Journal of Korean medical science
-
J. Korean Med. Sci. · Dec 2020
Cannabidiol for Treating Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome and Dravet Syndrome in Korea.
For the first time in Korea, we aimed to study the efficacy and safety of cannabidiol (CBD), which is emerging as a new alternative in treating epileptic encephalopathies. ⋯ In this first Korean study, CBD was safe and tolerable for use and could be expected to potentially reduce the seizure frequency in pediatric patients with LGS or DS.
-
J. Korean Med. Sci. · Dec 2020
The Serial Interval of COVID-19 in Korea: 1,567 Pairs of Symptomatic Cases from Contact Tracing.
Although coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an ongoing pandemic, the mean serial interval was measured differently across nations. Through the Korean national COVID-19 contact tracing system, we were able to investigate personal contacts in all symptomatic cases in Korea from January 20 to August 3, 2020. ⋯ The mean serial interval before and after this fifth case definition was 6.12 and 3.93 days based on the infectors' symptom onset date, respectively, and 4.02 days in total with the median of 3 days. Older age and women lead to longer serial intervals.
-
J. Korean Med. Sci. · Dec 2020
Risk of COVID-19 Transmission from Infected Outpatients to Healthcare Workers in an Outpatient Clinic.
From January to September 2020, we conducted contact-tracing for confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who visited our outpatient clinic to evaluate the risk of COVID-19 transmission from infected patients to healthcare workers (HCWs). COVID-19 was diagnosed in 8 outpatients. Per the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction test results, none of the 317 HCWs who came in contact had a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis (0.00%; 95% confidence interval, 0.00%-0.01%). This low rate of transmission from infected outpatients to HCWs suggests that standard precaution such as using surgical mask and hand hygiene protects HCWs from SARS-CoV-2 in a low-risk, outpatient clinic setting.
-
J. Korean Med. Sci. · Dec 2020
Exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Stress among the Community-based Urban Pediatric Population in Korea.
This study aimed to investigate the impact of exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and stress among the community-based urban pediatric population in Korea. ⋯ This is the first study of self-reported ACEs from a community-based pediatric population in Korea. We found that the number of the students revealed more than one ACEs was similar to the data in the US community study with self-reporting among the community samples and exposure to adverse experiences is highly correlated with various stress responses.
-
J. Korean Med. Sci. · Dec 2020
Expression of Estrogen Receptor-alpha in Nasal Polyps and the Effects of Dexamethasone on Estrogen Receptor-alpha Expression in RPMI 2650 Cells.
Studies have reported that epithelial cell proliferation may be involved in the pathogenesis of nasal polyps (NPs). Estrogen receptor (ER)-α, one type of ER, is related to anti-inflammatory action and cell survival in certain tissues. In this study, we examined the presence or absence of ER-α in NPs and healthy inferior turbinate mucosae. We also investigated the effect of dexamethasone on ER-α expression, cell viability, and apoptosis in RPMI 2650 cells. ⋯ ER-α expression was higher in NPs than in healthy inferior turbinate mucosae. When RPMI 2650 cells were treated with dexamethasone, ER-α expression was downregulated, cell viability decreased, and apoptosis increased. The decreased cell viability may be related, at least in part, to the decreased ER-α protein levels, which likely contributed to the induction of apoptotic cell death in RPMI 2650 cells.