Original article PDF Jung-Hee Lee, M.S.¹,², Byoung-Yoon Ahn, Ph.D.², Sung-Hwan Ban, M.D.³, Sang-Hyun Kim, M.D.³, and Eui-Chong Kim, M.D.¹,⁴ Virus Research Center, Clinical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital¹; Graduate School of Natural Resources, Korea University²; Department of Pediatrics, Kumi Hospital, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Kumi³; Department of Clinical Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine⁴, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Eui-Chong Kim, E-mail: euichong@plaza.snu.ac.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2000;3(2):121-131.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: The determination of serotype of enteroviruses is useful for the discrimination between sporadic and epidemic infections. The conventional serotyping method is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Recently, molecular method was introduced for the serotyping of enteroviruses. The aim of this study was to establish a method to isolate and analyze enteroviruses from various specimens utilizing molecular biological techniques and to determine which strains were phylogenetically related to clinical samples. Methods: Clinical samples in this study

Case report PDF Jun Wan Park, M.D., Hae Shim Choi, M.T., and Eui Chong Kim, M.D. Department of Clinical Pathology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Eui Chong Kim Ann Clin Microbiol 2000;3(1):75-78.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants (SCVs) are frequently auxotrophic for hemin, menadione, thiamine, and CO₂ involved in biosynthesis of the electron transport chain element. This phenotype grows slowly, and forms very small, nonhemolytic colonies in routine culture, so it may be led to the misidentification of this organism. We isolated an organism with catalase-positive, gram-positive cocci in cluster from the urine of a 55-years-old woman with persistent and relapsing bladder stone, who had undergone the antibiotic treatment with cefotaxime, ceftizoxime, amikacin, and/or micromoncin, intermittently for three years. The possibility of SCVs should have been ruled out because this organism didn’t grow on Mueller-Hinton agar (MHA) for the

Original article PDF Chulhun L. Chang, M.D., Tae Hee Park, M.D., Joseph Jeong, M.D., Hyung Hoi Kim, M.D. and Weon Joo Hwang, M.T.* Department of Clinical Pathology, College of Medicine, Pusan National University, Department of Clinical Pathology, Pusan National University Hospital*, Pusan, Korea Corresponding to Chulhun L. Chang, E-mail: cchl@hyowon.cc.pusan.ac.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2000;3(1):53-56.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: The purpose of this study was to discover ways to screen urine culture specimens through Gram stains, urine stick analyses and microscopic examinations for the laboratory cost saving. Methods: One hundred and fifty-eight urine specimens for culture were included. Fifty uL of urine were inoculated onto one well each of 10-well slide, dried on the hot plate, and Gram-stained. The results combined with routine urinalyses including urine nitrite and leukocyte esterase, and pyuria, were compared with the routine culture results. Results: The screening of bacteriuria by Gram stains,

Original article PDF Hee Bong Shin*, Seok Hoon Jeong**, Myeungsuk Kim***, Won Ho Kim****, Kyungwon Lee*, and Yunsop Chong* Departments of Clinical Pathology* and Internal Medicine****, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Departments of Clinical Pathology***, Severnce Hospital, Seoul, Korea Departments of Clinical Pathology, College of Medicine, Kosin University**, Busan, Korea Corresponding to Kyungwon Lee, E-mail: leekcp@yumc.yonsei.ac.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2001;4(2):87-95.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: Diarrheal disease has been one of the most common health problem in Korea with Salmonella and Shigella being the major bacterial pathogens. Prevalence of enteric bacterial pathogens may differ significantly depending on the socioeconomic status of a country. Therefore, rapid improvement of living conditions in Korea should have profound effect on the incidence of enteric infection. In some Salmonella infections, proper antimicrobial treatment is important to reduce morbidity and mortality, but rapid change of the susceptibility makes the susceptibility unpredictable. So, there is a need to

Original article PDF Gyu Yel Hwang, Young Uh, Hyun-Joo Kim, In Ho Jang, and Kap Jun Yoon Department of Clinical Pathology, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea Corresponding to Young Uh Ann Clin Microbiol 2001;4(1):62-66.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background : Accurate detection of extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) is important because ESBLs producing organisms may appear susceptible to oxyimino-β-lactams in standard susceptibility tests, but are considered to be clinically resistant to these drugs. Conventional antimicrobial susceptibility test methods do not reliably detect ESBL production. Molecular techniques and NCCLS broth dilution method, which detect ESBL production, may be time consuming, expensive and technically difficult to perform. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical usefulness of NCCLS ESBL phenotypic confirmatory test by disk diffusion method. Methods : For 96 Escherichia coli and 49 Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates collected between December 2000 to February 2001, double disk synergy test, NCCLS

