Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases

Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) associated with hospital acquired infections are extensively-drug resistant (XDR), making treatment problematic. Understanding the genetic epidemiology of XDR -Kp can determine their potential to be hypervirulent (hv) through the presence of siderophores. We characterized genomes of 18 colistin-resistant XDR-Kp isolated from 14 patients with complicated urinary tract infection in an Indian healthcare facility. 18 organisms comprised STs: ST14 (9/18), ST147 (5/18), ST231 (2/18), ST2096 (1/18), and ST25 (1/18)...

Equine botulinum antitoxin is one of the most popular countermeasures for human botulism. The unitage of the antitoxin product is defined according to national minimum requirement or pharmacopoeia in each country by referring to national standard antitoxins for four types (A, B, E, and F). With the expected depletion of the national standard antitoxins, replacement national standard antitoxins are produced and standardized through collaboration of the National Control Laboratory and other participants, including manufacturer(s)...

This study investigated the role of genetic variant rs8177374 in MAL/TIRAP gene in mediating the cytokine levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-10 and TGF-β in malaria patients due to P. falciparum or P. vivax infection. The study included human blood samples of malaria patients (n=228) and healthy controls (n=226). P. falciparum and P. vivax groups were established based on the causative species of Plasmodium. Malaria samples were divided into mild and severe malaria groups based on symptoms appeared in patients as per WHO criteria...

To demonstrate the transmission cycle of Shimokoshi type Orientia tsutsugamushi in Shimane prefecture, field rodents were captured from areas where four human infections caused by the pathogen were reported. The rodents were investigated for the transmission cycle of the pathogen based on the pathogen's genome, antibodies against the pathogen, and vector of the pathogen (Leptotrombidium palpale). In addition, the vector was captured from soil of the study areas. A total of 44 rodents was captured. No DNA of O...

Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium has recently emerged worldwide as a producer of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBLs). However, such resistant clinical isolates are still rare in Japan. The common types of ESBLs found are the CTX-M type β-lactamases, including novel ones such as CTX-M-64. CTX-M-64 has a chimeric structure that is a combination of the CTX-M-1 and CTX-M-9 groups. In 2017, S. Typhimurium was isolated from cultures of stool, blood, and urine of an 82-year-old man...

In the present study, 26 Staphylococcus aureus strains, including 16 methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and 10 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), which were collected from eight medical institutions in Chiba Prefecture that requested toxin gene analysis from 2015 to 2021, were analyzed. A total of 14 Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) positive strains were identified, including one of MSSA. PVL-positive strains were classified into seven types based on polymerase chain reaction-based open reading frame typing (POT)...

The aim of this study was to determine influencing factors including regular financial social support program on tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes and success rates. TB patients registered 2018-2019 were included for this retrospective cohort study. We classified into two groups as those who received financial support for at least one month and those who did not. A total of 22867 patients were included in the study, 5033 of whom received financial social support and 17834 of whom did not. The success rate was 11...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) infection caused communicable disease tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of ill health and one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Protein encoded by region of deletion (RD) of M.tb mediated the pathogenic properties of M.tb through inducing inflammation response or disrupting host cell metabolism. We cloned and purified Rv2653 protein from RD13 to explore its regulatory effect on host macrophages. We found Rv2653 protein promoted the glycolysis level and upregulated the expression of glycolytic key enzymes HK2 and LDHA of THP1 cells...

The use of the novel inflammatory indicator-systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII)-in pediatric patients with bronchiolitis remains unreported. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship between the SII and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and non-RSV bronchiolitis and clinical severity prediction. This study analyzed the data of 155 patients aged <2 years hospitalized with viral bronchiolitis due to RSV and/or other viral pathogens. The SII [platelet count×(neutrophil/lymphocyte)] value was calculated and compared among patients with RSV monoinfection, other viral monoinfections, and RSV coinfections...

Most children acquire HIV infection as a result of mother to child transmission (MTCT). The risk of MTCT of HIV is generally estimated at between 15 and 40% without prophylaxis. MTCT was responsible for approximately 370,000 infant HIV infections worldwide with Nigeria accounting for 30%. The study evaluated the effectiveness of prevention of MTCT of HIV infection programme by determining the rate of MTCT of HIV in babies who underwent the programme by review of health records of mother- infant pairs at Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital...

In 2019, the Japanese government set up a scheme for rubella antibody testing during workplace health check-ups for men born between fiscal years 1962 and 1978. However, use of vouchers for rubella antibody testing remains low. Health check-up data analyses are needed to determine the reason rubella antibody testing is not widely used. In this research, we aimed to clarify how rubella antibody test-taking behaviour during health check-ups has changed over the first 3 years of the rubella catch-up campaign in Japan...

