Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases

In 2010, the Jingmen tick virus (JMTV) was discovered in ticks in China and has been shown to be distributed in several regions worldwide. Recently, cases of JMTV infection in humans have been reported in China and Kosovo, attracting much attention as an emerging tick-borne disease. In this study, we detected the JMTV genome in Amblyomma testudinarium ticks collected in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, during tick-borne virus surveillance conducted in the Kanto district. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the new JMTV strain is closely related to previous strains detected in Japan...

Human metapneumovirus (hMPV) is genetically classified into two major subgroups, A and B, based on attachment glycoprotein (G) gene sequences, and the A2 subgroup is further separated into three subdivisions A2a, A2b (A2b1), and A2c (A2b2). The appearance of subgroup A2c viruses carrying a 180- or 111-nucleotide duplication in the G gene (A2c180nt-dup or A2c111nt-dup ) have been reported in Japan and Spain. The pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disrupted the epidemiological kinetics of other respiratory viruses, including hMPV...

Some lyssaviruses, including the rabies virus (RABV), induce lethal neurological symptoms in humans. However, commercial vaccines have only been evaluated for their efficacy against RABV and not against other lyssaviruses. To assess cross-reactivity among lyssaviruses, including RABV, sera from rabbits inoculated with human and animal RABV vaccines and polyclonal antibodies from rabbits immunized with expression plasmids of the glycoproteins of all 18 lyssaviruses were prepared, and cross-reactivity was evaluated via virus-neutralization tests using RABV, European bat lyssavirus-1 (EBLV-1), Duvenhage virus (DUVV), Mokola virus (MOKV), and Lagos bat virus (LBV)...

Several studies have established an association between the blood group type and susceptibility to infections. This study aimed to evaluate a correlation between the blood group type and the susceptibility to infection. 558 patients were enrolled in this study who attended at the Althawra Hospital, Ibb city, from March to August 2018. A blood sample was analyzed for complete blood count (CBC) and blood group. High frequency of infections affecting the digestive system (26.4%), while the less affected system is the urogenital system 5...

In response to rising carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), our study investigated carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and non-K. pneumoniae epidemiology and genetics. We collected 76 clinical Enterobacterales and four stool surveillance Escherichia coli isolates resistant to ertapenem or imipenem. Using PCR and DNA sequencing, we assessed carbapenemases, extended-spectrum β-lactamases, and AmpC β-lactamases. Molecular typing via pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and a conjugation experiment examining resistance gene transfer were conducted...

Potency test of influenza vaccine is currently performed using a single-radial-immunodiffusion (SRID) assay, which requires a reference antigen and anti-hemagglutinin (HA) serum as reference reagents. The reagents must be newly prepared each time the strain used for vaccine production is changed. Establishing reference reagents with consistent quality is, therefore, crucial to accurately and precisely conduct vaccine potency tests. Here, we established the reference reagents for the SRID assay to conduct lot release tests of quadrivalent influenza vaccines in Japan for the 2022/23 influenza season...

In Japan, rubella antibodies are measured in all pregnant women in order to detect subclinical infection. The study aimed to assess the validity of measuring rubella antibodies to detect subclinical rubella among pregnant women in Japan. This single-center, retrospective study measured rubella hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titers and rubella-specific IgM antibody index values (IgM-values). IgM-values were measured by enzyme immunoassay, and IgM-values > 1.2 were considered positive. Of 14965 pregnant women who were included, 186 (1...

Legionella pneumophila serogroup (SG) 1, the main cause of Legionnaires' disease, can be diagnosed with urinary antigen testing kits; however, lower respiratory tract specimen culture is necessary to identify L. pneumophila SG 2-15. We attempted to detect L. pneumophila SG-specific genes in a culture-negative sputum specimen from a patient with pneumonia suspected to have Legionnaires' disease. Two multiplex PCR methods targeting L. pneumophila were modified and amplicons considered to be SG13 specific were detected...

Despite the HBV vaccine being routinely administered in many countries, the death rate remains significant. Antiviral medications are available for the treatment of HBV infection, but patients encounter various serious complications in cases of chronic HBV infection. The failure of serological tests to detect early viral replication prevents early treatment response. Recently, many studies have demonstrated significant advantages of the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay over serological testing and PCR for the rapid detection of microbial pathogens...

For many viruses, cleavage activation of membrane fusion protein by host proteases is required for infection. This knowledge is based on the historical studies on Sendai virus in the 1970s. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the avian influenza virus and Newcastle disease virus were studied, showing a clear link between virulence and host proteases' cleavage activation of viral membrane fusion proteins (hemagglutinin and fusion proteins). In these viruses, the cleavage of viral membrane fusion proteins by furin is the basis for their high virulence...

