Clinical Findings and Epidemiology of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Infection, Especially Concererned with Izumi Fever

Abstract

Y. pseudotuberculosis infection in children was diagnosed in 164 patients by the isolation of the organism from stool samples and/or documenting the rise of serum agglutination antibody titer. Additionally Y. pseudotuberculosis was isolated from blood in 6 patients. Principal clinical findings were fever, rash, and abdominal symtoms. Other signs and symptoms were injected eyes, strawberry tongue, desquamation, erythema nodosum, common cold symtoms, liver dysfunction, and renal failure. The peak incidence of age was 2-years-old. This disease was rare in summer time. Diring recent two years of study, Y. pseudotuberculosis was isolated from drinking well or mountain water in 19% of the patients. Thease charactersitics were extremly mimicking to those of Izume fever, which occured in epidemics in Japan mostly after World War II. The etiology was not documented. Investigation was done in stocked sera from the patients of the epidemics of Izumi fever during last 10years. High antibody titers were documented in these sera. Present auther conclude the etiology of Izumi fevepidemics should be due to Y. pseudotuberculosis.