{"title":"Benchmarking Antimicrobial Drug Use: Opportunities and Challenges.","authors":"Song Mi Moon, Hong Bin Kim","doi":"10.3947/ic.2024.0063","DOIUrl":"10.3947/ic.2024.0063","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51616,"journal":{"name":"Infection and Chemotherapy","volume":"56 2","pages":"276-277"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11224038/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141499582","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jiwoo Sim, Euncheol Son, Minsu Kwon, Eun Jin Hwang, Young Hwa Lee, Young June Choe
{"title":"Risk of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Transmission in Seoul, Korea.","authors":"Jiwoo Sim, Euncheol Son, Minsu Kwon, Eun Jin Hwang, Young Hwa Lee, Young June Choe","doi":"10.3947/ic.2022.0167","DOIUrl":"10.3947/ic.2022.0167","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission during the endemic phase may vary from that during the previous pandemic phase. We evaluated the risk of infection in a general population with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a community setting in Korea.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>This study included 1,286 individuals who had been in contact with an index COVID-19 case between January 24, 2020, and June 30, 2022. Variables such as age, sex, nationality, place of contact, level of contact, the status of exposed cases, period, and level of mask-wearing were assessed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among 1,286 participants, 132 (10.30%) were confirmed to have COVID-19. With increasing age, the risk of the exposed persons contracting COVID-19 from index cases tended to increase (<i>P</i> <0.001), especially for people in their 70s (odds ratio, 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-1.40; <i>P</i> <0.001). We found an increasing trend in the risk of a COVID-19 exposed case becoming a secondary infection case (<i>P</i> <0.001) in long-term care facilities where the attack rate was high.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The risk of COVID-19 transmission is high in long-term care facilities where many older adults reside. Intensive management of facilities at risk of infection and strict mask-wearing of confirmed COVID-19 cases are necessary to prevent the risk of COVID-19 infection.</p>","PeriodicalId":51616,"journal":{"name":"Infection and Chemotherapy","volume":" ","pages":"204-212"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11224030/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140289567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Şükran Şahinkaya, Zeynep Ture, Ali Unal, Gamze Kalın Ünüvar, Ayşegül Ulu Kılıç
{"title":"Determination of Risk Factors for Infectious Diarrhea in Patients with Hematological Malignancy.","authors":"Şükran Şahinkaya, Zeynep Ture, Ali Unal, Gamze Kalın Ünüvar, Ayşegül Ulu Kılıç","doi":"10.3947/ic.2023.0102","DOIUrl":"10.3947/ic.2023.0102","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study aimed to determine the risk factors of infectious diarrhea in patients undergoing chemotherapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for hematological malignancies.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>This was a prospective, observational study. Patients in whom the infectious agent was determined by laboratory examination were considered to have infectious diarrhea. Patients with diarrhea were categorized as infectious or unidentified and compared in terms of demographic data, treatments, risk factors, laboratory findings, and prognosis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 838 patients were hospitalized, among which 105 patients who met the inclusion criteria were included (12.5%). The patients were divided into two groups: 67 (63.8%) with unidentified diarrhea and 38 (36.2%) with infectious diarrhea. There were no differences between these groups in terms of age, sex, types of hematological malignancies, and presence of comorbidities. The most commonly isolated microorganism was <i>Clostridioides difficile</i> (12.4%). The rate of corticosteroid use was higher in the group with infectious diarrhea (39.5%) than in the group with unidentified diarrhea (7.5%) (<i>P</i> <0.001). The rate of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF) use was higher in patients with unidentified diarrhea than in patients with infectious diarrhea (67.2% <i>vs.</i> 42.1%, <i>P</i>=0.022). The median duration of diarrhea was 9 (4-10) days in the group with infectious diarrhea and 5 (3-8) days in the group with unidentified diarrhea (<i>P</i>=0.012). According to the multivariate logistic regression model, corticosteroid treatment increased the risk of infectious diarrhea by a 4.75-fold (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.32-17.02) times. Moreover, the duration of diarrhea may result in a 1.15 (95% CI, 1.02-1.31) fold increase in the risk of infectious diarrhea, while GCSF treatment had a 2.84 (1/0.35) (95% CI, 0.12-0.96) fold risk-reducing effect against infectious diarrhea.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Infectious diarrhea lasts longer than unidentified diarrhea in patients with hematological malignancies. Although corticosteroid use is a risk factor for developing infectious diarrhea, GCSF use has a protective effect.</p>","PeriodicalId":51616,"journal":{"name":"Infection and Chemotherapy","volume":" ","pages":"239-246"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11224029/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139974378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ki Hyun Lee, Jinnam Kim, Jung Ah Lee, Chang Hyup Kim, Oh Mi Kwon, Eun Ju You, Hyuk Min Lee, Jung Ho Kim, Su Jin Jeong, Nam Su Ku, Joon-Sup Yeom, Jin Young Ahn, Jun Yong Choi