CoronaVac emerged as one of the most widely administered COVID-19 vaccine in Indonesia. Previous research has documented various figures regarding its effectiveness in protecting against COVID-19 in several countries. Therefore, this research aims to assess the long-term immunogenicity profile in individuals with comorbidities or history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. The level of total anti-N Ig and anti-S-RBD Ig at 7 weeks and 26 weeks after receiving the second dose was observed in 194 health workers. The participants were divided into groups based on their comorbidities and history of SARS-CoV-2 infection...

We studied 226 patients in Toyama Prefecture, notified with COVID-19 during the first wave between March 30 and May 18, 2020. Of the 226 patients, 22 (9.7%) died, of whom most (95%) were aged ≥65 years. A large cluster comprising 59 patients (41 residents and 18 staff members) was identified in a nursing home on April 17. No deaths occurred among the staff members, but 12 of the 41 cases in residents (29%) died. Although the Ct values were significantly lower in the 20-64 and the ≥65 years age-groups than in the age <20 years age-group, no correlation was found between the Ct values and the severity, fatal outcome, or secondary infection...

General vaccine hesitancy is a global concern. Clarification of the general vaccination readiness and psychological factors comprising it is an important issue. Previous studies have reported that Japan has one of the lowest vaccine confidence levels worldwide. However, the status of other psychological factors comprising general vaccination readiness in Japan remains unclear. Therefore, we aimed to clarify the status of seven psychological factors comprising general vaccination readiness and their patterns in Japan...

Using anticancer drugs as an example, we examined the possibility of reusing residual drugs. The use of residual drugs is not widespread because of concerns regarding bacterial contamination. We mixed anticancer drugs with bacteria and investigated their effects on bacterial growth. The anticancer drugs carboplatin, paclitaxel, etoposide, irinotecan, methotrexate, and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) were mixed with Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Serratia marcescens, and Escherichia coli. After a certain period, the number of bacteria was counted...

Universal screening for Streptococcus agalactiae, Group B Streptococcus (GBS), in pregnant women is important for preventing severe infectious diseases in neonates. The subculture method using selective enrichment broth has been reported to significantly improve GBS detection in the US; however, this method is not widely practiced in Japan. An insufficiency of large-scale validation is one of the reasons; therefore, we validated the utility of the subculture method in collaboration with multiple facilities...

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is prevalent worldwide, and effective and safe vaccines against the virus have been developed. Although trends in antibody titers after vaccination and/or SARS-CoV-2 infection have been reported, the length and frequency of the measurements are limited. This case report describes the long-term and detailed trends in the anti-SARS-CoV-2 S protein receptor-binding domain (S-RBD), repeatedly measured after vaccination and/or infection in three healthcare workers...

Latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) with fibrotic lesions (FL) can progress to active tuberculosis (TB). Previous studies did not use interferon-gamma release assays (IGRAs) but used tuberculin skin tests for LTBI diagnosis, whose specificity was lower. This study evaluated the incidence of active TB among LTBI with FL who were diagnosed with IGRAs in Nishinari District, Osaka City. In total, 54 men were registered with 68.7 years old of a mean age, ten (18.5%) were homeless, and 36 (66.7%) were welfare recipients...

We evaluated cell invasion ability (CIA) of noninvasive Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis using human keratinocyte and determined associations of CIA populations with their host and microbiological traits. Forty-two isolates from humans and companion animals were selected with host information. We measured human keratinocyte CIA, in addition to virulence-associated gene (VAG, spegg-ska-scpA-inlA-sicG-brpA-prtF1-prtF2-lmb-cbp-srtp1-srtp2) detecting, emm genotyping, multilocus sequence typing, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) phenotyping/genotyping...

Human pulmonary dirofilariasis (HPD) is a zoonotic disease caused by Dirofilaria immitis. Most HPD cases are asymptomatic and are either detected during annual health checkups or incidentally identified during the investigation of other diseases, particularly primary or metastatic pulmonary lung cancers. However, the frequency and clinical features of Japanese patients with HPD remain unclear. We analyzed data from the Japanese Medical Abstract Society database and identified 69 cases between 1978 and 2022...

Following an endobronchial examination, a young mine supervisor was treated with antibiotics for a pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial infection for approximately one year. However, a review of the radiological findings revealed a different possibility. Accordingly, pulmonary resection was performed, and histopathological analysis revealed numerous yeast-like fungi. Since the patient had stayed in the southwestern United States for two months in 2009, eight years previously, coccidioidomycosis was strongly suspected...