Review article Banseok Kim , Young Ah Kim Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea Ann Clin Microbiol 2026;29(3):13. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2026.29.3.13Received on 29 April 2026, Revised on 18 August 2026, Accepted on 26 August 2026, Published on 20 September 2026.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: Early identification of high-risk patients for severe Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is critical for timely intervention. This study evaluated antecedent factors associated with severe CDI while minimizing potential circular reasoning and reverse causality from post-diagnostic clinical course variables. Methods: In this 10-year retrospective cohort study (2014–2023) at National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, a Korean referral hospital, 908 consecutive adult inpatients with confirmed toxigenic CDI were enrolled. The patients were categorized as having severe (n = 485) or

Brief communication Changseung Liu1, Young Hee Seo2, Kyoung Ho Roh3, Hyukmin Lee2, Kyungwon Lee2,4 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Gangneung Asan Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Gangneung, Korea2Department of Laboratory Medicine and Research Institute of Bacterial Resistance, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea3Department of Laboratory Medicine, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea4Seoul Clinical Laboratories Academy, Yongin, Korea Correspondence to Kyoung Ho Roh E-mail: director.roh@gmail.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2026;29(2):8. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2026.29.2.8Received on 10 April 2026, Revised on 27 May 2026, Accepted on 7 June 2026, Published on 20 June 2026.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 Azithromycin-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae poses a threat to the efficacy of gonorrhea treatment. We report the whole-genome characterization of two azithromycin-resistant N. gonorrhoeae ST1600 isolates collected in Busan, South Korea, in 2018

Original article Young Ah Kim1, Jae Kwang Lee2, Hee Kyoung Choi3 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, 2Research Center, 3Department of Infectious Disease, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea Correspondence to Young Ah Kim, E-mail: yakim@nhimc.or.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2025 December;28(4):20. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2025.28.4.1Received on 22 July 2025, Revised on 21 October 2025, Accepted on 23 October 2025, Published on 20 November 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/). Abstract Background: Diagnostic tests are essential for accurate disease identification and monitoring treatment responses. This study aimed to assess the factors influencing the requests for microbial diagnostic tests in patients with various infections. Methods: Using tailored data from the National Health Insurance Big Data, we examined the usage patterns of microbiological tests among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and major bacterial infections between 2020

Original article Young Ah Kim1, Jaekwang Lee2, Sunmin Lee3 Departments of 1Laboratory Medicine, 2Research and Analysis, 3Pulmonology Medicine, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea Correspondence to Young Ah Kim, E-mail: yakim@nhimc.or.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2025;28(3):12. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2025.28.3.1Received on 17 March 2025, Revised on 12 May 2025, Accepted on 15 May 2025, Published on 24 July 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/). Abstract Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has pushed back years of progress that essential tuberculosis (TB) medical services provided in reducing the burden of TB. This study evaluated the clinical impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB management based on treatment discontinuation and mortality rates. Methods: Two time intervals were included in this study: before the spread of COVID-19 (2018–2019) and during the pandemic phase of COVID-19

Original article Kwangjin Ahn1, Hyunju Choi1, Taesic Lee2, Young Uh1 1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea2Department of Family Medicine, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea Correspondence to Young Uh, E-mail: u931018@yonsei.ac.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2025;28(2):7. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2025.28.2.1Received on 4 March 2025, Revised on 7 April 2025, Accepted on 14 April 2025, Published on 19 May 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/). Abstract Background: Identifying Bacillus spp. and performing antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is challenging because of their diversity and limited clinical laboratory resources. We investigated the isolation frequency and antimicrobial susceptibility of Bacillus spp. over a 4-year period. Methods: Bacillus isolates collected between 2020 and 2024 were identified using matrixassisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry, and AST was performed using

Review article Young Bok Lee, Mingyu Kim, Dong Soo Yu Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Young Bok Lee, E-mail: lyb80@catholic.ac.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2025;28(1):1. https://doi.org/10.5145/ACM.2025.28.1.1Received on 9 October 2024, Revised on 28 November 2024, Accepted on 29 November 2024, Published on 30 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 Cutaneous dermatophyte infections, dermatophytosis, are common worldwide, affecting various age groups and body parts. Despite advancements in antifungal therapies, the prevalence of dermatophytosis continues to increase, posing significant challenges for diagnosis and treatment. This review provides an overview of the prevalence, clinical features, and diagnostic methods for dermatophytosis in Korea. A comprehensive review of domestic reports and research on dermatophytosis in Korea was conducted using data from KoreaMed. This study