The need for evidence-based decision making in immunization programs has increased due to the presence of multiple health priorities, limited human resources, expensive vaccines, and limited funds. Countries should establish a group of national experts to advise their Ministries of Health. So far, many nations have formed their own National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs). In the Republic of Korea,... |
Compared to the past decades, in recent decades, environmental and hygienic conditions in the Republic of Korea have improved along with socioeconomic developments, and the incidence of most infectious diseases, especially vaccine-preventable diseases, has greatly decreased due to active immunization with the developed level of health care. However, the incidence of some diseases has been increasing, and new diseases have... |
In the current era of low-birth rate in Korea, it is important to improve our neonatal intensive care and to establish an integrative system including a regional care network adequate for both high-risk pregnancies and high-risk newborn infants. Therefore, official discussion for nation-wide augmentation, proper leveling, networking, and regionalization of neonatal and perinatal care is urgently needed. In this report,... |
In order to care for an ill or injured child, it is crucial that every emergency department (ED) has a minimum set of personnel and resources because the majority of children are brought to the geographically nearest ED. In addition to adequate preparation for basic pediatric emergency care, a comprehensive, specialized healthcare system should be in place for a critically-ill... |
Neonatal mortality rate (NMR) or infant mortality rate (IMR) are the rate of deaths per 1,000 live births at which babies of either less than four weeks or of one year of age die, respectively. The NMR and IMR are commonly accepted as a measure of the general health and wellbeing of a population. Korea's NMR and IMR fell significantly... |
An anthropometric survey is one of the most important approaches to use when evaluating the health status of children. Secular trends in body sizes, such as height, weight, head circumference, chest circumference, and body mass index showed significant changes over 40 years in Korea. A series of periodic surveys were conducted in 1967, 1975, 1985, 1997, and 2005 by the... |
Although Korean population has been growing steadily during the past four decades, the nation is rapidly becoming an aging society because of its declining birth rate combined with an increasing life expectancy. In addition, Korea has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world due to fewer married couples, advanced maternal age, and falling birth rate. The prevalence of... |
Few studies have been conducted on the recent status of infectious mononucleosis (IM) in Korean children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the recent trend in the clinical manifestations of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated IM as well as the clinical differences according to age. A retrospective study was performed on 81 children hospitalized with EBV-associated IM who fulfilled the serological... |
With the Westernization and opening of our society, adolescents' smoking is increasing and being popularized. Many adolescents start smoking at an early age out of curiosity and venturesomeness, and earlier start of smoking makes it more difficult to quit smoking. Adolescents' habitual smoking not only becomes a gateway to all kinds of substance abuse but also causes various health problems... |
During the adolescent period, they experience rapid physical, emotional, cognitive developments while they establish their lifestyle and habitual routines that strongly influence adult health and life. Recent rapid economic growth in Korea, and the earlier onset of physical, sexual, and psychological maturation of adolescents, has resulted in changes in the health status of adolescents from many years ago. Risk-taking behaviors... |
Multiple psychosocial problems and many chronic diseases of adulthood can be influenced by adolescent nutritional problems. In Korea, adolescent obesity and obesity related health risks have been increased and insufficient intakes of nutrients, such as calcium, iron and potassium, and distorted thinking about obesity are also common. However there are no comprehensive countermeasure because of the excessive burden of studies... |
This study investigates Korean speech sound development, including articulatory error patterns, among the Japanese-Korean children whose mothers are Japanese immigrants to Korea. The subjects were 28 Japanese-Korean children with normal development born to Japanese women immigrants who lived in Jeonbuk province, Korea. They were assessed through Computerized Speech Lab 4500. The control group consisted of 15 Korean children who lived in... |
Dengue fever occurs in many popular tourist destinations and is increasingly imported by returning travelers in Korea. Since Korea is not an endemic country for dengue fever, pediatricians do not usually suspect dengue fever in febrile children even with typical presentation and exposure history. This study was performed to describe the international travel experiences and dengue fever in Korean children. Travel... |
A brain abscess is a serious disease of the central nerve system. We conducted this study to summarize the clinical manifestations and outcomes of brain abscesses. A retrospective chart review of pediatric patients diagnosed with brain abscesses from November 1994 to June 2009 was performed at Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. Twenty-five patients were included in this study. On average, 1.67 cases... |
The number of long-term survivors is increasing in the western countries due to remarkable improvements in the treatment of childhood cancer. The long-term complications of childhood cancer survivors in these countries were brought to light by the childhood cancer survivor studies. In Korea, the 5-year survival rate of childhood cancer patients is approaching 70%; therefore, it is extremely important to undertake... |
