• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2011

Tuberculosis is a disease with high morbidity and mortality in children worldwide. Despite the decrease in the incidence of tuberculosis in Korea, more than 30,000 new patients are diagnosed each year. Active tuberculosis is less frequent in children compared to adults but the risk of miliary tuberculosis and CNS tuberculosis is much higher. The diagnosis of tuberculosis in children and adolescents is difficult due to the nonspecific symptoms upon presentation. Diagnostic work up is based on the confirmation of tuberculosis infection by tuberculin skin test, abnormal radiologic findings, and contact with an adult with active tuberculosis. Anti-tuberculosis medications are prescribed according to the drug susceptibility of the index patient. Latent tuberculosis infection plays an important role in adult tuberculosis by reactivation. Thus, it is critical to accurately diagnose latent tuberculosis in children to prevent reactivation in adulthood. Korean guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in children and adolescents provide evidence based recommendations in the optimal diagnosis and treatment for active and latent tuberculosis in children and adolescents based on the current Korean situation.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.579-589
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• 2002

Since the inception of the National Tuberculosis Control Program in 1962, the incidence of tuberculosis and its associated mortality has declined dramatically due to effective anti-tuberculosis drugs and a systematic control program. The prevalence of radiographically active tuberculosis has fallen from 5.1% in 1965 to 1.0% in 1995. However, tuberculosis is still a major problem, as the mortality rate is still higher compared to other developed countries. Furthermore, tuberculosis is currently re-emerging in HIV/AIDS epidemic countries. In order to lower the tuberculosis death rate to the levels of developed countries, the tuberculosis control efforts in private healthcare institutions and the national tuberculosis control program in the public sector, need to work together more effectively and efficiently. In this paper, the quthor reviewed the current situation regarding tuberculosis management in private healthcare institutions of Korea based on the literature and the National Health Insurance Claim data, and the future tasks of tuberculosis management are suggested.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.350-354
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• 2010

Tuberculosis has re-emerged as serious infectious diseases, and oral tuberculosis, though uncommon, can be seen in both the primary and secondary tuberculosis. The aim of the present review is to describe the pathogenesis of tuberculosis and the characteristics of oral tuberculosis. The oral tuberculosis lesion may present as a diagnostic challenge for the clinician. In particular, the risk of tuberculosis transmission in dental practises is potentially increasing, the dentists and dental providers must exercise strict tuberculosis prevention.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
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• v.35 no.5_6
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• pp.368-368
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• 2000

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.80-90
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• 2022

Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of tuberculosis-related knowledge and family support on medication adherence in tuberculosis patients. Methods: The data were collected from 175 patients diagnosed with tuberculosis at three general hospitals located in two provincial cities in South Korea from September 1 to November 31, 2020. The 160 questionnaires were analyzed using IBM SPSS WIN 25.0. Results: The patients' average score for tuberculosis-related knowledge was 15.85±5.87 (out of 25), for family support it was 22.03±9.20 (out of 35), and for medication adherence it was 5.11±2.68 (out of 8). There were significant differences in tuberculosis-related knowledge, family support, and medication adherence according to patients' general characteristics and significant positive relationships among tuberculosis-related knowledge, family support, and medication adherence. Factors affecting patients' tuberculosis medication adherence were history of stopping the medication, the importance of treatment among tuberculosis-related knowledge and family support, and these factors could explain 78% of patients' taking tuberculosis drugs. Conclusion: It could be concluded that the importance of tuberculosis treatment and family support are very important for improving patients' rates of medication adherence. Therefore, medical staffs caring for tuberculosis patients need to manage patients' medication of tuberculosis drugs with continuous consultation.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.86 no.2
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• pp.94-101
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• 2023

A recent understanding of the dynamic continuous spectrum of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection has led to the recognition of incipient tuberculosis, which refers to the latent infection state that has begun to progress to active tuberculosis. The importance of early detection of these individuals with a high-risk of progression to active tuberculosis is emphasized to efficiently implement targeted tuberculosis preventive therapy. However, the tuberculin skin test or interferon-γ release assay, which is currently used for the diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection, does not aid in the prediction of the risk of progression to active tuberculosis. Thus, a novel test is urgently needed. Recently, simultaneous and systematic analysis of differentially expressed genes using a high-throughput platform has enabled the discovery of key genes that may serve potential biomarkers for the diagnosis or prognosis of diseases. This host transcriptional investigation has been extended to the field of tuberculosis, providing promising results. The present review focuses on recent progress and challenges in the field of blood transcriptional signatures to predict progression to active tuberculosis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.115-119
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• 1992

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.69 no.5
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• pp.331-336
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• 2010

Background: Recently, the rate of infections with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) has been increasing in Korea. Precise identification of NTM is critical to determination of the pathogen and to target treatment of NTM patients. Methods: Sixty-eight unclassified mycobacteria isolates by rpoB PCR-RFLP assay (PRA) collected in 2008 were analyzed by National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) search after sequencing of 16S rRNA, hsp65, rpoB genes. Results: Nineteen strains of 68 isolates were specified as species after sequencing analysis of 3 gene types. We found 3 M. lentifulavum, 5 M. arupense, 4 M. triviale, 4 M. parascrofulaceum, and one M. obuense. One M. tuberculosis and another M. peregrinum were mutated at the Msp I recognition site needed for rpoB PRA. The remaining 49 isolates did not coincide with identical species at the 3 kinds genes. Conclusion: Sequencing analysis of 16S rRNA, hsp65, rpoB was useful for identification of NTM unclassified by rpoB PRA.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.253-262
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• 2022

We aimed to review the current data composition of the Korean Tuberculosis and Post-Tuberculosis Cohort, which was constructed by linking the Korean Tuberculosis Surveillance System (KNTSS; established and operated by the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency since 2000) and the National Health Information Database (NHID; established by the National Health Insurance Service in 2012). The following data were linked: KNTSS data pertaining to patients diagnosed with tuberculosis between 2011 and 2018, NHID data of patients with a history of tuberculosis and related diseases between 2006 and 2018, and data (obtained from the Statistics Korea database) on causes of death. Data from 300 117 tuberculosis patients (177 206 men and 122 911 women) were linked. The rate of treatment success for new cases was highest in 2015 (86.7%), with a gradual decrease thereafter. The treatment success rate for previously treated cases showed an increasing trend until 2014 (79.0%) and decreased thereafter. In total, 53 906 deaths were confirmed among tuberculosis patients included in the cohort. The Korean Tuberculosis and Post-Tuberculosis Cohort can be used to analyze different measurement variables in an integrated manner depending on the data source. Therefore, these cohort data can be used in future epidemiological studies and research on policy-effect analysis, treatment outcome analysis, and health-related behaviors such as treatment discontinuation.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.209-218
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• 1992

Despite the availability of drugs effective in producing a bacteriological cure, tuberculosis presents continuing problems in its control, especially in the developing world. An effective immunotherapy to be used with chemotherapy is urgently required. Intradermal injection of a suspenison of killed Mycobacterium vaccae switches off the tissue-necrotizing component of the Koch phenomenon, and promotes cell-mediated responses to the common, putative protective, mycobacterial antigens. These properties led to the empolyment of the suspension in immunotherapy as an adjunct to chemotherapy in the treatment of both tuberculosis and leprosy. The evidence leading to these conclusions is reviewed.