Resurgence of Pertussis in the Gyeongnam Region of South Korea in 2023 and 2024.

: Pertussis continues to pose a substantial global health challenge despite widespread vaccination programs. This study aimed to analyze the epidemiological characteristics of recent pertussis cases in the Gyeongnam region of South Korea. : We analyzed 419 pertussis cases in the Gyeongnam region of South Korea between October 2023 and April 2024, using data collected from epidemiological investigation reports, medical records, and interviews with health officials and school staff.

Immunogenicity and Safety of a Newly Developed Live Attenuated Varicella Vaccine in Healthy Children: A Multi-National, Randomized, Double-Blinded, Active-Controlled, Phase 3 Study.

Korean manufacturers have developed a new varicella vaccine, NBP608. This phase 3, randomized, double-blind, multicenter study aimed to compare the immunogenicity and safety of NBP608 in healthy children to those of Varivax (control). Children aged 12 months to 12 years were randomized in a ratio of 1:1 to receive either NBP608 or the control vaccine.

Changes in Etiology of Invasive Bacterial Infections in Infants Under 3 Months of Age in Korea, 2006-2020.

Objectives: Invasive bacterial infection (IBI) causes a significant burden in infants. In this study, we analyzed changes in epidemiology of IBI among infants in Korea.

Methods: A retrospective multicenter-based surveillance for IBIs in infants <3 months of age was performed during 2006-2020.

Immunogenicity and Safety of a Newly Developed Tetanus-Diphtheria Toxoid (Td) in Healthy Korean Adolescents: a Multi-center, Randomized, Double-blind, Active-Controlled Phase 3 Trial.

Background: Although the combination tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap) is recommended at adolescence in developed countries, the tetanus and diphtheria toxoid vaccine (Td), which is less costly, is recommended instead in some parts of the world. A new Td, BR-TD-1001, was developed by a Korean manufacturer for distribution to endemic regions and for use in the initial step of novel Tdap development.

Methods: This phase 3, randomized, double-blind, multi-center trial, conducted in Korea, aimed to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of BR-TD-1001.

Diagnostic Impact of Clinical Manifestations of Group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis.

This study aims to identify the clinical characteristics for diagnosing streptococcal pharyngitis. The correlation between eighteen clinical manifestations and rapid antigen detection test results was analyzed. Among 205 patients, five clinical manifestations, pharyngeal hemorrhage (odds ratio [OR] = 11.

Active-controlled phase III study of an egg-cultivated quadrivalent inactivated split-virion influenza vaccine (GC3110A) in healthy Korean children aged 6-35 months.

The inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) offers limited protection when two influenza B lineages co-circulate or when there is a vaccine mismatch (i.e., discordance in the predominant circulating B strain and WHO-recommended B strain).

Comparison of the Immunogenicity and Safety of Three Enhanced Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccines from Different Manufacturers in Healthy Korean Infants: A Prospective Multicenter Study.

The enhanced inactivated poliovirus vaccine was first introduced in 2002, and several inactivated poliovirus vaccines are licensed in Korea. Reliable data by a prospective study on the immunogenicity and safety of the inactivated poliovirus vaccines in Korean infants are required. Normal healthy infants aged 6-12 weeks received three doses of the vaccine (IPVAX™, Imovax Polio™ or Poliorix™) in intervals of 2 months.

A longitudinal hospital-based epidemiology study to assess acute otitis media incidence and nasopharyngeal carriage in Korean children up to 24 months.

This study was conducted to assess the nasopharyngeal (NP) carriage and acute otitis media (AOM) occurrence in Korean children who received pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs). The longitudinal study was conducted through four consecutive visits. At each visit, NP aspirates were obtained and subjects were asked to visit if AOM occurred.

Erratum: Addition of a Co-Author: Etiology of Invasive Bacterial Infections in Immunocompetent Children in Korea (2006-2010): a Retrospective Multicenter Study.

This corrects the article on e45 in vol. 33, PMID: 29349940.

Comparison of the immunogenicity and safety of 3 inactivated hepatitis A vaccines in Korean children aged 12 to 18 months: An open-label, randomized, prospective, multicenter study.

Several approved inactivated hepatitis A (HA) vaccines are available in Korea. These have been shown to be immunogenic and safe in European children; however, their immunogenicity and safety have not been investigated among Korean children. We aimed to compare the immunogenicity and safety of the most commonly used HA vaccines in ethnic Korean children aged 12 to 18 months.

Immunogenicity and safety of a combined DTPa-IPV/Hib vaccine administered as a three-dose primary vaccination course in healthy Korean infants: phase III, randomized study.

