Original article PDF Woon Bo Heo1, Nan Young Lee1, Kyu Young Jeong2, Won Kil Lee1 Department of Clinical Pathology1, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Taegu; and Department of Laboratory Medicine2, Jeju Joongang Hospital, Jeju, Korea Corresponding to Won Kil Lee, E-mail: leewk@kyungpook.ac.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2006;9(1):7-12.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: TT virus (TTV), isolated initially from a Japanese patient with posttransfusion hepatitis of unknown etiology, was suggested to be a new causative agent of hepatitis. However, it has been found to infect both healthy and diseased individuals and numerous studies have raised questions about its pathogenic role in hepatitis. In order to study its prevalence and clinical impact on hepatitis, we assessed the frequency of TTV DNA. Methods: Serum samples were obtained from 60 cases of the controls, 77 cases of chronic liver diseases, 44 cases of hemodialyzed patients, and 65 cases of transfused patients.

Original article PDF Eun-Ha Koh1, Kook Young Maeng1, Sunjoo Kim1, Hyun ju Jeong2, Nam Yong Lee3 Department of Laboratory Medicine, and Institute of Health Sciences1, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju; Department of Laboratory Medicine2, Masan Medical Center, Masan; and Department of Laboratory Medicine3, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Sunjoo Kim, E-mail: sjkim8239@hanmail.net Ann Clin Microbiol 2006;9(1):51-57.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: The erythromycin (EM) resistance rates and emm genotypes of Streptococcus pyogenes could vary by geographical location and study period. The purpose of this study, involving a large number of children, was to determine EM resistance rate and its resistance mechanism of S. pyogenes, and to compare these results with those of previous studies performed at the same area. Methods: Throat cultures were taken from 2,351 healthy children of four elementary schools from October through December, 2004 in Jinju. A total

Original article PDF Sun Min Lee1 , Eun Joo Song1, Eun Kyoung Yang1, Il Kwon Bae2, Seok Hoon Jeong2, Jeong Man Kim3, Eun Yup Lee1, Chulhun L. Chang1 Department of Laboratory Medicine1, Pusan National University College of Medicine; Department of Laboratory Medicine2, Kosin University College of Medicine; and Department of Laboratory Medicine3, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea Corresponding to Chulhun L. Chang, E-mail: cchl@pusan.ac.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2006;9(1):13-17.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: As clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus with reduced inhibition zone of arbekacin in disk diffusion susceptibility tests are observed frequently, we examined their susceptibility to the antibiotic by comparing the results of the agar dilution testing with those of disk diffusion testing. Methods: During the period of May through July, 2004, 88 isolates of methicillin-resistant and 11 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus were collected from clinical specimens in Pusan National University Hospital and Kosin University Gospel Hospital. Minimal inhibitory

Case report PDF Kyung Ran Jun1, Mi-Sook Jang1, Sook Ja Park1, Mi-Na Kim1, Dong Yoon Kim2, Hungwon Tchah2, Myoung Joon Kim2 Departments of 1Laboratory Medicine and 2Ophthalmology, University of Ulsan College of Medicine and Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Mi-Na Kim, E-mail: mnkim@amc.seoul.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2007;10(1):73-76.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Beauveria bassiana is a hyaline Hypomycetes, which is known as an insect pathogen causing infections in silkworm. It is a rare opportunistic pathogen of human accounted for pulmonary infection, keratitis, and deep tissue infection. We report the first case of B. bassiana keratitis in Korea. A 64-year-old man with a 10-year history of herpetic keratitis was referred for the treatment of infectious keratitis in the right eye. Corneal scrapings showed septate hyaline hyphae on calcoflour white-KOH preparation and their cultures grew B. bassiana. At the beginning, the patient was treated empirically with an antiviral and antibiotics, and then the treatment was changed with

Original article PDF So Young Kim, Gayoung Lim, Min Jin Kim, Jin Tae Suh, Hee Joo Lee Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Hee Joo Lee, E-mail: leehejo@khmc.or.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2009;12(4):163-168.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: Blood culture is the definitive method for the diagnosis and treatment of bacteremia and fungemia. Analysis of blood cultures positive for pathogenic species and trends in antimicrobial susceptibility can help delineate appropriate and experimental treatment strategies. In this study, we investigated the incidence of pathogenic species and trends in antimicrobial susceptibility in blood cultures collected from 2003 to 2007 to help clinicians to determine the best methods of diagnosis and treatment. Changes between previously published analyses and this study were also investigated. Methods: Five-year blood culture results obtained at Kyung Hee University Hospital between 2003 and 2007 were analyzed to determine the

Original article PDF In-Suk Kim1, Eun-Ha Koh1, Sunjoo Kim1, Kook Young Maeng1, Hyun Ju Jung2 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Health Sciences, 1Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju, 2Masan Medical Center, Masan, Korea Corresponding to Sunjoo Kim, E-mail: sjkim8239@hanmail.net Ann Clin Microbiol 2010;13(1):14-18. https://doi.org/10.5145/KJCM.2010.13.1.14Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: The Streptococcus pneumoniae urinary antigen test (SPUAT) (Binax Now, USA) was developed for detecting polysaccharide C in urine samples for rapid diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia, the most common cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). To validate positive results of these tests, we retrospectively investigated all positive results obtained from the emergency room of a Korean university hospital among patients with suspected CAP.  Methods: One hundred twenty-three positive SPUAT results were abstracted and analyzed from the authors’ laboratory information system among the SPUAT results performed from 1,143 pneumonic patients admitted from the emergency room of a university hospital

Original article PDF Eui-Chong Kim1, Eun-Ha Koh2, Sunjoo Kim2, Jung-Oak Kang3, Jae-Seok Kim4, Jeong Hwan Shin5, Nam Yong Lee6, Joseph Jeong7, Ji-Hyun Cho8 Chulhun L. Chang9, Young Ree Kim10 Department of Laboratory Madicine, 1Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, 2Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju, 3Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, 4Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, 5Inje University College of Medicine, Busan, 6Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, 7University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, 8Wonkwang University Medical School, Iksan, 9Pusan National University School of Medicine, Yangsan, 10Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea Corresponding to Sunjoo Kim, E-mail: sjkim8239@hanmail.net Ann Clin Microbiol 2011;14(3):85-90. https://doi.org/10.5145/KJCM.2011.14.3.85Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is responsible for a wide spectrum of human diseases. We investigated the distribution of emm types and antibiotic resistance rates of GAS from clinical specimens in several Korean medical

Case report PDF Young In Kim1, Kyoung Un Park2, Il Joong Park1, Seo-Jin Park1, Wee Gyo Lee1 Department of Laboratory Medicine, 1Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, 2 Seoul National University, Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Korea Corresponding to Wee Gyo Lee,, E-mail: weegyo@ajou.ac.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2011;14(2):79-82. https://doi.org/10.5145/KJCM.2011.14.2.79Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Listeria grayi is a catalase-positive, non-spore forming, and glucose-fermenting Gram-positive rod. L. grayi is widely distributed in environments such as soil, water and fresh food. Human infection by L. grayi is very rare, and there have been no cases reported in Korea, and only two cases worldwide. Dermabacter hominis is a relatively new species belonging to the coryneform bacteria and is a component of the normal human skin flora. D. hominis is a non-motile, glucose-fermenting, Gram-positive rod that has similar biochemical characteristics to L. grayi. The authors of the present study report a case initially misidentified