{"title":"Carbapenem-resistant <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> Outbreak in a COVID-19 Isolation Ward and Successful Outbreak Control with Infection Control Measures.","authors":"Ki Hyun Lee, Jinnam Kim, Jung Ah Lee, Chang Hyup Kim, Oh Mi Kwon, Eun Ju You, Hyuk Min Lee, Jung Ho Kim, Su Jin Jeong, Nam Su Ku, Joon-Sup Yeom, Jin Young Ahn, Jun Yong Choi","doi":"10.3947/ic.2023.0091","DOIUrl":"10.3947/ic.2023.0091","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Even amid the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, the spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria and infection control are still important tasks. After recognizing the carbapenem-resistant <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> (CRAB) outbreak that occurred in the isolation room for COVID-19, we would like to introduce what infection control measures were implemented to eradicate it.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>All COVID-19 patients with CRAB in any specimen admitted to the COVID-19 isolation ward of the tertiary hospital in Korea from October to November 2021 were analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>During the outbreak, 23 patients with COVID-19 and CRAB infections were identified. The index case was an 85-year-old female referred from a long-term care facility. CRAB was identified in sputum culture in most patients (91.3%). The CRAB outbreak occurred mainly in the rooms around the index case. Environmental cultures on the floor, air inlet, air outlet, and window frame of the rooms were performed. The antimicrobial resistance patterns of CRAB from patients and the environment were identical; whole-genome sequencing analyses revealed isolated clonality. Infection control measures with enhanced environmental cleaning using 1,000 ppm sodium hypochlorite and phenolic compounds, enhanced hand hygiene, additional education, and mandatory additional gowning and gloving of COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) were applied on 29 October. No CRAB infection cases occurred from 2 November for two weeks.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>In addition to applying PPE and COVID-19 precautions in COVID-19 isolation wards, adhering to strict contact precautions along with environmental control can help prevent the spread of multidrug-resistant bacteria.</p>","PeriodicalId":51616,"journal":{"name":"Infection and Chemotherapy","volume":" ","pages":"222-229"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11224040/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140855462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reply: Response to Phage Therapy in Korea: A Prescribers' Survey of Attitudes Amongst Korean Infectious Diseases Specialists Towards Phage Therapy.","authors":"Shinwon Lee","doi":"10.3947/ic.2024.0037","DOIUrl":"10.3947/ic.2024.0037","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51616,"journal":{"name":"Infection and Chemotherapy","volume":" ","pages":"280-281"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11224041/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141302003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Pivotal Role of Molnupiravir in Protecting High-Risk Populations in the Endemic Era of COVID-19: Insight from Real-World Evidence.","authors":"Eun-Jeong Joo","doi":"10.3947/ic.2024.0017","DOIUrl":"10.3947/ic.2024.0017","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":51616,"journal":{"name":"Infection and Chemotherapy","volume":" ","pages":"98-100"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10990881/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140289592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jun-Won Seo, Seong Eun Kim, Yoonjung Kim, Eun Jung Kim, Tark Kim, Taehwa Kim, So Hee Lee, Eunjung Lee, Jacob Lee, Yu Bin Seo, Young-Hoon Jeong, Young Hee Jung, Yu Jung Choi, Joon Young Song
