Seasonal influenza vaccination: A global review of national policies in 194 WHO member states in 2022.

Introduction: Seasonal influenza vaccination prevents severe influenza disease and death. The World Health Organization (WHO) encourages all countries to consider annual seasonal influenza vaccination for health workers, people with chronic conditions, older adults, pregnant women and other high-risk populations as relevant for their national context. This paper provides a global update on the status of countries' influenza vaccination policies and programmes as of December 2022.

Health-related quality of life in long-term early-stage breast cancer survivors compared to general population in Korea.

Purpose: This study assessed health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of long-term breast cancer (BC) survivors diagnosed at early stages and compare with cancer-free, age-matched women.

Methods: The study population included BC survivors diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or breast cancer stages I-II, who had undergone lumpectomy/mastectomy, with time since diagnosis ranging from 9 to 16 years. Survey was conducted at two tertiary hospitals in 2020.

Responding to COVID-19 vaccine-related safety events: WHO Western Pacific regional experience and lessons learned.

Problem: Novel vaccines were developed in an unprecedentedly short time in response to the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which triggered concerns about the safety profiles of the new vaccines. This paper describes the actions and outcomes of three major adverse events of special interest (AESIs) reported in the World Health Organization's (WHO's) Western Pacific Region: anaphylaxis, thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) and post-vaccination death.

Context: During the large-scale introduction of various novel COVID-19 vaccines, robust monitoring of and response to COVID-19 vaccine safety events were critical.

COVID-19 vaccine-related adverse events following immunization in the WHO Western Pacific Region, 2021-2022.

The speed at which new vaccines against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were developed and rolled out as part of the global response to the pandemic was unprecedented. This report summarizes COVID-19 vaccine-related safety data in the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region. Data for 1 March 2021 to 31 March 2022 from 36 out of 37 countries and areas in the Western Pacific Region are presented.

Long-term trajectory of postoperative health-related quality of life in young breast cancer patients: a 15-year follow-up study.

Purpose: Breast cancer (BC) patients often experience various long-term sequelae due to aggressive treatment. We analyzed and illustrated long-term trajectory during different phases of treatment and survivorship.

Methods: Data were obtained from a cohort of 298 BC patients diagnosed between 2004 and 2006 and were followed up until 2020.

Fear of Cancer Recurrence and Its Negative Impact on Health-Related Quality of Life in Long-term Breast Cancer Survivors.

Purpose: Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a common psychological issue in breast cancer (BC) survivors during early survivorship but whether the same is true among long-term survivors has yet to be empirically evaluated. This study investigated FCR level, its associated factors, and impact on quality of life (QoL) in long-term BC survivors.

Materials And Methods: Participants included women diagnosed with BC between 2004 and 2010 at two tertiary hospitals.

Associations of physical activity at work and household income with obesity: a cross-sectional study among rural adults in Korea.

Objectives: This study was performed to identify the effect of physical activity at work on obesity and to analyze the contribution of socioeconomic factors and health behaviors to this association, which has been relatively little studied.

Methods: From the Korean National Cancer Center Community Cohort, a total of 5,587 adults (2,125 men; 3,462 women) aged more than 30 years living in rural areas were enrolled. Information on socio-demographic factors, health behaviors, and body mass index was gathered using face-to-face interviews and measurements of height and weight.

Economic burden of alcohol-related cancers in the Republic of Korea.

Background: Cancer is a major burden of disease and alcohol consumption is one of the major risk factors of cancer. This study aimed to estimate the economic burden of cancer types attributable to alcohol consumption in the Republic of Korea.

Methods: This study estimates the direct and indirect costs of cancer types attributable to alcohol consumption by applying cost-of-illness methods using the human capital approach and prevalence-based estimates.

Review on the Recent Advances on Typhoid Vaccine Development and Challenges Ahead.

Control of Salmonella enterica serovar typhi (S. typhi), the agent of typhoid fever, continues to be a challenge in many low- and middle-income countries. The major transmission route of S.

WHO implementation workshop on guidelines on procedures and data requirements for changes to approved biotherapeutic products, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 25-26 June 2019.

