Takuya Yamagishi

• National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo

To determine the characteristics of pediatric patients 0–19 years of age who died after onset of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Japan during January 1–September 30, 2022, we reviewed multiple sources. We identified 62 cases, collected detailed information from medical records and death certificates, and conducted interviews, resulting in 53 patients with...

Introduction Antimicrobial resistance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a global health concern, and some countries and regions have been monitoring drug resistance in P. aeruginosa with various surveillance systems. Japan has a national sentinel surveillance for multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa (MDRP) infections, the sites of which are designated by p...

This study is about a COVID-19 outbreak and ventilation measures taken against COVID-19 transmission through the air occurred at an ice arena in Japan. The ice arena has been known to have a deterioration of indoor air quality affected by CO, NO2 and so on, and a total of 172 persons were infected with SARS-CoV-2, including the players and the spec...

Objectives As social restrictions of COVID-19 are being eased worldwide, preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission among staff members and customers in dining facilities is essential to continuously running business because restaurants and bars are high-risk locations for COVID-19 outbreaks. In 2021, COVID-19 outbreaks occurred at restaurants or bars in A...

Based on national surveillance data, we describe an unprecedented increase in syphilis case reports in Japan, with a surge in 2021–2022 reaching 10 141 cases in Week 42, 2022, a 1.7-fold increase over the same period in 2021. This already represented the highest annual case count in nearly half a century; by Week 52, 2022, the number reached 12 966...

The risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection when people handle linens is uncertain. We examined the presence of SARS-CoV-2 on linens, in the air, and on personal protective equipment (PPE) to assess potential infection risk among individuals who handle linens used by SARS-CoV-2-infected people. Patients in a hospital and an accommodation facility who tested p...

Background: This study aimed to examine the cause of and effective measures against cluster infections, including the delta AY.1 variant of novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that occurred in an accommodation facility. Methods: We surveyed the zoning and ventilation systems of the cluster accommodation, examined t...

The establishment of enhanced surveillance systems for mass gatherings to detect infectious diseases that may be imported during an event is recommended. The World Health Organization Regional Office for the Western Pacific contributed to enhanced event-based surveillance for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games (the Games) by using Epidemic...

A coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in a psychiatry hospital revealed specific challenges in its response such as difficulty in isolation, transfer, and identification of close contacts, suboptimal infection control practices, and shortage of personal protective equipment, which were overcome by support from the public health center and...

Background Singing in an indoor space may increase the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We conducted a case-control study of karaoke-related COVID-19 outbreaks to reveal the risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among individuals who participate in karaoke. Methods Cases were defined as people who enjoyed karaoke at a bar and who tested positive for...

This is a case report on a cluster infection of novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 delta AY.1 variant at an accommodation facility and the subsequent attempts to isolate individuals who tested positive. The background that facilitated this cluster was investigated, and the conditions in which infection was established, the infect...

Background This is a case report on a cluster infection of novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 delta AY.1 variant at an accommodation facility and the subsequent attempts to isolate individuals who tested positive. Methods The background that facilitated this cluster was investigated, and the conditions in which infection was est...

In 2021, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan, undertook enhanced event-based surveillance (EBS) for infectious diseases occurring overseas that have potential for importation (excluding coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games (the Games). The pre-existing EBS system was enhanced u...

Introduction: In response to global outbreaks of infectious diseases, the need for support from organizations such as the World Health Organization Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) is increasing. Identifying the obstacles and support needs for applicants could increase GOARN deployments from Japan. Methods: This cross-sectional...

An outbreak of COVID-19 occurred in Ueda City, Nagano prefecture, Japan with a population of 150,000. Because the residents were a population naïve to COVID-19 and many of them had only one chance of exposure, careful epidemiological investigation could reveal attack rates among close contacts on the specific date of exposure. We identified 89 case...

In Japan, the increase in congenital syphilis (CS) notifications has become a public health concern. We conducted a case series study to describe the characteristics of CS patients and their mothers. Of the 13 mothers who consented to participate, seven had regular prenatal care visits, including four who had tested negative at their first trimeste...

Several outbreaks of trench fever caused by Bartonella quintana, occurred in soldiers during World Wars I and II. Although the number of trench fever cases has been decreasing worldwide, the disease has been reported among the homeless population in both developing and developed countries. The current prevalence of B. quintana infection in Japan is...

This study aimed to evaluate the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genome sequences from COVID-19 cases and to characterize their genealogical networks to demonstrate possible routes of spread in Japan. We found that there were at least two distinct SARS-CoV-2 introductions into Japan, initially from China and subsequentl...