Myroides species, are reported more frequently as outbreaks in clinics and intensive care units (ICUs). In this study, it is aimed to investigate the epidemic potential, antibiotic resistance profile and risk factors of the M. odoratimimus isolates, are increasingly isolated in the intensive care units (ICUs) of our hospital. Data of patients, whose Myroides spp. were isolated in their clinical specimens, over a five-year period (September 2016-January 2022) were retrospectively analyzed. Identification of bacteria were performed with the Matrix: Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization/Time of Flight-Mass Spectrometer (MALDI-TOF MS) System...

Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)-confirmed Enterovirus (EV) meningitis without pleocytosis has reported in only children. We examined the frequency of EV meningitis without pleocytosis and compared clinical features in adults. We retrospectively analyzed the data of adult patients with EV meningitis confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) RT-PCR. Among 17 patients finally included, 58.8% showed no pleocytosis. The median age and clinical symptoms were not different between the pleocytosis and the non-pleocytosis group...

Minimally invasive autopsy (MIA) is an alternative to full autopsy for collection of tissue samples from patient's bodies, using an instrument such as a biopsy needle. MIA has been conducted in many cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and contributed to elucidation of the pathogenesis of the disease. However, most of these cases were hospital deaths, and there are few reports on the application of MIA in out-of-hospital deaths with varying extent of postmortem changes. In this study, MIA and autopsy were both performed in 15 COVID-19 cases 2-30 days after death, including 11 out-of-hospital deaths...

Hepatitis E infection is an important problem in developing countries. Hepatitis E vaccination is important for prevention but it influenced by the resident's knowledge. The Qingdao residents' knowledge of hepatitis E is still unknown. This study used online survey on the Wechat platform for investigation. Chi-square test was used to compare the hepatitis E influencing factors between subgroups. Binary logistic regression was used for multiple factor analysis to explore the hepatitis E influencing factors. We have found the total awareness rate of hepatitis E was 60...

To examine the management of bloodborne occupational exposure in a tertiary hospital in China. The prospective study was conducted at Zhejiang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine between January 2016 and December 2019. Data on the blood-borne occupational exposure management was collected. A total of 460 exposures were reported. 40.22% exposures were from hepatitis B virus (HBV)-positive index patients.453 exposures were reported intime, and 371 cases received emergency management. 68/73 received timely prophylaxis...

Human pulmonary dirofilariasis (HPD) is a zoonosis caused by Dirofilaria immitis. Most HPD cases are asymptomatic and are either found on annual health checkups or incidentally identified during investigation of another disease, particularly primary or metastatic pulmonary lung cancer. However, the frequency of Japanese HPD and clinical features remain not well-known. We analyzed data from the Japanese Medical Abstract Society database and identified 69 cases from 1978 to 2022. The incidence of HPD had increased until the 2000s but declined markedly in the 2010s...

Following endobronchial examination, a young mine supervisor was treated with antibiotics for a pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial infection for approximately 1 year. However, a review of the radiological findings, which had not been previously assessed, revealed a different possibility. Accordingly, pulmonary resection was performed, enabling histopathological analysis, which showed numerous yeast-like fungi. Given the history of a stay in the southwestern United States for 2 months in 2009, 8 years previously, coccidioidomycosis was strongly suspected and the diagnosis was subsequently confirmed by serology and polymerase chain reaction testing of the excised specimen...

In COVID-19 patients who are severe or immunocompromised, the duration of infectious viral shedding may be longer, and a longer isolation duration is recommended. In National Sagamihara hospital, a decline in the viral load to end the isolation of COVID-19 hospitalized patients is confirmed by loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). However, a subset of patients persisted in displaying LAMP positivity for more than 20 days since symptom onset. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective observational study to investigate factors impacting the persistence of LAMP positivity...

Breakthrough infection (BI) after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination has exploded owing to the emergence of various SARS-CoV-2 variants and has become a major problem at present. In this study, we analyzed the epidemiological information and possession status of neutralizing antibodies in patients with BI using SARS-CoV-2 pseudotyped viruses (SARS-CoV-2pv). Analysis of 44 specimens diagnosed with COVID-19 after two or more vaccinations showed high inhibition of infection by 90% or more against the Wuhan strain and the Alpha and Delta variants of pseudotyped viruses in 40 specimens...