We assessed the immunogenicity and safety of a three-dose primary vaccination schedule with the combined diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis-inactivated poliovirus/Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine (DTPa-IPV/Hib) in Korean infants. In this phase III open-label, multicenter study (NCT01309646), healthy infants aged 42-69 days (randomized 1:1) received three doses of either pentavalent DTPa-IPV/Hib (DTPa-IPV/Hib group) or DTPa-IPV and Hib vaccines administered separately (DTPa-IPV+Hib group) at 2, 4, 6 months of age. The primary objective was to demonstrate non-inferiority of DTPa-IPV/Hib compared to DTPa-IPV+Hib vaccines in terms of immune responses to all vaccine antigens, 1 month post-dose 3.

Evaluation of the SD Bioline Strep A Ultra Test in Relation With Number of Colony Forming Units and Color Intensity.

Background: The SD Bioline Strep A Ultra (SD, Yongin, Korea) is a recently developed rapid antigen detection test (RADT) for diagnosing bacterial pharyngitis caused by Group A , We evaluated the performance of SD Bioline Strep A Ultra, using the number of colony forming units and color intensity.

Methods: Three throat swabs each were taken from 343 children with pharyngitis who visited pediatric clinics. We evaluated the performance of SD Bioline Strep A Ultra and compared its positive rate with the number of colony forming units, using the Fisher exact test.

Safety and Immunogenicity of an Egg-Cultivated Quadrivalent Inactivated Split-virion Influenza Vaccine (GC3110A) in Healthy Korean Children: a Randomized, Double-blinded, Active-controlled Phase III Study.

Background: The frequency with which the 2 B lineages have been found to cocirculate in a season has been on the rise, which has spurred the need for a quadrivalent influenza vaccine (QIV) to protect against both B lineages. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommended that QIV include both B lineages beginning in the 2013-2014 flu season. This study was conducted to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of an egg-cultivated QIV in healthy Korean children and adolescents aged ≥ 6 months to < 19 years.

Etiology of Invasive Bacterial Infections in Immunocompetent Children in Korea (2006-2010): a Retrospective Multicenter Study.

Background: Invasive bacterial infections in apparently immunocompetent children were retrospectively analyzed to figure causative bacterial organisms in Korea.

Methods: A total of 947 cases from 25 university hospitals were identified from 2006 to 2010 as a continuance of a previous 10-year period study from 1996 to 2005.

Results: Escherichia coli (41.

Recent epidemiology of Streptococcus pneumoniae in nasopharynxes of Korean children with acute otitis media.

Background: This prospective study was performed to evaluate serotype distribution, multilocus sequence typing, and antibiotic susceptibility of Streptococcus pneumoniae identified in Korean children with acute otitis media (AOM) after the introduction of a 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7).

Methods: Nasopharyngeal aspirates were collected from children diagnosed with AOM in seven hospitals in Korea. The bacteria identified in these samples and the serotypes, sequence types (STs), and antibiotic susceptibilities of S.

A Survey of Serum Bactericidal Antibodies against Neisseria meningitidis Serogroups A, C, W and Y in Adolescents and Adults in the Republic of Korea.

Background: This descriptive epidemiological study aimed to assess the prevalence of serum bactericidal antibodies against Neisseria meningitidis serogroups A, C, W and Y in adolescents and adults in the Republic of Korea.

Materials And Methods: In total, 987 subjects aged 11-55 years from five geographical regions of Korea were included in the study. Human serum bactericidal assay (hSBA) was used to measure hSBA titres for serogroups A, C, W and Y.

Detection of Rotavirus Genotypes in Korea 5 Years after the Introduction of Rotavirus Vaccines.

Rotavirus (RV) is one of the most important viral etiologic agents of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in children. Although effective RV vaccines (RVVs) are now used worldwide, novel genotypes and outbreaks resulting from rare genotype combinations have emerged. This study documented RV genotypes in a Korean population of children with AGE 5 yr after the introduction of RVV and assessed potential genotype differences based on vaccination status or vaccine type.

Immunogenicity and safety of the new reduced-dose tetanus-diphtheria vaccine in healthy Korean adolescents: A comparative active control, double-blind, randomized, multicenter phase III study.

Background/purpose: A new reduced-dose tetanus-diphtheria (Td) vaccine was developed in Korea, and phase I and II clinical trials were successfully undertaken. We conducted this double-blind, randomized, multicenter phase III clinical trial to assess the immunogenicity and safety of the new Td vaccine.

Methods: Healthy adolescents 11-12 years of age were enrolled and randomized to receive the new Td vaccine (study group) or a commercially available Td vaccine (control group).

Immunogenicity and safety assessment of a trivalent, inactivated split influenza vaccine in Korean children: Double-blind, randomized, active-controlled multicenter phase III clinical trial.

A multicenter, double-blind, randomized, active-control phase III clinical trial was performed to assess the immunogenicity and safety of a trivalent, inactivated split influenza vaccine. Korean children between the ages of 6 months and 18 y were enrolled and randomized into a study (study vaccine) or a control vaccine group (commercially available trivalent, inactivated split influenza vaccine) in a 5:1 ratio. Antibody responses were determined using hemagglutination inhibition assay, and post-vaccination immunogenicity was assessed based on seroconversion and seroprotection rates.