In response to an increase in heterosexual syphilis notifications in Tokyo, we conducted a questionnaire-based case–control study among women aged ≥20 years and sexually active in the past six months who sought a syphilis test in Tokyo during 2017–2018. Cases were women diagnosed as recent syphilis infection based on serological tests. Controls wer...

Significance On February 5, 2020, the Diamond Princess cruise ship was put under quarantine offshore Yokohama, Japan, after a passenger who disembarked in Hong Kong was confirmed to have coronavirus disease 2019. Whole-genome sequencing of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and a network/phylogeny analysis of the outbreak...

A COVID-19 outbreak occurred in the Diamond Princess cruise ship and we sampled environmental surfaces after passengers and crews vacated the cabins. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected from 58 out of 601 samples (10%) from case-cabins 1-17 days after the cabins were vacated, but not from non-case-cabins. There was no difference in the detection proportion...

Background: After the first case of COVID-19 in Japan on 15 January 2020, multiple nationwide COVID-19 clusters were identified by the end of February. The Japanese government focused on mitigating emerging COVID-19 clusters by conducting active nationwide epidemiological surveillance. However, an increasing number of cases appeared until early Apr...

An outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred on the Diamond Princess cruise ship making an international journey, which led to quarantine of the ship at Yokohama Port, Japan. A suspected COVID-19 case was defined as a passenger or crew member who developed a fever or respiratory symptoms, and a confirmed COVID-19 case had laboratory-confi...

We conducted an epidemiologic study of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in Japan during 2013-2017. Of 303 cases reported during that period, 133 (44%) were included in this study. The median time between onset of illness and diagnosis of SFTS shortened, from 11.5 to 3.0 days, but the case-fatality rate remained high, at 27%. In 64...

The Diamond Princess (DP) cruise ship was put under quarantine offshore Yokohama, Japan, after a passenger who disembarked in Hong Kong was confirmed as a COVID-19 case. We performed whole genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 directly from PCR-positive clinical specimens and conducted a haplotype network analysis of the outbreak. All tested isolates exh...

An outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among passengers and crew on a cruise ship led to quarantine of approximately 3,700 passengers and crew that began on February 3, 2020, and lasted for nearly 4 weeks at the Port of Yokohama, Japan (1). By February 9, 20 cases had occurred among the ship's crew members. By the end of quarantine, app...

A multispecies outbreak of IMP-6 carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (IMP-6-CPE) occurred at an acute care hospital in Japan. This study was conducted to understand the mechanisms of IMP-6-CPE transmission by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), multilocus sequence typing and whole-genome sequencing (WGS), and identify risk factors for IMP...

Introduction: In Japan, syphilis notifications have increased. Men who have sex with men (MSM) in Tokyo have contributed substantially to the increase in syphilis notifications. We thus aimed to determine the correlates of incident syphilis among them. Methods: MSM who attended a Tokyo clinic that serves sexual minorities were recruited in a cas...

Transmission routes of the virus causing viral hemorrhagic fever: Extreme precautions are prudent but high-quality evidence must be gathered - Volume 40 Issue 5 - Takuya Yamagishi, Kensaku Kakimoto, Ikuko Doi, Chiaki Kawakami, Tomoe Shimada, Tamano Matsui, Kazunori Oishi, Masayuki Saijo

The World Health Organization recommends that countries or organizations that host mass gatherings plan ahead and prepare for possible public health events to ensure a safe environment for local residents, participants and travellers.1 Public health events during mass gatherings can also affect non-host countries. There are numerous reports of the...

Background In Japan, syphilis notifications have increased sharply, with Tokyo accounting for a third of all cases. Importantly, the increase in women has been remarkable, with the majority being women who have sex with men. We therefore conducted a prospective case–control study to evaluate correlates of recent syphilis infection among women in To...

Background In 2010, a multispecies outbreak of IMP type carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (IMP-CPE) occurred at a large acute care hospital in Japan. The outbreak continued for years involving more than 100 patients mainly in surgical wards. Methods Because of the long period of the outbreak, investigation were focused on hospitalized pat...

Field Epidemiology Training Programmes (FETPs), which are modelled after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service programme, began in 1980 and have produced graduates in more than 70 countries, including 12 in the Western Pacific Region.1,2 These programmes aim to “build sustainable capacity for detecting and r...

Background In Japan, congenital syphilis (CS) notifications have increased recently. However, little is known about the CS cases or the clinical and sociodemographic characteristics of the patients’ mothers. Methods: Twelve cases of CS were reported through national surveillance in the period March–December 2016, and the mothers of seven patients w...

