Introduction: Vaccine policies have changed in recent years in Japan. In the present study, we assessed practices, recommendations, knowledge, and sources of information among primary care physicians (PCPs) regarding vaccinations in Japan. Methods: We conducted a nationwide cross-sectional study targeting PCPs in Japan. We used a web-based self-administered questionnaire targeting physicians that were members of the Japan Primary Care Association in 2019. We analyzed respondent administrations, recommendations, knowledge, and sources of information regarding vaccinations. Results: We received responses from 1,084 PCPs (20.1%) and invited 981 participants for the analysis. The rates at which physicians gave routine and voluntary vaccines in their own practices were 23.3-95.5% and 13.2-94.4%, respectively. The active recommendation rates for routine and voluntary vaccines were 41.6-92.0% and 13.6-75.5%, respectively. Furthermore, among routine vaccines, human papillomavirus vaccine was the least administered and recommended. PCPs working at clinics had the most accurate knowledge about vaccinations, and PCPs utilized academic organizations most readily as an information resource. Conclusion: We clarified practices, recommendations, knowledge, and sources of information regarding vaccinations among PCPs in Japan.

The autofluorescence visualization method(AVM)uses blue excitation light to assist in the diagnosis of epithelial dysplasia. It detects epithelial dysplasia as a black area,which is known as fluorescence visualization loss(FVL). In this study, we evaluated the detection accuracy for epithelial dysplasia of the tongue using the objective AVM and assessed its possible clinical utility. Seventy-nine tongue specimens clinically suspected to have leukoplakia or squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) were analyzed. First, the AVM was subjectively performed using the Visually Enhanced Lesion scope (VELscope), and the iodine-staining method was then performed. After biopsy, the histopathological results and the luminance ratio between the lesion and healthy tissue were compared, and a receiver operating characteristic curve was created. The cutoff value for the objective AVM was determined; the lesion was considered FVL-positive or -negative when the luminance ratio was higher or lower than the cutoff value,respectively. The histopathological diagnoses among the 79 specimens were SCC (n=30),leukoplakia with dysplasia (n=34),and leukoplakia without dysplasia (n=15). The cutoff value of the luminance ratio was 1.62, resulting in 66 FVL-positive and 13 FVL-negative specimens. The luminance ratio was significantly higher in the epithelial dysplasia-positive than -negative group (P<0.000 1). The objective AVM showed much higher consistency between histopathological results than did the two methods (kappa statistic=0.656). In conclusion, objective autofluorescence visualization has a potential as an auxiliary method for diagnosis of epithelial dysplasia.