{"title":"Updated Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Long COVID.","authors":"Jun-Won Seo, Seong Eun Kim, Yoonjung Kim, Eun Jung Kim, Tark Kim, Taehwa Kim, So Hee Lee, Eunjung Lee, Jacob Lee, Yu Bin Seo, Young-Hoon Jeong, Young Hee Jung, Yu Jung Choi, Joon Young Song","doi":"10.3947/ic.2024.0024","DOIUrl":"10.3947/ic.2024.0024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>\"Long COVID\" is a term used to describe a condition when the symptoms and signs associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) persist for more than three months among patients infected with COVID-19; this condition has been reported globally and poses a serious public health issue. Long COVID can manifest in various forms, highlighting the need for appropriate evaluation and management by experts from various fields. However, due to the lack of clear clinical definitions, knowledge of pathophysiology, diagnostic methods, and treatment protocols, it is necessary to develop the best standard clinical guidelines based on the scientific evidence reported to date. We developed this clinical guideline for diagnosing and treating long COVID by analyzing the latest research data collected from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic until June 2023, along with the consensus of expert opinions. This guideline provides recommendations for diagnosis and treatment that can be applied in clinical practice, based on a total of 32 key questions related to patients with long COVID. The evaluation of patients with long COVID should be comprehensive, including medical history, physical examination, blood tests, imaging studies, and functional tests. To reduce the risk of developing long COVID, vaccination and antiviral treatment during the acute phase are recommended. This guideline will be revised when there is a reasonable need for updates based on the availability of new knowledge on the diagnosis and treatment of long COVID.</p>","PeriodicalId":51616,"journal":{"name":"Infection and Chemotherapy","volume":" ","pages":"122-157"},"PeriodicalIF":4.6,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10990882/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140289593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jimin Kim, Young June Choe, Jungeun Park, Jahyun Cho, Chelim Cheong, Jin-Kyoung Oh, Mihai Park, Eunha Shim, Su-Yeon Yu
{"title":"Comparative Effects of Bivalent, Quadrivalent, and Nonavalent Human Papillomavirus Vaccines in The Prevention of Genotype-Specific Infection: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.","authors":"Jimin Kim, Young June Choe, Jungeun Park, Jahyun Cho, Chelim Cheong, Jin-Kyoung Oh, Mihai Park, Eunha Shim, Su-Yeon Yu","doi":"10.3947/ic.2023.0064","DOIUrl":"10.3947/ic.2023.0064","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is a major global disease burden and the main cause of cervical cancer. Certain HPV genotypes, with are the most common etiologic pathogens and cause a significant disease burden, are being targeted for vaccine development. However, few studies have focused on the comparative effectiveness of the bivalent HPV (2v-HPV), quadrivalent HPV (4v-HPV), and nonavalent HPV (9v-HPV) vaccines against HPV strain-specific infection. This study investigated the comparative effects of these vaccines against genotype-specific infection.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>We conducted a pairwise and network meta-analysis of published randomized clinical trials of HPV vaccines according to sex and HPV infection status for nine HPV genotypes (HPV 6/11/16/18/31/33/45/52/58).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Overall, 10 randomized controlled trials (12 articles) were included in this study. In the network meta-analysis, no statistically significant differences were observed in the prevention of carcinogenic HPV strains (16/18/31/33/45/52/58) between the 2v-HPV and 4v-HPV vaccines in female HPV infection-naïve populations. However, the 9v-HPV vaccine showed a significantly superior effect compared with 2v-HPV and 4v-HPV vaccines in preventing HPV 31/33/45/52/58 infections. Although 2v-HPV and 4v-HPV vaccines provided some cross-protection against HPV 31/33/45/52/58 infections, the effect was significant only on HPV 31 infection. For HPV 16 and 18, neither statistically significant nor small differences were found in the prevention of HPV infection among the 2v-HPV, 4v-HPV, and 9v-HPV vaccines.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Our study complements previous understanding of how the effect of HPV vaccines differs according to the HPV genotype. This is important because HPV genotype prevalence varies among countries. We advocate for continued efforts in vaccinating against HPV, while public health agencies should consider the difference in the vaccine effect and HPV genotype prevalence when implementing HPV vaccination in public vaccination programs.</p>","PeriodicalId":51616,"journal":{"name":"Infection and Chemotherapy","volume":" ","pages":"37-46"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10990884/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138447051","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jun-Sun Park, Jaehyun Jeon, Jihye Um, Youn Young Choi, Min-Kyung Kim, Kyung-Shin Lee, Ho Kyung Sung, Hee-Chang Jang, BumSik Chin, Choon Kwan Kim, Myung-Don Oh, Chang-Seop Lee