Background: In Japan, syphilis reports have recently increased rapidly. However, unlike other developed countries where men who have sex with men (MSM) were associated with the rise, the increase in Japan has been attributed more to men who have sex with women (MSW) and women who have sex with men (WSM). We report on this increase based on surveil...

This is the first report of the large-scale experimentally production of an equine antivenom against redback spider (Latrodectus hasseltii) lived in Japan. We captured 10,000 redback spiders in Japan and prepared the toxoids of crude venom extract, mixed the toxoids with mineral oil adjuvant, and immunized repeatedly it to healthy horses over a per...

In Japan, fourteen bites by the red back spider, Latrodectus hasselti, were reported in four hospitals between 2011 and 2013 in a survey of sentinel hospitals. The distribution of the spider and the areas in which patients were bitten by the spider both expanded geographically each year. Although fatalities or severely ill patients are yet to be re...

Although severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) was first reported from Japan in 2013, the precise clinical features and the risk factors for SFTS have not been fully investigated in Japan. Ninety-six cases of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) were notified through the national surveillance system between April 2013 and...

Volume 69, no. 2, p. 143–148, 2016. Page 143, Title should appear as shown below. An Epidemiological Investigation of a Nosocomial Outbreak of Multidrug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a Critical Care Center in Japan, 2011–2012

The Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak that occurred in West Africa in 2014 was the largest ever in the world. In Sierra Leone, the number of cases reported peaked in December 2014 and gradually declined. However, the outbreak was not immediately terminated. To support the response of the World Health Organization (WHO) to EVD, the WHO Western Paci...

The 2014/15 influenza season started earlier than usual, and intense activity was reflection of circulation of antigenically-drifted and vaccine-mismatched dominant A(H3N2) viruses. Although inpatients and health-care workers (HCWs) had a high influenza vaccination coverage rate well prior to the beginning of influenza season, numerous outbreaks of...

The number of notified syphilis cases in Tokyo has more than doubled in recent years. The number of reported primary and secondary syphilis cases increased from 108 cases (0.8 per 100,000 population) in 2007 to 245 cases in 2013 (1.9 per 100,000 population). During this period, the majority of cases was male (905/1,024), and the recent increase amo...

Background and methods: We conducted a community-based study to evaluate genotype-specific prevalence of high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) and potential predictors of its presence in young, asymptomatic, female college students. Self-administered surveys and vaginal swabs for self collection were distributed to students of participating schools. A sufficient...

In 2011, a multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDRAB) outbreak occurred at a critical care center (CCC) in a tertiary hospital in Japan. Multidrug-resistance is defined as resistance to amikacin, carbapenem, and fluoroquinolone. We conducted an epidemiological investigation of this outbreak to identify risk factors for MDRAB respiratory tr...

In August 2012, an outbreak of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) O157 infection was investigated by the City of Sapporo and Hokkaido Prefectural Government. The initial notification reported an illness affecting 94 residents of 10 private nursing homes distributed across multiple areas of Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan; at this...

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of reported hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections from developed countries. To describe recent trends in notification and potential risk groups and risk factors in Japan, HEV infection cases and demographic, food consumption, clinical and laboratory data reported during 2007-2013 were analyzed....

Background: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a tick-borne acute infectious disease caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV). SFTS has been reported in China, South Korea, and Japan as a novel Bunyavirus. Although several molecular epidemiology and phylogenetic studies have been performed, the information obtained was limited, because...

The enhanced surveillance was conducted during the Sports Festival in Tokyo 2013 (September 28-October 14, 2013), for early detection of outbreaks of infectious diseases and other health emergencies.Through this enhanced surveillance, there were 15 cases which required additional process for gathering information outside the routine process of crea...

Redback spiders (Latrodectus hasselti) (RBSs) are venomous spiders that have recently spread to Asia from Australia. Since the first case report in 1997 (Osaka), RBS bites have been a clinical and administrative issue in Japan; however, the clinical characteristics and effective treatment of RBS bites, particularly outside Australia remains unclear...

Background: Risk factors of surgical site infection (SSI) for kidney surgery have not been determined yet because the number of procedures is not enough. To estimate the risk and find the risk factors of SSI for kidney surgery, the Japan Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (JANIS) SSI division, which is a voluntary based, national-level surveillance...

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease with a high case fatality risk caused by the SFTS virus (SFTSV). A retrospective study conducted after the first identification of an SFTS patient in Japan revealed that SFTS is endemic, and the virus exists indigenously in Japan. Since the nucleotide sequence of J...

