Journal of Korean medical science
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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.
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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.
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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.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Dec 2020
Establishing a Patient-centered Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship: Early Results from a Single Institution.
Longitudinal integrated clerkships (LICs) have been adopted by medical schools to overcome the limitations of traditional block clerkship rotations and to promote continuity of care. In 2018, Seoul National University College of Medicine introduced a patient-centered LIC program as part of a new curriculum in parallel with traditional block rotation clerkships. The purpose of this study was to present the patient-centered LIC program and to investigate its educational effects. ⋯ Our patient-centered LIC, in parallel with traditional block rotation clerkships, had a positive effect on students' experience of continuity of care and patient-centered care.
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J. Korean Med. Sci. · Dec 2020
Systematic Preventable Trauma Death Rate Survey to Establish the Region-based Inclusive Trauma System in a Representative Province of Korea.
Trauma mortality review is the first step in assessing the quality of the trauma treatment system and provides an important basis for establishing a regional inclusive trauma system. This study aimed to obtain a reliable measure of the preventable trauma death rate in a single province in Korea. ⋯ The preventable trauma death rate was slightly lower in this study than in previous studies, although several problems were noted during inter-hospital transfer; in the hospital stage, more problems were noted at emergency medical care facilities than at regional trauma centers. Further, several opportunities for improvements were discovered regarding bleeding control.