Due to its high reliability, forensic autopsy data are useful for determining cause of death and studying deaths. This study aimed to analyze deaths resulting from acute intoxication in the Republic of Korea. This study analyzed 448 deaths resulting from acute intoxication using forensic autopsy data. This study analyzed a demographic characteristics, cause and manner of death, and type and blood concentration of the toxic substance. The most common manner of death was a suicide. The most common type of toxic substance was gas, followed by drugs and agrochemicals. The mean blood concentration was 0.417% among acute intoxication deaths due to ethyl alcohol, which was the most common toxic alcohol. Among acute intoxication deaths due to chemicals, nicotine and cyanide were the most common. Among insecticides, organophosphates and carbamates were the most common and, among herbicides, organophosphates were the most common. The most common intoxication drug was zolpidem and, in cases of acute multi-drug intoxication, an average of 2.7 drugs were detected at a blood concentration above the therapeutic range. The mean blood concentration was 68.6% for deaths due to carbon monoxide intoxication. This is the first nationwide study to analyze acute intoxication deaths in the Republic of Korea using autopsy data and shows several points to consider in forensic aspect.

Background: Healthcare-associated infection (HAI) is a crucial factor influencing medical quality. Studies about HAI management situations are rare, especially for the Inner Mongolia region of China. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate management procedures and the overall evaluation of HAI in order to inform HAI management improvement more scientifically. Methods: A questionnaire was used to investigate HAI-related prevention and control indicators in tertiary hospitals in the Inner Mongolia region from July 2018 to June 2019. Results: The survey showed that the mean incidence rate of HAI was 3.79%. The mean rate of hand hygiene compliance of healthcare workers (HCWs), inpatient's antibiotics-use rate, and the detection of the antibiotic ratio before therapy was 54.34%, 34.33%, and 25.40%, respectively. The mean of the surgical site infection (SSI) rate of the level I incision and the preventive antibiotics-use ratio of the level I incision was 1.31% and 28.89%, respectively. The mean of the multi-drug resistant organism (MDRO) infection rate was 0.40% and the mean of the MDRO detection rate was 18.55%. The mean of the central line-associated bloodstream infection rate was 2.24%, the ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) rate was 11.17%, and the catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) rate was 1.95 parts per thousand. As for the overall evaluation, 19 (35.85%) hospitals had a bad grade, 18 (33.96%) hospitals had a medium grade, and 16 (30.19%) hospitals had a good grade. Conclusions: The incidence rate of HAI in tertiary hospitals in the Inner Mongolia region is higher than the national level. Also, the overall evaluation of bad-grade hospitals and their deficiencies should be used as an example to improve the HAI management level.