Objective: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). This study aims to assess factors associated with SSI after colorectal surgery in Japan, using a Japanese national database for HAIs. Design: A retrospective nationwide surveillance-based study. Setting: Japanese healthcare facilities....

This is a report of an outbreak of Pneumococcal pneumonia among nursing home residents in Tokyo, 2009. A total of 15 cases were identified, and their sputum culture grew Streptococcus pneumoniae, all of which were confirmed as serotype 11A and ST116. This outbreak ended through the implementation of strict contact precautions, education regarding t...

Background. Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is caused by SFTS virus (SFTSV), a novel bunyavirus reported to be endemic in central and northeastern China. This article describes the first identified patient with SFTS and a retrospective study on SFTS in Japan.Methods. Virologic and pathologic examinations were performed on the pat...

Background: Differences in the risk factors for surgical site infection (SSI) following open heart surgery and coronary artery bypass graft surgery are not well described. Aim: To identify and compare risk factors for SSI following open heart surgery and coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Methods: SSI surveillance data on open heart surgery...

Rubella usually is a mild, febrile rash illness in children and adults; however, infection early in pregnancy, particularly during the first 16 weeks, can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, or an infant born with birth defects (i.e., congenital rubella syndrome [CRS]). As of 2013, goals to eliminate rubella have been established in two World Health...

Background: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most serious postoperative complications. Identifying risk factors associated with SSI and focusing prevention efforts on patients with those factors are essential. Traditionally, SSI rates are risk stratified using the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) risk index, which consi...

Objectives To determine whether foreskin status is a measurable marker for evaluating the effect of the foreskin on sexually transmitted infections. Methods Inter-rater comparison of the responses on foreskin status and circumcision in a self-report questionnaire with the findings of a physical examination by an experienced well-trained urologist w...

We developed a method for ureteral stent removal in female patients that requires no cystoscopy or fluoroscopic guidance using a crochet hook. In addition, we also investigated the success rate, complications and pain associated with this procedure. A total of 40 female patients (56 stents) underwent the removal of ureteral stents. All procedures w...

A carbapenem-resistant Serratia marcescens strain, 10mdr148, was identified in a Japanese hospital in 2010. The carbapenem resistance of this strain was attributed to the production of a novel metallo-β-lactamase (MBL), named SMB-1 (Serratia metallo-β-lactamase). SMB-1 possessed a zinc binding motif, H(Q)XHXDH (residues 116 to 121), H196, and H263...

The first confirmed case of 2009 influenza A (H1N1) in Fukuoka, Japan was reported in early-June 2009. The disease rapidly spread through this area, mainly in schools, until there were no new cases detected 3 weeks later. We describe herein the clinical characteristics of this novel infection that came to light through the investigation of this out...

We report a case of infective endocarditis (IE) after transurethral prostatic resection (TUR-P). A 63-year-old man who had underwent TUR-P for benign prostatic hyperplasia. After 40 days of surgery, he developed a fever. A diagnosis of IE was established by cardiography which detected large vegetation at mitral valve. After intravenous antibiotics...

Our case was 65 years old. At check-up, a high PSA level of 515 ng/ml was observed, the patient was diagnosed with having clinical stage D prostate cancer and a Maximum Androgen Blockade (MAB therapy) was started. In response to the exacerbated prostate cancer, we started a therapy involving the administration of 8 mg/kg body weight of dexamethason...

A 48-year-old woman underwent a renal transplantation from her sister. The graft functioned immediately. She received induction immunosuppressive therapy, including basiliximab, tacrolimus hydrate, mycophenolate mofetil and methylprednisolone. Her urinary output decreased on the first postoperative morning. Plasma exchange for 3 days and conversion...

Pheochromocytoma is a rare tumor of chromaffin tissues most commonly arising from the adrenal medulla. We retrospectively reviewed the records of 38 patients with pheochromocytoma who underwent surgical treatment between 1977 and 2004 at our Yokohama City University Medical Center and Yokohama City University Hospital. Twenty two patients (57.9%) w...

A 28-year-old woman with end-stage renal disease due to congenital hypoplasia and vesicoureteric reflux in the bilateral kidneys received a renal transplant from her 52-year-old mother. She became pregnant 3 years later. The serum creatinine level was 1.6 mg/dL with a creatinine clearance of 27.3 mL/min/1.48 m(2) just prior to pregnancy. Her graft...

To investigate how urinary frequency and incontinence affect the patient's subjective quality of life (QOL) and whether an improvement in objective findings by medical treatment affects his/her subjective QOL, a voiding diary using the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF...