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Background: The massive outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Daegu city and Gyeongsangbuk-do, Republic of Korea (ROK), caused the exponential increase in new cases exceeding 5000 within 6 weeks. Therefore, the community treatment center (CTC) with a digital health care monitoring system based on the smartphone application and personal health record platform (PHR) was implemented. Thus, we report our experience in one of the CTCs to investigate the role of CTC and the feasibility of the digital health care monitoring system in the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: The Gyeongbuk-Daegu 2 CTC was set up at the private residential facility. Admission criteria were 1) patients < 65 years with COVID-19, 2) patients without underlying medical comorbidities, and 3) COVID-19 disease severity of mild class. Admitted patients were placed under monitoring of vital signs and symptoms. Clinical information was collected using the smartphone application or telephone communication. Collected information was displayed on the PHR platform in a real-time fashion for close monitoring.Results: From Mar 3, 2020, to Mar 26, 2020, there was a total of 290 patients admitted to the facility. Males were 104 (35.9%). The median age was 37 years. The median time between the COVID-19 diagnosis and admission was 7 days. Five patients were identified and were transferred to the designed COVID-19 treatment hospital for their urgent medical needs. The smartphone application usage to report vital signs and symptoms was noted in 96% of the patients. There were no deaths of the patients.Conclusions: Our results suggest that implementation of the CTC using a commercial residence facility and digital health care technology may offer valuable solutions to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Scrub typhus is a mite-borne infectious rickettsial disease that can occur in rural and urban areas, with an especially high prevalence in older populations. This disease causes systemic vasculitis that can invade the central nervous system. Considering these characteristics, here we examined whether scrub typhus was associated with the occurrence of dementia, using large population-based cohort data. Method: This population-based cohort study enrolled patients aged 60–89 years using data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment database of South Korea between 2009 and 2018. We defined scrub typhus and dementia using International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition diagnostic codes. The control group was stratified according to age and sex at a ratio of 1:5 to the case group in the study population. The index date was set after 90 days beyond the date of the scrub typhus diagnosis, while the observation period was from the time of the index appointment to December 31, 2020. The primary outcome was newly diagnosed dementia. The secondary outcome was dementia classification, such as Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, and other. All analyses were conducted by matching age, gender, and comorbidity. Results: During the observation period, 10,460 of 71,047 (14.7%) people who had a history of scrub typhus versus 42,965 of 355,235 (12.1%) people in the control group, that is, with no history of scrub typhus, were diagnosed with dementia (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.12; 95% confidence interval, 1.10–1.15, p < 0.001). The Kaplan–Meier curves for time to cumulative incidence of dementia showed that the dementia incidence in both groups increased over time, while individuals with a past history of scrub typhus had a higher incidence of dementia than the control group. Second, the risk of Alzheimer's disease was significantly higher among patients with a history of scrub typhus (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.15; 95% confidence interval 1.13–1.18, p < 0.001). Conclusion: In conclusion, a history of scrub typhus infection in old age is significantly associated with an increase in dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease. Our results suggest that prevention and appropriate treatment of scrub typhus should be emphasized as a dementia prevention measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite high vaccination coverage, measles outbreaks have been reported in measles elimination countries, especially among healthcare workers in their 20 and 30 s. This study was designed to identify measles-susceptible individuals and to evaluate whether primary or secondary vaccine failure occurred during measles outbreak response immunization (ORI) activities.Methods: The study population was divided into three groups as follows: natural immunity group (Group 1), vaccine-induced immunity group (Group 2), and vaccine failure group (Group 3). We evaluated the immunogenicity of measles among healthcare workers using three methods-enzyme-linked immunoassays, plaque reduction neutralization tests, and avidity assays. The results were assessed at baseline, 4 weeks after, and 6 months after the completion of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination.Results: In total, 120 subjects were enrolled, with 40 subjects in each group. The median age of Group 3 was 