Original article PDF Yeong Sic Kim, Yong Hyun Jo, Hee Joo Lee, Jin Tae Suh, and Young Ja Lee* Department of Clinical Pathology, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea Becton Dickinson Korea* Corresponding to Yeong Sic Kim, E-mail: yeongsic@yahoo.co.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2001;4(1):58-61.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: It takes long time to cultivate Mycobacterium tuberculosis on solid media from clinical specimens. Although there is progress in the detection of tuberculosis using liquid media, Ogawa media is broadly used in Korea. In the 1990s, the BACTEC 460 system (Becton Dickinson, Sparks, MD, USA) was used in some laboratories in Korea, but at present, it is not used because of the accumulation of radioactive waste and the risk of cross-contamination. The BACTEC MGIT 960 system (Becton Dickinson, Sparks, MD, USA) is one of the new systems using liquid media. MGIT system uses oxygen-quenching fluorescence sensor technology instead of

Original article PDF Wonkeun Song, M.D., Tae Jae Lee, M.T., Seung Joo Kim, R.N.*, Min-Jeong Park, M.D., and Kyu Man Lee, M.D. Departments of Clinical Pathology and Infection Control Office*, University of Hallym College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Wonkeun Song, E-mail: swonkeun@netsgo.com Ann Clin Microbiol 2001;4(1):45-51.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is the most common nosocomial pathogen, which is particularly prevalent in intensive care units (ICUs). We performed this study to investigate the modes of transmission of MRSA and the role of nasal carriage of MRSA to subsequent MRSA infection in ICU. Methods: From September to November 1997, all patients admitted for more than two days to the ICU were studied prospectively. Nasal swabs were obtained at admission and weekly during the ICU stay. Surveillance cultures of nares of the ICU personnels were done. Molecular typing was performed with repetitive sequence-based PCR (rep-PCR).

Original article PDF In Ki Paik, M.D., Yong Soon Kim, M.D., Won Chang Shin*, M.D., and Jin Ho Lee*, M.D. Department of Clinical Pathology & Internal Medicine*, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to In Ki Paik, E-mail: ikpaik@sanggyepaik.or.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2001;4(1):11-15.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Backgrounds : Culture of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) from gastric biopsy specimens is a standard method with high specificity among H. pylori diagnostic tools and is also essential for antibiotic susceptibility test. The authors compared 5 selective media for H. pylori culture and tested fresh human serum instead of fresh animal blood as a media composite. Methods : Gastric biopsy specimens from endoscopic examination were obtained from 50 patients (gastric ulcer:33, duodenal ulcer:12, stomach cancer:5) and they were finely minced with a tissue grinder. Specimens were inoculated onto 5 media (1. Columbia agar with 5% sheep blood, 2. Columbia agar with 10% human serum,

Original article PDF Jeong Man Kim, Seok Hoon Jeong,*,*****, Bit Na Kim,*, Ji Hyun Sung,**, Jong Chul Kim,***, Hyunjung Jang,**** Department of Clinical Pathology, Dong-A University College of Medicine; Departments of Clinical Pathology*, Hospital Infection Control**, and Urology***, Kosin University College of Medicine; SJ-Hightech Co., Ltd.****, Busan; Research Institute of Bacterial Resistance*****, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Seok Hoon Jeong, E-mail: kscpjsh@ns.kosinmed.or.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2002;5(2):97-104.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: Among Enterobacter spp. isolates from clinical specimens in Korea, the incidence of resistance to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins is becoming an ever-increasing problem. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of expanded-spectrum cephalosporins-resistant Enterobacter spp. isolates from patients in a tertiary care hospital in Busan, Korea, and to characterize the mechanism of resistance. Materials and Methods: Nonduplicated clinical isolates of Enterobacter spp. were collected during the period of 1999-2000 in Kosin Medical Center, Busan, Korea. Antimicrobial susceptibilities were tested

Original article PDF Dongeun Yong, M.D.,* Hyuk Min Lee, M.D.,* Jong Ha Ryu, M.D.,* Kyung Ho Roh, M.D.,* Won Ho Kim, M.D.,**,*** Kyungwon Lee, M.D.,*,*** and Yunsop Chong, M.D. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Research Institute of Bacterial Resistance,* Department of Internal Medicine,** and Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Sciences,*** Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea Corresponding to Kyungwon Lee, E-mail: leekcp@yumc.yonsei.ac.kr Ann Clin Microbiol 2002;5(2):124-128.Copyright © Korean Society of Clinical Microbiology. Abstract Background: C. difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD), the most frequently identified cause of nosocomial diarrhea, results from the overgrowth of cytotoxin (toxin B)-producing strains. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quantitative culture of Clostridium difficile to improve the laboratory diagnosis of CDAD. Methods: The quantitative culture and cytotoxin gene results were evaluated based on the findings of colonoscopy and/or histology of the biopsy specimens. Results: Among the 402 specimens with cytotoxin-positive isolates, 301 (74.9%) contained ≥106 CFU/mL of C. difficile.