The first global workshop on implementation of the WHO guidelines on procedures and data requirements for changes to approved biotherapeutic products adopted by the WHO Expert Committee in 2018 was held in June 2019. The workshop participants recognized that the principles based on sound science and the potential for risk, as described in the WHO Guidelines on post-approval changes, which constitute the global standard for product life-cycle management are providing clarity and helping national regulatory authorities in establishing guidance while improving time-lines for an efficient regulation of products. Consequently, the regulatory situation for post-approval changes and guideline implementation is changing but there is a disparity between different countries.

The Effects of Music Therapy-Singing Group on Quality of Life and Affect of Persons With Dementia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Dementia is a clinical syndrome that is progressive and degenerative, affecting memory, behavior, emotion, and personality. Persons with dementia often experience deterioration of cognitive ability, as well as various behavioral and psychological disturbances, which significantly contribute to reduced quality of life and emotional well-being. The demand for long-term care continues to rise rapidly and it is therefore critical to develop effective strategies and evidence-based interventions to improve the quality of life for persons with dementia.

Plaque Characteristics and Ruptured Plaque Location according to Lesion Geometry in Culprit Lesions of ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction.

Background And Objectives: The correlations between plaque characteristics and plaque rupture location according to segmental lesion analysis have not been well defined. The aim of this study was to assess those characteristics of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) culprit lesions according to segmental lesion geometry using virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS).

Methods: Sixty single discrete lesions found in the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary arteries of 60 patients with STEMI were included.

Development of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus vaccines - advances and challenges.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is an emerging pathogen with the potential to pose a threat to global public health. Sporadic cases and outbreaks continue to be reported in the Middle East, and case fatality rates remain high at approximately 36% globally. No specific preventive or therapeutic countermeasures currently exist.

Thrombus and Plaque Erosion Characterized by Optical Coherence Tomography in Patients With Vasospastic Angina.

Introduction And Objectives: Vasospastic angina (VSA) can result in endothelial damage and thrombus formation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence of thrombus and plaque characteristics at coronary spasm segments compared with nonspasm segments by using optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients with suspected VSA.

Methods: One hundred and eighty-three patients with suspected VSA were enrolled in this study.

Control of clonorchiasis in Korea: effectiveness of health education for community leaders and individuals in an endemic area.

Objectives: To develop effective intervention programmes to control Clonorchis sinensis infection, three interventions were evaluated in a clonorchiasis-endemic area of Korea.

Methods: Four thousand two hundred and sixty-seven voluntary participants in Sancheong county were tested at baseline and two follow-up surveys after 1 and 3 years. Faecal samples were examined for C.

Independent and supra-additive effects of alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, and metabolic syndrome on the elevation of serum liver enzyme levels.

We investigated the independent and combined effects of alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking and metabolic syndrome on abnormal liver function, i.e., the elevation of serum liver enzyme levels.

Multiplicative synergistic risk of hepatocellular carcinoma development among hepatitis B and C co-infected subjects in HBV endemic area: a community-based cohort study.

Background: There has been limited study on the effect of infection with different hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes on the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in hepatitis B virus (HBV) endemic regions of Asia.

Methods: Hazard ratios of HCC development were estimated for HBV and HCV co-infected subjects among a community-based prospective cohort. HCV genotype was determined in HCV RNA-positive samples.

Association of vascular endothelial growth factor polymorphisms with nonproliferative and proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Context: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic and vascular permeability factor, and its polymorphisms are associated with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and macular edema.

Objective: We investigated the contributions of VEGF gene polymorphisms to nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) as well as PDR.

Design, Setting, And Subjects: In this study we compared VEGF gene variants in a sample of Korean type 2 diabetes patients with and without diabetic retinopathy (DR) and in healthy controls.

Candidate gene polymorphisms for diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and cancer are associated with longevity in Koreans.

Long-lived people may have a unique genetic makeup that makes them more resistant than the general population to prevalent age-related diseases; however, not much is known about genes involved in the longevity. To identify susceptibility variants controlling longevity, we performed a high-throughput candidate gene study using 137 Koreans over 90 yr old and 213 young healthy Koreans. We evaluated 463 informative markers located in 176 candidate genes mostly for diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and cancer under five genetic models.