29 years, which was significantly lower than that of the other groups. The baseline negative measles virus (MeV) IgG in Group 3 increased to a median value of 165 AU/mL at 4 weeks after ORI and was lower than that in Groups 1 and 2. The median neutralizing antibody titer was highest in Group 1, and this was significantly different from that in Group 2 or Group 3 at 4 weeks (944 vs. 405 vs. 482 mIU/mL, P = 0.001) and 6 months (826 vs. 401 vs. 470, P = 0.011) after ORI. The rates of high MeV avidity IgG were highest in Group 2, and these were significantly different from those in Groups 1 or 3 at 4 weeks (77.5 vs. 90% vs. 88.6%, P = 0.03) and 6 months (81 vs. 94.8 vs. 82.1%, P = 0.01) after ORI.Conclusions: Considering the MeV-neutralizing antibodies and IgG avidity after MMR vaccination in measles-susceptible group, vaccine failure is inferred as secondary vaccine failure, and further data regarding the maintenance of immunogenicity are needed based on long-term data. The MeV-neutralizing antibody levels were highest in the natural immunity group, and the primary vaccine-induced immunity group showed the highest rates of high MeV IgG avidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Studies focusing on pulmonary tuberculosis in advanced age (≥80 years) are lacking. This study aimed to explore treatment delay, outcomes and their predictors in this group.Methods: Adult (≥20 years) patients with pulmonary tuberculosis were identified from the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan from 2004 to 2009. Treatment completion and mortality rates were noted at one year after treatment.Results: Among the 81,081 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis identified, 13,923 (17.2%) were aged ≥80 years, and 26,897 (33.2%) were aged 65-79 years. The treatment completion, mortality rates and treatment delay were 54.8%, 34.7% and 61 (12-128) [median, (1st-3rd quartiles)] days in patients aged ≥80 years, 68.3%, 18.5% and 53 (8-122) days in patients aged 65-79 years, and 78.9%, 6.5% and 21 (1-84) days in patients aged <65 years, respectively. The elder patients were more likely to receive second-line anti-tuberculosis agents. The treatment completion rate decreased with older age, female sex, comorbidities, low income, requiring second-line anti-tuberculosis agents, severity of pulmonary tuberculosis and longer treatment delay. Older age, female sex, comorbidities, low income, and not undergoing rapid molecular diagnostic tests were independently associated with longer treatment delays.Conclusions: Pulmonary tuberculosis in advanced age has a longer treatment delay and a higher mortality rate. Applying rapid molecular diagnostic tools may reduce treatment delay and should be integrated into the diagnostic algorithm for pulmonary tuberculosis, particularly in elderly patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae causes a broad spectrum of illnesses ranging from mild upper respiratory tract infections to invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Quantitative data on the burden of pneumococcal disease, important for the establishment of appropriate vaccination strategies, is currently lacking in adults. Methods: This multicenter, retrospective cohort study was designed to estimate the clinical and economic burden of IPD in adults over the last decade. Data were collected from patients with IPD at 10 university hospitals in South Korea. We estimated the proportion of IPD among all hospitalized patients, the case fatality rate, and the direct medical costs of IPD. Data were further analyzed according to age and risk groups. Results: During the study period, 970 patients with IPD were identified. The mean age for all patients was 60.9 years; patients aged 50-64 years (33.0%) were most numerous, followed by those aged 65-74 years (27.4%). Overall, the proportion of IPD was 0.36 cases/1000 hospitalized patients and the case fatality rate was 30.9%, which increased significantly with age (p < 0.01). The mean direct medical costs were estimated to be US $7,452 without a difference between age and risk groups. On multivariate analysis, old age, advanced ECOG performance status, bacteremic pneumonia, and nosocomial infection were independent risk factors of 30-day case fatality. Conclusions: The clinical disease burden of IPD increased significantly with age and direct medical costs from IPD were substantial, regardless of age and co-morbid conditions. The current age-based vaccination strategy appears to be appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After publication of the original article [1], we were notified that an author's name has been incorrectly spelled. Soon You Kwon's correct full name is Soon Young Kwon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The therapeutic response of cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis (CTBL) may be delayed or paradoxical, with the frequent development of residual lymph nodes (LNs) during and after antituberculous treatment. We investigated the incidence of residual LNs and the clinical, radiological, microbiological, and pathologic responses of patients with CTBL after 6 months of antituberculous therapy.Methods: The medical records of HIV-negative adult patients with CTBL diagnosed between July 2009 and December 2017 were analyzed. After 6 months of first-line antituberculous treatment, computed tomography (CT) scans were conducted to evaluate for residual LNs. Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) was carried out if a patient presented with residual LNs > 10 mm in diameter with central necrosis, peripheral rim enhancement, or perinodal inflammation on CT scan.Results: Residual LNs were detected in 35 of 157 patients who underwent follow-up CT scans and were more commonly observed in younger patients who completed the treatment (mean years ± standard deviation [SD]: 33 ± 13 vs. 44 ± 16, p < 0.001). The recurrence rate was approximately 5%, which was not significantly different in both groups. Among the 15 patients who underwent FNAB, 3 (30%) presented with granuloma, and 2 of 15 and 10 of 14 patients had positive AFB and TB PCR results, respectively. The TB culture results of 15 patients were negative.Conclusions: Residual LNs may still be observed after 6 months of antituberculous treatment. Although the radiologic and pathologic findings after treatment are still indicative of TB, not all residual LNs indicate recurrence or treatment failure. A six-month therapy may be sufficient for cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In addition to seasonal influenza viruses recently circulating in humans, avian influenza viruses (AIVs) of H5N1, H5N6 and H7N9 subtypes have also emerged and demonstrated human infection abilities with high mortality rates. Although influenza viral infections are usually diagnosed using viral isolation and serological/molecular analyses, the cost, accessibility, and availability of these methods may limit their utility in various settings. The objective of this study was to develop and optimized a multiplex detection system for most influenza viruses currently infecting humans.Methods: We developed and optimized a multiplex detection system for most influenza viruses currently infecting humans including two type B (both Victoria lineages and Yamagata lineages), H1N1, H3N2, H5N1, H5N6, and H7N9 using Reverse Transcriptional Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification (RT-LAMP) technology coupled with a one-pot colorimetric visualization system to facilitate direct determination of results without additional steps. We also evaluated this multiplex RT-LAMP for clinical use using a total of 135 clinical and spiked samples (91 influenza viruses and 44 other human infectious viruses).Results: We achieved rapid detection of seasonal influenza viruses (H1N1, H3N2, and Type B) and avian influenza viruses (H5N1, H5N6, H5N8 and H7N9) within an hour. The assay could detect influenza viruses with high sensitivity (i.e., from 100 to 0.1 viral genome copies), comparable to conventional RT-PCR-based approaches which would typically take several hours and require expensive equipment. This assay was capable of specifically detecting each influenza virus (Type B, H1N1, H3N2, H5N1, H5N6, H5N8 and H7N9) without cross-reactivity with other subtypes of AIVs or other human infectious viruses. Furthermore, 91 clinical and spiked samples confirmed by qRT-PCR were also detected by this multiplex RT-LAMP with 98.9% agreement. It was more sensitive than one-step RT-PCR approach (92.3%).Conclusions: Results of this study suggest that our multiplex RT-LAMP assay may provide a rapid, sensitive, cost-effective, and reliable diagnostic method for identifying recent influenza viruses infecting humans, especially in locations without access to large platforms or sophisticated equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae causes a broad spectrum of illnesses ranging from mild upper respiratory tract infections to invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD). Quantitative data on the burden of pneumococcal disease, important for the establishment of appropriate vaccination strategies, is currently lacking in adults.Methods: This multicenter, retrospective cohort study was designed to estimate the clinical and economic burden of IPD in adults over the last decade. Data were collected from patients with IPD at 10 university hospitals in South Korea. We estimated the proportion of IPD among all hospitalized patients, the case fatality rate, and the direct medical costs of IPD. Data were further analyzed according to age and risk groups.Results: During the study period, 970 patients with IPD were identified. The mean age for all patients was 60.9 years; patients aged 50-64 years (33.0%) were most numerous, followed by those aged 65-74 years (27.4%). Overall, the proportion of IPD was 0.36 cases/1000 hospitalized patients and the case fatality rate was 30.9%, which increased significantly with age (p < 0.01). The mean direct medical costs were estimated to be US $7,452 without a difference between age and risk groups. On multivariate analysis, old age, advanced ECOG performance status, bacteremic pneumonia, and nosocomial infection were independent risk factors of 30-day case fatality.Conclusions: The clinical disease burden of IPD increased significantly with age and direct medical costs from IPD were substantial, regardless of age and co-morbid conditions. The current age-based vaccination strategy appears to be appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]