morphological Exophiala species was newly introduced or redefined.

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the phylogenetics based on ribosomal ITS sequence analysis from clinical Exophiala species isolated in Korea.

Onychomycosis caused by Scopulariopsis brevicaulis: report of two cases.

Onychomycosis is usually caused by dermatophytes, but some nondermatophytic molds and yeasts are also associated with invasion of nails. Scopulariopsis brevicaulis is a nondermatophytic mold found in soil as a saprophyte. We report two cases of onychomycosis caused by S.

Onychomycosis due to nondermatophytic molds.

Background: Although there have been many studies about onychomycosis due to nondermatophytic molds (NDM), few studies about etiologic agents including NDM in onychomycosis have been reported in Korea.

Objective: This study investigated onychomycosis due to NDM in the Gyeongju area of Korea.

Methods: In the 10-year period from 1999~2009, we reviewed 59 patients with onychomycosis due to NDM.

Molecular phylogenetics of Fonsecaea strains isolated from chromoblastomycosis patients in South Korea.

Fonsecaea strains isolated from chromoblastomycosis patients in Korea and morphologically identified as Fonsecaea pedrosoi were re-evaluated for typing by sequencing the ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions. The ITS sequences of five Korean isolates and two reference strains were determined and then aligned with those of 11 related strains deposited in GenBank. In a phylogenetic tree constructed from these 18 strains, the Korean isolates and the references were clustered into two groups: Group A representing F.

Chromoblastomycosis Caused by Fonsecaea pedrosoi.

We report herein a case of chromoblastomycosis caused by Fonsecaea (F.) pedrosoi in a 39-year-old male, who showed multiple, asymptomatic, scaly erythematous plaques on the left shin for 12 months. Histopathologically, chronic granulomatous inflammation and either sclerotic or muriform cells were observed.

[Epidemiological investigation for outbreak of food poisoning caused by Bacillus cereus among the workers at a local company in 2010].

Objectives: In July 2 2010, a diarrhea outbreak occurred among the workers in a company in Gyeungju city, Korea. An epidemiological investigation was performed to clarify the cause and transmission route of the outbreak.

Methods: We conducted a questionnaire survey among 193 persons, and we examined 21 rectal swabs and 6 environmental specimens.

A case of bilateral endogenous Pantoea agglomerans endophthalmitis with interstitial lung disease.

We here in report a case of bilateral endogenous endophthalmitis caused by Pantoea agglomerans (P. agglomerans) in a patient who had interstitial lung disease and was treated with oral corticosteroids. A 72-year-old man presented with decreased visual acuity in both eyes nine days after he received oral corticosteroids.

Relapsing peritonitis caused by Bordetella bronchiseptica in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patient: a case report.

Bordetella (B) bronchiseptica is a common veterinary pathogen, but has rarely been implicated in human infections. Most patients with B. bronchiseptica infections are compromised clinically such as in patients with a malignancy, AIDS, malnutrition, or chronic renal failure.

A Case of Aggressive NK/T-cell Lymphoma/Leukemia with Cutaneous Involvement in Adolescence.

NK/T-cell lymphoma (NKTCL) is characterized by the expression of the NK-cell antigen CD56. Non-nasal NK/T-cell lymphomas are subdivided into primary cutaneous and 4 subtypes of secondary cutaneous lymphomas; nasal type, aggressive, blastic (blastoid), and other specific NK-like cell lymphoma. Aggressive NK/T-cell lymphoma/leukemia is a rare leukemic variant of nasal type NKTCL.

Further increase of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium, amikacin- and fluoroquinolone-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, and imipenem-resistant Acinetobacter spp. in Korea: 2003 KONSAR surveillance.

Monitoring temporal trends of antimicrobial resistance can provide useful information for the empirical selection of antimicrobial agents to treat infected patients and for the control of nosocomial infections. In this study, we analyzed antimicrobial resistance of clinically relevant bacteria in 2003 at Korean hospitals and at a commercial laboratory. The following organism-antimicrobial agent resistance combinations were very prevalent: oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (68%), expanded-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (25%), and fluoroquinolone-resistant Escherichia coli (33%), Acinetobacter spp.

Two novel mutations in the C7 gene in a Korean patient with complement C7 deficiency.

Complement C7 deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder well known to be associated with increased susceptibility to meningococcal infection and has mostly been reported in Caucasians. In the Korean population, no case of C7 deficiency has been reported to date. Recently we experienced an 11-yr-old girl with meningococcal meningitis who was diagnosed as having C7 deficiency based upon the undetectable serum C7 protein on radial immunodiffusion and the undetectable serum total and C7 hemolytic activities.

Metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Gram-negative bacilli in Korean Nationwide Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance group hospitals in 2003: continued prevalence of VIM-producing Pseudomonas spp. and increase of IMP-producing Acinetobacter spp.

Metallo-beta-lactamase (MBL)-producing Pseudomonas spp. and Acinetobacter spp. were prevalent in Korean hospitals.

VIM- and IMP-type metallo-beta-lactamase-producing Pseudomonas spp. and Acinetobacter spp. in Korean hospitals.

We determined the occurrence of acquired metallo-b-lactamase (MBL)-producing bacteria in Korean hospitals. Among the isolates nonsusceptible to imipenem that were collected from 28 hospitals from 2000 to 2001, 44 (11.4%) of 387 Pseudomonas spp.