Letter to the editor Junghyeon Yun1, Jung-Hyun Byun1, Yonggeun Cho2 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju, Korea2Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, Korea Correspondence to Jung-Hyun Byun, E-mail: microbyun@gmail.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2025;28(1):4. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2025.28.1.4Received on 16 January 2025, Revised on 24 February 2025, Accepted on 10 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/). Dear Editor, The genus Cardiobacterium is a fastidious, Gram-negative bacillus (coccobacillus) belonging to the HACEK group (Haemophilus species excluding H. inf luenzae, Aggregatibacter, Cardiobacterium, Eikenella, and Kingella). A total of 399 cases of infective endocarditis caused by HACEK species have been reported, accounting for approximately 3% of all endocarditis cases [1]. Cardiobacterium valvarum was first identified in a patient with

Original article Young-Suk Sohn1, Jung-Hyun Byun2, Young Ah Kim3, Dong-Chun Shin4, Kyungwon Lee1 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Research Institute of Bacterial Resistance, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju, 3Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, 4Department of Environmental Health Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Young Ah Kim, E-mail: yakim@nhimc.or.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2020;23(1):33-43. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2020.23.1.33Received on 8 July 2019, Revised on 23 August 2019, Accepted on 23 August 2019, Published on 20 March 2019.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: The weather has well-documented effects on infectious disease and reports suggest that summer peaks in the incidences of gram-negative bacterial infections among hospitalized patients. We evaluated how season and temperature changes affect bloodstream infection (BSI) incidences of major pathogens to understand BSI trends with

Original article PDF Won-Hee Choi1*, Jung-Hyun Byun2*, Sunjoo Kim2 1Department of Nursing Science, Kyungsung University, Busan, 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, Gyeongsang Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju, Korea Corresponding to Sunjoo Kim, E-mail: sjkim8239@hanmail.net Ann Clin Microbiol 2016;19(4):105-109. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2016.19.4.105Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: The spectrum of bacteria causing diarrhea is highly affected by geographic area, sanitation, travel, food consumption, and previous antibiotic use. A nationwide databank for stool cultures is undeveloped. The aim of our study was to investigate the current prevalence of gastroenteritis bacterial pathogens in Korea. Methods: We requested microbiological data via questionnaire emails sent to 98 hospitals. The frequency of each pathogen was acquired from 32 institutes. Numbers of stool cultures performed ranged from 193 to 14,296 (mean 2,724, SD 3,261) in 2015. Results: Among 86,744 requested stool specimens, 917 (1.06%, range 0-4.59%, 95% confidence interval 0.63-1.48%) were

Original article PDF Seung-Wook Kim1*, Jung-Hyun Byun2*, Sunjoo Kim2 1Convergence of Medical Sciences, 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, Gyeongsang Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju, Korea Corresponding to Sunjoo Kim, E-mail: sjkim8239@hanmail.net Ann Clin Microbiol 2017;20(1):7-12. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2017.20.1.7Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: Prolonged transport or poor accessibility of blood culture equipment during night time may cause delayed entry of blood culture bottles. The effect of prestorage conditions on time to detection (TTD) for the blood culture was evaluated for the important gram-negative lactose nonfermentative bacteria. Methods: Three different clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and Burkholdera cepacia were diluted to 150 CFU/mL and 15 CFU/mL and inoculated into standard aerobic bottles. These were stored at 25℃ and at 37℃ for 0, 6, 12, 18, and 24 h. They were entered to BacT/Alert 3D Systems (bioMérieux Inc.) and TTD was monitored for each condition.

Original article PDF Jung-Hyun Byun1, Dong-Hyun Lee2, Sunjoo Kim2 1Department of Laboratory Medicine and Research Institute of Bacterial Resistance, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, 2Department of Laboratory Medicine, Gyeongsang Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju, Korea Corresponding to Sunjoo Kim, E-mail: sjkim8239@hanmail.net Ann Clin Microbiol 2018;21(2):23-27. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2018.21.2.23Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: Fast identification of Candida glabrata is important, because empirical antifungal therapy for fungemia with C. glabrata and non-C. glabrata varies. We proposed an algorithm for rapid presumptive diagnosis to identify fungemia with C. glabrata using earlier or only growth from anaerobic bottles and longer time to positivity (TTP) in blood cultures.  Methods: Positivity and TTP using the BacT/Alert 3D system (bioMerieux Inc, USA) with resin bottles (FA Plus and FN Plus) were analyzed in 215 candidemia patients from June 2014 to June 2016 in a university-affiliated hospital in Korea. Results: A higher proportion of earlier or only

Original article PDF Jean Damascene Uwizeyimana1,2,3, Min Kyung Kim1, Daewon Kim1, Jung-Hyun Byun1, Dongeun Yong1 1Department of Laboratory Medicine and Research Institute of Bacterial Resistance, Yonsei University College of Medicine, 2Department of Global Health Security, Yonsei University Graduate of Public Health, Seoul, Korea, 3Department of Emergency Care, Ruli Hospital, Gakenye, Rwanda Corresponding to Dongeun Yong, E-mail: deyong@yuhs.ac Ann Clin Microbiol 2019;22(2):35-41. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2019.22.2.35Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: Respiratory tract infections are major public health threats, and the identification of their causative microbes helps clinicians to initiate timely and appropriate antimicrobial therapy and prevent the secondary spread of infection. The main goal of this study was to compare two multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays used to detect respiratory viral pathogens in nasopharyngeal swab specimens. Methods: Between September and October 2017, a total of 84 nasopharyngeal specimens were obtained consecutively from patients in a tertiary hospital using a flocked