Journal of Epidemiology
Online ISSN : 1349-9092
Print ISSN : 0917-5040
ISSN-L : 0917-5040
Volume 17, Issue Supplement_I
Displaying 1-7 of 7 articles from this issue
Evidences Observed in the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases in Japan, 1999-2005
  • Masaki Nagai, Shuji Hashimoto, Kiyosu Taniguchi
    2007 Volume 17 Issue Supplement_I Pages S1-S2
    Published: 2007
    Released on J-STAGE: January 30, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
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  • Kiyosu Taniguchi, Shuji Hashimoto, Miyuki Kawado, Yoshitaka Murakami, ...
    2007 Volume 17 Issue Supplement_I Pages S3-S13
    Published: 2007
    Released on J-STAGE: January 30, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    BACKGROUND: In 1999 the Communicable Disease Prevention Law of Japan was completely revised into the "New" Infectious Disease Control Law, which reiterated the importance of surveillance and information dissemination and re-organized the surveillance system. This paper is an attempt to illustrate the potential impact of the new surveillance system through a description of the existing surveillance system and data before and after the revision.
    METHODS: After a historical review of surveillance system in Japan, the current surveillance system is described. Data sets of actual case numbers reported and incidence rate per 1,000,000 population are compared before and after the revision.
    RESULTS: Comparison of the data between the 2 periods revealed that most of the diseases have had declining trends after the new law was enacted with several exceptions. However, although no major break in continuity is observed in seriously perceived disease, in milder diseases there are striking gaps between the numbers reported in the mandatory and sentinel reporting framework. Sentinel reporting framework maintained the continuity of data without major gaps.
    CONCLUSIONS: From this perspective, the new surveillance system with two different frameworks of mandatory reporting for severe diseases and sentinel reporting for milder diseases seems to be working well. But continuous efforts should be made for evaluation and improvement of surveillance system and risk communication through the research on data analysis and effective communication method.
    J Epidemiol 2007; 17: S3-S13.
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  • Akiko Ohta, Yoshitaka Murakami, Shuji Hashimoto, Masaki Nagai, Miyuki ...
    2007 Volume 17 Issue Supplement_I Pages S14-S22
    Published: 2007
    Released on J-STAGE: January 30, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    BACKGROUND: A method for determining epidemics in small areas from the sentinel surveillance data has been proposed and applied in the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases (NESID) in Japan. We observed epidemics of influenza and 11 pediatric diseases by the method in the NESID in Japan during 1999-2005.
    METHODS: We assumed that an epidemic in a public health center area began in a week when the number of cases reported to the NESID per sentinel clinic and hospital in the area in the week exceeded a given value, and that the epidemic ended when the number was lower than another given value. The proportion of public health center areas with epidemics (epidemic area proportion) by week in fiscal 1999-2005 was calculated. Total public health center area-weeks observed were about 30,000 each year.
    RESULTS: The mean epidemic area proportion in the 7 years was 6.0% for influenza and 0.2-7.4% for pediatric diseases. The proportion increased in pharyngoconjunctival fever and group A streptococcal pharyngitis, decreased in measles and was less than 1.0% in pertussis and rubella. In influenza, the height of the peak in the weekly epidemic area proportion varied between 6 and 90% in the 7 years and the week of the peak varied widely. In some pediatric diseases, the height of the peak varied, while the week of the peak was relatively constant.
    CONCLUSION: The frequency and temporal change were described in the epidemics of influenza and pediatric diseases in public health center areas from the NESID data in Japan, 1999-2005.
    J Epidemiol 2007; 17: S14-S22.
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  • Yoshitaka Murakami, Shuji Hashimoto, Akiko Ohta, Miyuki Kawado, Michik ...
    2007 Volume 17 Issue Supplement_I Pages S23-S31
    Published: 2007
    Released on J-STAGE: January 30, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    BACKGROUND: Epidemics of infectious diseases usually start in small areas and subsequently become widespread widely. Although a method for detecting epidemics in public health center (PHC) areas has been proposed and used in the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases in Japan, wide-area epidemics have not been fully investigated.
    METHODS: Using the abovementioned method, we defined an epidemic as that occurring for a week in at least one PHC area in a prefecture and a wide-area epidemic as that when the number of people living in epidemic PHC areas exceeds 30% of the prefectural population. The number of weeks of an epidemic or wide-area epidemic for influenza and 11 pediatric diseases was observed in 47 prefectures in Japan from 1999 through 2005.
    RESULTS: Epidemics and wide-area epidemics of influenza occurred for an average of 7.0 and 4.3 weeks in a year in a prefecture, respectively. The proportion of wide-area epidemics in epidemic weeks was 62%. The average number of wide-area epidemic weeks for pediatric diseases varied among diseases; it was more than 4 weeks for infectious gastroenteritis and herpangina and less than 1 week for pertussis, rubella, and measles. The proportion of wide-area epidemics in epidemic weeks was 28-41% for infectious gastroenteritis, hand-foot-mouth disease, and herpangina and less than 20% for other diseases.
    CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of wide-area epidemics of influenza and pediatric diseases in various prefectures was observed. Epidemics of infectious diseases such as influenza and herpangina occurring in small areas were likely to spread to wide areas.
