In 2006 there was a multiple outbreak of infectious gastroenteritis due to norovirus in health care facilities, old age nursing homes and other facilities in Hiroshima Prefecture. Also at JA Yoshida General Hospital during the period from October 3 to 17, 2006, symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea were observed in a total of 47 people including 29 in-patients in three out of six wards and 18 hospital staff members.This was reported to the public health center and an emergency meeting of the Infection Control Committee was convened. Under the guidance of the Public Health Center, the Infection Control Team (ICT) immediately had a good control over the situation, took infection preventive measures, informed patients of what had happened, and restricted hospital admissions and hospital visits. The number of new patients dropped to zero on October 17.After re-examining the gastroenteritis outbreak, the ICT reviewed the existing manual and prepared a new operation manual to cope withe future outbreaks of infectious gastroenteritis, including emergency measures to be taken, staff assignments, and improvement of the hospital environment. The ICT considers that there is a need for disseminating knowledge regarding measures against the infection and for making preparations for the future as a vanguard.
Hospitals ; Gastroenteritis ; seconds ; Infectious gastroenteritis, NOS ; Infection as complication of medical care

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The therapeutic effect of mesalamine is considered to be dose-dependent; however, no consensus has been reached regarding the optimal doses for individual patients. This study aimed to provide new insight for dose optimization using two doses of pH-dependent release mesalamine for induction of remission of moderately active ulcerative colitis (UC). METHODS: In a multicenter, double-blind, randomized study, 110 patients with moderately active UC were assigned to two groups after treatment with a constant dose of mesalamine. Fifty-five patients were treated with a pH-dependent release formulation of 3.6 or 4.8 g/day for 8 weeks. The primary endpoint was a decrease in the UC disease activity index (UCDAI) adjusted by covariates. RESULTS: In the full analysis set (n=110), the mean decrease in UCDAI was 3.1 in the 3.6 g/day group and 3.4 in the 4.8 g/day group (P>0.05). In a subgroup analysis, the effectiveness of the 4.8 g/day dose was greater in particular populations, such as those who had been previously treated with a lower dose of mesalamine and those with more severe disease. The safety was comparable between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that treatment with pH-dependent release mesalamine at either 3.6 or 4.8 g/day was effective and safe for the induction of remission in patients with moderately active UC. However, the patients receiving mesalamine at 2.4 g/day but in whom the therapeutic effect is not sufficient and having more severe symptoms (UCDAI 9-10), benefit from higher doses of mesalamine compared to others.
Colitis, Ulcerative* ; Consensus ; Double-Blind Method ; Humans ; Mesalamine* ; Remission Induction ; Ulcer*

Surveys on the snail intermediate hosts were undertaken in the paddy fields in Yatomi-cho, Aichi Prefecture, once a year over a 5-year period (1983-1987).
And the cercariae of two different avian schistosomes were detected from snails in paddy fields.
The cercariae from Polyplis haemisphaerula were identified as species beloning to the genus Gigantobilharzia and the cercariae from austropeplea ollula as species belonging to the genus Trichobilharzia.
It was concluded that the paddy field dermatitis occurring in Yatomi-cho was proved to be caused by the invasion of these cercariae.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan is planning a pooling system for multiple-choice questions (MCQs) for the national examination for medical practitioners. To clarify possible problems of such a system, a field study was performed by 10 medical schools in Japan using 90 MCQs from previous examinations. Nine hundred twenty-four 6th-year students participated in the field test. For each MCQ, the correct-response rates at the originating school and those obtained in the field test were significantly correlated. Thus, the correct-response rates to questions on the field test could be predicted from the rates at the originating schools. However, for each question the correct-response rate was significantly higher for students of the originating school than for students of other schools. In the national examination, care should be taken to prevent differences in scores on the basis of question sources.

The diagnostic performance of helical computed tomography (CT) is excellent. However, some artifacts have been reported, such as motion, beam hardening and scatter artifacts. We herein report a case of motion-induced artifact mimicking cervical dens fracture. A 60-year-old man was involved in a motorcycle accident that resulted in cervical spinal cord injury and quadri plegia. Reconstructed CT images of the cervical spine showed a dens fracture. We assessed axial CT in detail, and motion artifact was detected.
Artifacts ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Motorcycles ; Paralysis ; Spinal Cord Injuries ; Spine ; Tomography, Spiral Computed

In this study, we investigated the effects of severe hemolysis (hemoglobin [Hb] > 500 mg/dL) in blood specimens by classifying them into non-hemolysis, hemolysis (Hb ≤ 500 mg/dL), and severe hemolysis. Investigated items were total protein (TP), albumin (ALB), total bilirubin (T-Bil), direct bilirubin (D-Bil), aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LD), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyl transferase (γ-GT), creatine kinase (CK), amylase (AMY), cholinesterase (ChE), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cre), sodium (Na), potassium (K), chloride (Cl), calcium (Ca), uric acid (UA), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (T-Cho), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and C-reactive protein (CRP), and actual clinical test results were used. Based on the results, we were able to classify the error relationships into three groups according to hemolysis status. Group A shows an error between non-hemolysis and hemolysis, and an even stronger error in severe hemolysis (T-Bil, AST, LD, Na, K, Ca, and UA). Group B showed no error between non-hemolysis and hemolysis, but errors in strong hemolysis (ALB, D-Bil, ALT, γ-GT, CK, AMY, TG, T-Cho, HDL-C, and LDL-C). Group C shows no errors in either hemolysis or strong hemolysis (TP, ALP, ChE, BUN, Cre, Cl, and CRP). Among these, the Group B classification was a new finding. In situations where the measurement of hemolyzed specimens is unavoidable, it is important that clinical laboratory technologists be aware of its impact and provide the results in a way that can be used in clinical practice.