Journal of Korean medical science
-
J. Korean Med. Sci. · Nov 2015
ReviewWho Neglects Neglected Tropical Diseases? - Korean Perspective.
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of tropical infectious diseases of poorest people. Of 17 NTDs managed by WHO, two, guinea worm disease (by 2015) and yaws (by 2020) are targeted for eradication, and four (blinding trachoma, human African trypanosomiasis, leprosy, and lymphatic filariasis) for elimination by 2020. The goals look promising but 11 others are still highly prevalent. ⋯ After the millennium development goals declared disease control over the world, NTDs are becoming less neglected globally. Even with limited resources, beginning a sustainable national program is the key for the control and elimination of NTDs. No more neglect, especially no more self-neglect, can eliminate diseases and upgrade quality of life of the neglected people.
-
Critical (or intensive) care medicine (CCM) is a branch of medicine concerned with the care of patients with potentially reversible life-threatening conditions. Numerous studies have demonstrated that adequate staffing is of crucial importance for patient outcome. Adequate staffing also showed favorable cost-effectiveness in terms of ICU stay, decreased use of resources, and lower re-admission rates. ⋯ The global pandemic episodes in the past decade showed that our society is not well prepared for severe illnesses or mass casualty. To improve CCM in Korea, reimbursement of the government must be amended such that referral hospitals can hire sufficient number of qualified intensivists and nurses. For the government to address these urgent issues, public awareness of the role of CCM is also required.
-
J. Korean Med. Sci. · Nov 2015
ReviewPreserving the Integrity of Citations and References by All Stakeholders of Science Communication.
Citations to scholarly items are building bricks for multidisciplinary science communication. Citation analyses are currently influencing individual career advancement and ranking of academic and research institutions worldwide. This article overviews the involvement of scientific authors, reviewers, editors, publishers, indexers, and learned associations in the citing and referencing to preserve the integrity of science communication. ⋯ Few editorial associations have dealt with the issue of citations and properly managed references. As a prime example, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) issued in December 2014 an updated set of recommendations on the need for citing primary literature and avoiding unethical references, which are applicable to the global scientific community. With the exponential growth of literature and related references, it is critically important to define functions of all stakeholders of science communication in curbing the issue of irrational and unethical citations and thereby improve the quality and indexability of scholarly journals.
-
J. Korean Med. Sci. · Nov 2015
Practice GuidelineApplication of New Cholesterol Guidelines to the Korean Adult Diabetic Patients.
The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) 2013 joint guidelines for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia expand the indications for statin therapy. This study was performed to estimate the numbers of diabetic patients indicated for statin therapy according to the Third Adult Treatment Panel (ATP-III) of the National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines and the new ACC/AHA guidelines in Korea. We analyzed the data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2010-2012. ⋯ The new guidelines would increase the indication for statin therapy for most diabetic patients. At present, many diabetic patients do not receive appropriate statin therapy. Therefore efforts should be made to develop the Korean guidelines and to ensure that more diabetic patients receive appropriate statin therapy.
-
J. Korean Med. Sci. · Nov 2015
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Superspreading Event Involving 81 Persons, Korea 2015.
Since the first imported case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection was reported on May 20, 2015 in Korea, there have been 186 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infection with 36 fatalities. Ninety-seven percent (181/186) of the cases had exposure to the health care facilities. ⋯ As in severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreaks, superspreading events can cause a large outbreak of MERS in healthcare facilities with severe consequences. All healthcare facilities should establish and implement infection prevention and control measure as well as triage policies and procedures for early detection and isolation of suspected MERS-CoV cases.