    J Epidemiol 2007; 17: S23-S31.
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  • Miyuki Kawado, Shuji Hashimoto, Yoshitaka Murakami, Michiko Izumida, A ...
    2007 Volume 17 Issue Supplement_I Pages S32-S41
    Published: 2007
    Released on J-STAGE: January 30, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    BACKGROUND: The method for estimating incidence of infectious diseases from sentinel surveillance data has been proposed. In Japan, although the annual incidence rates of influenza and pediatric diseases estimated using the method were reported, their weekly incidence rates have not.
    METHODS: The weekly sex- and age-specific numbers of cases in the sentinel medical institutions in the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases in Japan in 2002-2005 were used. Annual and weekly incidence rates of influenza and 12 pediatric diseases were estimated by the above-mentioned method, under the assumption that sentinels are randomly selected from all medical institutions.
    RESULTS: The annual incidence rate of influenza in 2002-2005 was 57.7-142.6 per 1,000 population. The highest weekly incidence rate was 7.4 at week 8 in 2002, 14.9 at week 4 in 2003, 14.1 at week 5 in 2004, and 21.2 at week 9 in 2005. The annual incidence rate per 1,000 population of 0-14 years old in 2002-2005 was less than 5.0 for pertussis, rubella and measles, 293.2-320.8 for infectious gastroenteritis, and 5.3-89.6 for 8 other diseases. The highest weekly incidence rate was less than 1.0 for exanthem subitum, and was more than 5.0 for infectious gastroenteritis, hand-foot-mouth disease and herpangina.
    CONCLUSION: We estimated annual and weekly incidence rates of influenza and pediatric diseases in Japan in 2002-2005, and described their temporal variation.
    J Epidemiol 2007; 17: S32-S41.
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  • Michiko Izumida, Masaki Nagai, Akiko Ohta, Shuji Hashimoto, Miyuki Kaw ...
    2007 Volume 17 Issue Supplement_I Pages S42-S47
    Published: 2007
    Released on J-STAGE: January 30, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    BACKGROUND: Drug-resistant bacteria have been increasing together with advancement of antimicrobial chemotherapy in recent years. In Japan, the target diseases in the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases (NESID) include some drug-resistant bacterial infections.
    METHODS: We used the data in the NESID in Japan, 2001-2005. Target diseases were methicillinresistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP) and multi-drug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MDRPA) infections. The numbers of patients reported by sentinel hospitals (about 500) on a monthly basis were observed.
    RESULTS: The numbers of patients per month per sentinel hospital of 2001-2005 were 3.37-3.98 in MRSA, 0.96-1.19 in PRSP, and 0.11-0.13 in MDRPA infections. The sex ratios (male / female) of patients were 1.69-1.82, 1.34-1.43, and 1.71-2.52, respectively. More than 50% of all patients were adults aged 70 years or older in MRSA and MDRPA infections, but more than 60% were children under 10 years in PRSP infections. The number of patients per sentinel hospital in MRSA infections showed little variation between months, but evidenced a large variation in PRSP and MDRPA infections. The annual trend in the number of patients per sentinel hospital was increasing significantly for the 5-year period in MRSA and PRSP infections, but not in MDRPA infections.
    CONCLUSIONS: We revealed sex-age distributions of the patients reported to NESID in Japan, 2001- 2005. An increasing incidence of MRSA and PRSP infections and monthly variation in PRSP and MDRPA infections were observed for the 5-year period. Extended observation would be necessary to confirm these trends and variations.
    J Epidemiol 2007; 17: S42-S47.
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  • Shuji Hashimoto, Miyuki Kawado, Yoshitaka Murakami, Michiko Izumida, A ...
    2007 Volume 17 Issue Supplement_I Pages S48-S55
    Published: 2007
    Released on J-STAGE: January 30, 2008
    JOURNAL FREE ACCESS
    BACKGROUND: Observing the epidemics of vector-borne diseases is important. One or more cases of 6 vector-borne diseases were reported to the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases in Japan in 2000-2005.
    METHODS: The reports of those cases were available. The incidence was observed by region of acquired infection, prefecture reporting, and week and year of diagnosis.
    RESULTS: The incidence rate per year per 1,000,000 population was 0.36 for dengue fever, 0.04 for Japanese encephalitis, 0.38 for Japanese spotted fever, 0.08 for Lyme disease, 0.74 for malaria, and 3.50 for scrub typhus. There were no cases of dengue fever or malaria derived from domestic infections. The yearly incidence rate increased for dengue fever and Japanese spotted fever, and declined for malaria and scrub typhus. The proportion of cases reported in Tokyo was 44% for dengue fever and 37% for malaria. The number of prefectures reporting one or more cases of Japanese spotted fever increased in western Japan. The cases of scrub typhus increased in autumn-winter in prefectures of eastern Japan, and increased both in autumn-winter and spring in western prefectures.
    CONCLUSIONS: The study reveals the epidemiologic features of both temporal and geographic distributions of cases of 6 vector-borne diseases in Japan, 2000-2005.
    J Epidemiol 2007; 17: S48-S55.
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