Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination during Pregnancy

Several vaccines have been developed to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), including messenger Ribonucleic acid (mRNA, Pfizer-BioNtech, and Moderna) and viral vector (AstraZeneca and Janssen) types. Unfortunately, reports of COVID-19 exposure during pregnancy are scarce, as pregnancy and breastfeeding were among the exclusion criteria in the efficacy and safety studies of major COVID-19 vaccines. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently included pregnancy as a risk factor for severe COVID-19 infection, although the absolute risk is low. Previous experience in pregnant women with mRNA vaccines is lacking despite such vaccines not using live viruses, being unable to cause disease, not interacting with an individual's DNA, and being unable to cause genetic mutations. In addition, previous studies in animals have not revealed any safety issues with such vaccine types for female reproduction or fetal development. Vaccine-induced antibody titers were equivalent in pregnant and lactating women versus non-pregnant women. Given the data on increased mortality and morbidity associated with COVID-19 during pregnancy, it may be unethical to withhold vaccinations based on a theoretical risk and a lack of clinical research in this population. Additionally, a careful review of the vaccination recommendations for pregnant women by the academic community and government through additional efficacy and safety studies tailored to the situation in Korea is needed.

Compliance with Respiratory Infection Preventive Behaviors and Its related Factors in Older Adults using a Senior Center

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to identify factors related to compliance with respiratory infection preventive behaviors including hand washing, cough etiquette, and oral hygiene of older adults. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sample of 100 older adults (mean age: 76.11±6.35 years, female: 86.0%). Data were collected from a community senior center through face to face interviews by using instruments including measuring knowledge, perceived threat, self-efficacy, compliance with respiratory infection preventive behaviors. RESULTS: The mean score of knowledge was 7.52 out of 13 in total. The compliance with hand washing with soap was 6.0% for 8 or more times per day. Among the participants, 12.0% adhered to the cough etiquette. Sixty-two older adults (62.0%) didn't use interdental brushes or floss at all. The stepwise linear regression indicated that age and self-efficacy for respiratory infection preventive behaviors were significant factors and explained 24.0% of the compliance with hand washing and the cough etiquette. Education level, cancer diagnosis, and self-efficacy for respiratory infection preventive behaviors were significant predictors of oral hygiene. The factor with the greatest effect was self-efficacy in the two models. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that it is necessary to improve compliance with respiratory infection preventive behaviors among older adults using senior centers. In order to enhance the compliance, it is necessary to develop nursing programs based on the self-efficacy for respiratory infection preventive behaviors in the senior centers.

A Case of Recurrent Pulmonary Inflammatory Myofibroblastic Tumor with Aggressive Metastasis after Complete Resection / 결핵및호흡기질환

An inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare disease entity reported to arise in various organs. It is thought to be a neoplastic or reactive inflammatory condition, controversially. The treatment of choice for myofibroblastic tumor is surgery, and recurrence is known to be rare. The optimal treatment method is not well-known for patients ineligible for surgery. We report a 47-year-old patient with aggressive recurrent IMT of the lungs. The patient had been admitted for an evaluation of back-pain two years after a complete resection of pulmonary IMT. Radiation therapy was performed for multiple bone recurrences, and the symptoms were improved. However the patient presented again with aggravated back-pain six months later. High-dose steroid and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were administered, but the disease progressed aggressively, resulting in spinal cord compression and metastasis to intra-abdominal organs. This is a very rare case of aggressively recurrent pulmonary IMT with multi-organ metastasis.