{"title":"Magnitude and Duration of Serum Neutralizing Antibody Titers Induced by a Third mRNA COVID-19 Vaccination against Omicron BA.1 in Older Individuals.","authors":"Jun-Sun Park, Jaehyun Jeon, Jihye Um, Youn Young Choi, Min-Kyung Kim, Kyung-Shin Lee, Ho Kyung Sung, Hee-Chang Jang, BumSik Chin, Choon Kwan Kim, Myung-Don Oh, Chang-Seop Lee","doi":"10.3947/ic.2023.0057","DOIUrl":"10.3947/ic.2023.0057","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) is dominating coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide. The waning protective effect of available vaccines against the Omicron variant is a critical public health issue. This study aimed to assess the impact of the third COVID-19 vaccination on immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 strain in older individuals.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>Adults aged ≥60 years who had completed two doses of the homologous COVID-19 vaccine with either BNT162b2 (Pfizer/BioNTech, New York, NY, USA, BNT) or ChAdOx1 nCoV (SK bioscience, Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Korea, ChAd) were registered to receive the third vaccination. Participants chose either BNT or mRNA-1273 (Moderna, Norwood, MA, USA, m1273) mRNA vaccine for the third dose and were categorized into four groups: ChAd/ChAd/BNT, ChAd/ChAd/m1273, BNT/BNT/BNT, and BNT/BNT/m1273. Four serum specimens were obtained from each participant at 0, 4, 12, and 24 weeks after the third dose (V1, V2, V3, and V4, respectively). Serum-neutralizing antibody (NAb) activity against BetaCoV/Korea/KCDC03/2020 (NCCP43326, ancestral strain) and B.1.1.529 (NCCP43411, Omicron BA.1 variant) was measured using plaque reduction neutralization tests. A 50% neutralizing dilution (ND<sub>50</sub>) >10 was considered indicative of protective NAb titers.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In total, 186 participants were enrolled between November 24, 2021, and June 30, 2022. The respective groups received the third dose at a median (interquartile range [IQR]) of 132 (125 - 191), 123 (122 - 126), 186 (166 - 193), and 182 (175 - 198) days after the second dose. Overall, ND<sub>50</sub> was lower at V1 against Omicron BA.1 than against the ancestral strain. NAb titers against the ancestral strain and Omicron BA.1 variant at V2 were increased at least 30-fold (median [IQR], 1235.35 [1021.45 - 2374.65)] and 129.8 [65.3 - 250.7], respectively). ND<sub>50</sub> titers against the ancestral strain and Omicron variant did not differ significantly among the four groups (<i>P</i> = 0.57). NAb titers were significantly lower against the Omicron variant than against the ancestral strain at V3 (median [IQR], 36.4 (17.55 - 75.09) <i>vs.</i> 325.9 [276.07 - 686.97]; <i>P</i> = 0.012). NAb titers against Omicron at V4 were 16 times lower than that at V3. Most sera exhibited a protective level (ND<sub>50</sub> >10) at V4 (75.0% [24/32], 73.0% [27/37], 73.3% [22/30], and 70.6% [12/17] in the ChAd/ChAd/BNT, ChAd/ChAd/m1273, BNT/BNT/BNT, and BNT/BNT/m1273 groups, respectively), with no significant differences among groups (<i>P</i> = 0.99).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>A third COVID-19 mRNA vaccine dose restored waning NAb titers against Omicron BA.1. Our findings support a third-dose vaccination program to prevent the waning of humoral immunity to SARS-CoV-2.</p>","PeriodicalId":51616,"journal":{"name":"Infection and Chemotherapy","volume":" ","pages":"25-36"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10990888/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138447053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shinwon Lee, Stephanie Lynch, Ruby C Y Lin, Heejoon Myung, Jonathan R Iredell
{"title":"Phage Therapy in Korea: A Prescribers' Survey of Attitudes Amongst Korean Infectious Diseases Specialists Towards Phage Therapy.","authors":"Shinwon Lee, Stephanie Lynch, Ruby C Y Lin, Heejoon Myung, Jonathan R Iredell","doi":"10.3947/ic.2023.0067","DOIUrl":"10.3947/ic.2023.0067","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Concerns about the rise in antimicrobial resistance have led to renewed interest in phage therapy worldwide, but perceptions among relevant medical professionals in Korea remain largely unknown.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>We conducted a semi-quantitative online survey to evaluate the Korean infectious disease specialists' perception of phage therapy.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We sent out the link to the questionnaire to 380 subjects and received 91 replies, with 90/91 respondents identifying as Korean infectious diseases specialists or trainees. Ten out of 91 (11.0%) respondents scored themselves as well-informed about phage therapy. The majority (93.4%) of respondents would consider using phage therapy if the safety of the phage formulation is guaranteed, and 80% of respondents would consider participating in clinical trials with phage therapy given adequate support. The biggest concern was uncertainty about safety (73.6%) and efficacy (65.9%). <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> was ranked as a high priority for phage therapy research, as were bone and joint infections.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Korean infectious diseases specialists are receptive to phage therapy, but a better understanding of safety, efficacy and clinical trials are warranted to progress phage therapy within the Korean healthcare system.</p>","PeriodicalId":51616,"journal":{"name":"Infection and Chemotherapy","volume":" ","pages":"57-65"},"PeriodicalIF":4.2,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10990887/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139099209","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}