1.A serologically diagnosed human case of cutaneous larva migrans caused by Ancylostoma caninum.
In Ho KWON ; Hyung Su KIM ; Jong Hee LEE ; Min Ho CHOI ; Jong Yil CHAI ; Fukumi NAKAMURA-UCHIYAMA ; Yukifumi NAWA ; Kwang Hyun CHO
The Korean Journal of Parasitology 2003;41(4):233-237
A 15-year-old boy, who had recently arrived back from a trip to Cambodia for a missionary camp, presented with several serpiginous thread-like skin lesions that began as small papules on the left upper extremities 2 weeks before his visit to Hospital. The skin lesions were pruritic and erythematous, and had migrated to the chest and abdomen. The histopathological findings showed only lymphocytic and eosinophilic infiltrations in the dermis of the biopsied skin lesion. The patient's serum reacted strongly to the Ancylostoma caninum antigen by an ELISA method. Therefore, he was diagnosed with cutaneous larva migrans by A. caninum. After the oral administration of albendazole and ivermectin, the skin lesions resolved without recurrence. This is the first reported case of a cutaneous larva migrans caused by Ancylostoma canimum diagnosed serologically using ELISA in Korea.
Adolescent
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Ancylostoma/*immunology
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Animals
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Antibodies, Helminth/*blood
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Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
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Humans
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Larva Migrans/*diagnosis/parasitology
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Male
2.Nosocomial outbreak of coronavirus disease in two general wards during the initial wave of the pandemic in 2020, Tokyo, Japan
Naoya Sakamoto ; Masayuki Ota ; Tomoko Takeda ; Atsushi Kosaka ; Takuya Washino ; Sentaro Iwabuchi ; Minako Beppu ; Itaru Nishiduka ; Tamano Matsui ; Motoi Suzuki ; Fukumi Nakamura-Uchiyama
Western Pacific Surveillance and Response 2022;13(1):38-42
Objective:
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was first reported in China and subsequently spread worldwide. In Japan, many clusters occurred during the first wave in 2020. We describe the investigation of an early outbreak in a Tokyo hospital.
Methods:
A COVID-19 outbreak occurred in two wards of the hospital from April to early May 2020. Confirmed cases were individuals with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection linked to Wards A and B, and contacts were patients or workers in Wards A or B 2 weeks before the index cases developed symptoms. All contacts were tested, and cases were interviewed to determine the likely route of infection and inform the development of countermeasures to curb transmission.
Results:
There were 518 contacts, comprising 472 health-care workers (HCWs) and 46 patients, of whom 517 were tested. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed in 42 individuals (30 HCWs and 12 patients). The proportions of SARS-CoV-2 infections in HCWs were highest among surgeons, nurses, nursing assistants and medical assistants. Several HCWs in these groups reported being in close proximity to one another while not wearing medical masks. Among HCWs, infection was thought to be associated with the use of a small break room and conference room.
Discussion
Nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infections occurred in two wards of a Tokyo hospital, affecting HCWs and patients. Not wearing masks was considered a key risk factor for infection during this outbreak; masks are now a mandated countermeasure to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection in hospital settings.