Ann Clin Microbiol 2025;28(1):6. ACM achievements in 2024 and future directions Download table Corresponding author Title Publication information Special Issue on Current Epidemiology and Diagnostics of Parasitic Infections in Korea Eun Jeong Won Challenging diagnosis of parasitic infection and practical guidance to clinical microbiology laboratories in Korea 27(2):39-40. Bong-Kwang Jung Intestinal helminth infections among health examinees: 10-year (2011–2020) nationwide observations in Korea 27(2):41-48. Woon-Mok Sohn Practical guide for the diagnosis of helminth ova in stools 27(2):49-67. Sun Huh Molecular diagnosis of parasitic diseases in Korea 27(2):69-79. Min-Ho Choi Serological diagnosis of tissue-invading parasites in Korea 27(2):81-91. Jong-Yil Chai Anisakidosis in humans and animals and detection of anisakid larvae in fish and cephalopods in Korea: a literature review (1971-2022) 27(2):93-130. Eun-Taek Han Malaria diagnostics: from traditional techniques to cutting-edge solutions 27(3):155-170. Special Issue on Current Epidemiology and Laboratory Diagnosis of Fungal Infections in Korea Jayoung Kim Fungal infections: rising threats, diagnostic

Editorial Hae-Sun Chung Department of Laboratory Medicine, Ewha Womans University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Correspondence to Hae-Sun Chung, E-mail: sunny0521.chung@ewha.ac.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2025;28(1):6. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2025.28.1.6Received on 14 March 2024, Revised on 16 March 2025, Accepted on 16 March 2025, Published on 20 March 2025.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology.This is an Open Access article which is freely available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). The year 2024 marked a notable milestone for the Annals of Clinical Microbiology (Ann Clin Microbiol, ACM) with a transition to an English-language journal and taking the first steps toward becoming an internationally recognized academic publication. ACM achieved remarkable progress in strengthening its academic value and global presence throughout this transformative year. The major accomplishments of 2024 included the successful publication of two highly specialized and impactful Special Issues: “Current Epidemiology and Diagnostics of Parasitic Infections in Korea” and

Editorial Jayoung Kim Department of Laboratory Medicine, International St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, Catholic Kwandong University, Incheon, Korea Corresponding to Jayoung Kim, E-mail: lmkjy7@gmail.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2024;27(4):217-219. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2024.27.4.1Received on 17 December 2024, Revised on 19 December 2024, Accepted on 19 December 2024, Published on 20 December 2024.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology.This is an Open Access article which is freely available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Fungal diseases are becoming a growing global health concern, with an estimated annual incidence of 6.5 million cases of invasive fungal infections and approximately 3.8 million associated deaths, including approximately 2.5 million directly attributable to fungal infections [1]. The World Health Organization, in its first fungal priority pathogen list, identified 19 major fungal pathogens posing considerable public health threats, with Candida albicans, Candida auris, and Cryptococcus neoformans classified as critical fungal pathogens [2]. Moreover, since

Review article Eun Jeong Won Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Eun Jeong Won, E-mail: ejwon@amc.seoul.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2024;27(4):245-255. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2024.27.4.4Received on 1 September 2024, Revised on 4 November 2024, Accepted on 14 November 2024, Published on 16 December 2024.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology.This is an Open Access article which is freely available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Abstract Candidemia is the most common healthcare-associated invasive fungal infection with high crude mortality rates. It primarily affects critically ill or severely immunocompromised patients, complicating early diagnosis and prompting the initiation of appropriate antifungal therapy. The gold standard for diagnosing candidemia is blood culture; however, the sensitivity of this test is low and requires at least two days for species identification. These limitations have led to the development of alternative diagnostic methods that are

Original article Seungtaek Lim, Seunghwan Seol, Eun Jeong Won, Bosung Park, Heungsup Sung, Mi-Na Kim Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Mi-Na Kim, E-mail: mnkim@amc.seoul.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2024;27(3):205-214. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2024.27.3.4Received on 13 August 2024, Revised on 30 August 2024, Accepted on 3 September 2024, Published on 20 September 2024.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology.This is an Open Access article which is freely available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Abstract Background: Unlike the Mycoplasma IST2 kit (bioMérieux), the Mycoplasma IST3 kit has been updated to comply with the standardized antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST) method for Ureaplasma spp. (Up) and Mycoplasma hominis (Mh). We aimed to verify the use of the Mycoplasma IST3 kit for genital mycoplasma cultures. Methods: From September 2023 to January 2024, the R1 medium remaining after inoculation with IST2 was refrigerated until the next

Editorial Eun Jeong Won Department of Laboratory Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Eun Jeong Won, E-mail: ejwon@amc.seoul.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2024;27(2):39-40. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2024.27.2.1Received on 7 June 2024, Revised on 13 June 2024, Accepted on 20 June 2024, Published on 20 June 2024.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology.This is an Open Access article which is freely available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Parasitic diseases affect over three billion people worldwide and contribute significantly to morbidity and mortality, as reported by the World Health Organization [1]. The landscape of parasitic infections in Korea has undergone a dramatic transformation in recent decades [2]. National surveys show a decline in intestinal parasite prevalence from an alarmingly high 84.3% in the 1970s to just 2.6% by 2012 [2]. Currently, stool ova examination remains the primary diagnostic method of detecting intestinal