Purpose:Results of the Korea National Health Screening Program for Infants and Children, which was launched in November 2007, were evaluated for future research and policy development. Methods:Data from a total of 2,729,340 cases were analyzed. Five visiting ages, such as 4, 9, 18, 30, and 60 months, were included. Several parameters such as stunting, obesity, and positive rate of developmental... |
Purpose : Recent changes in the population structure of Korea, such as rapid decline in birth rate and exponential increase in old-aged people, prompted us to prepare a new health improvement program in children and adolescents. Methods : We reviewed current health screenings applied for children and adolescents in Korea and other developed countries. We collected and reviewed population-based data... |
Purpose : This study compares the maternal characteristics and birth outcomes of infants of Asian immigrant mothers from developing countries with those of the infants of Korean mothers. Methods : In this multicenter and retrospective study, Asian immigrant women who had delivered between January 2005 and June 2008 were enrolled from9 Medical Centers. In all, 333 births to Asian immigrant... |
Purpose : We aimed to compare the effectiveness of 2 developmental tests-Korean Infant and Child Development Test (KICDT) and Korean Bayley Scale of Infant Development-II (K-BSID-II)-in the assessment of children with developmental delay. Methods : Twenty-eight children with suspected developmental delay, who visited the Department of Pediatrics in Asan Medical Center from February 2007 to June 2008 were enrolled. They were... |
Meningococcal infections can be associated with abnormalities of the complement system, which contains 5 terminal complement proteins. Furthermore, deficiencies in 1 of these 5, complement component 7 (C7), leads to the loss of complement lytic function, and affected patients show increased susceptibility to recurrent meningococcal meningitis and systemic Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection. In September 2003, an 11-year-old female patient presented at... |
Neurodevelopmental outcomes of very low birth weight infants (VLBWI) and extremely low birth weight infants (ELBWI) in Korea on 14 reports from 1984 to 2008 were analyzed. Follow-up rates were varied from 42.9% to 90.2%. Duration of follow-up ranged from 4 months to 5 years. The prevalence of cerebral palsy (CP) of VLBWI was as follows: 4.3-5.3% in 1980s, 7.1-9.1... |
Purpose : This study aimed to estimate age- and gender-specific cut points for metabolic syndrome (MS) components, including body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and glucose. Methods : Data from the 1998, 2001, and 2005 Korean NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) were analyzed (n=4164; 2,139 boys and 2,025 girls, aged 10-19 years).... |
National Immunization Program (NIP) in korea is regulated by government for effective prevention of infectious diseases since 1954. But the program is only performed in public health center, so many people had various complaints such as inconvenience to use public center, high cost when vaccinated in private medical organization and lack of speciality and registration etc. In this reason, it... |
Purpose : This study aims to estimate the financial cost of rotavirus infection in Korea in the year of 2005. Methods : The incidence rates used were from the epidemiological profile at Jeoungeub District (5.8 cases/1,000 children <5 years old for inpatients, and 22.65 cases/1,000 children <5 years old for outpatients, per year). The health care cost per capita of rotavirus... |
Familial hypokalemic periodic paralysis (hypoPP) is a rare inherited channelopathy that often presents with episodic weakness accompanied by hypokalemia. Thus far, mutations in the gene encoding two ion channels (CACNL1A3, L-type calcium channel alpha-1 subunit and SCN4A, a sodium channel type IV alpha subunit) have been identified. Several cases of familial hypoPP in children have been reported in Koreans, but... |
Korea is now classified as an area of intermediate endemicity for hepatitis B virus (HBV), due to the implementation of universal HBV vaccination and national preventive programs for HBV infection. A national program of HBV vaccination was launched in Korea in 1988 for school-going children and was listed on a vaccination guideline in 1991. In 1995, universal vaccination for newborn... |
Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) develops in genetically susceptible individuals as a result of progressive autoimmune destruction of beta cells. There is a large global variation in incidence among children aged 0-14 years. The incidence of T1DM in Korea is very low. The latest survey in Korea was conducted in 2001 by the Korean Society of Pediatrics to analyze ... |
The prevalence of obesity in Korean children is estimated to be around 10%, and has increased significantly over the past 20 years. Metabolic syndrome, which includes central obesity, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and hypertension, is a well documented risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, but there is no general consensus concerning its definition for children. In this study, ablut 30-40%... |
Committee for pediatric subspecialty board certification of the Korean Pediatric Society (KPA) was established for the subspecialty certification and formal training programs in 2005. Pediatric allergy and pulmonology was the first pediatric subspecialty among 9 subdivisions of KPA to petition for the certification in 2006, and 7 additional subdivisions of KPA, pediatric cardiology, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, pediatric... |
Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute, self-limited vasculitis of unknown etiology that occurs predominantly in infants and young children. Initially described in 1967 by Dr. Tomisaku Kawasaki, it is now the most common cause of acquired heart disease among children in developed nations. Although KD has been reported across all racial and ethnic groups, the incidence of KD is more... |