We have developed a new tool for sharing information of patients undergoing outpatient cancer chemotherapy with community pharmacists. We created the Tracing Report (TR) based on CTCAE which suggests high risk adverse events according to the chemotherapy. In this study, we observe the changes in the information obtained from community pharmacists and the utilization of the information by hospital pharmacists due to the change from the conventional free- form TR to the CTCAE-form TR. The subject is 164 tracing reports received from community pharmacists between September 2018 and August 2020 at Toho University Medical Center Omori Hospital. We retrospectively investigated the patient background, the percentage of statements about the occurrence of adverse events, and the rate of physician adoption of prescription suggestions from community pharmacists. We also sent a questionnaire to the community pharmacists to evaluate the usefulness of the CTCAE Form TR. Of the 164 tracing reports received, 40 were free-form TR and 124 were CTCAE-form TR. The results showed that the report rate of adverse drug reactions was significantly higher for the CTCAE Form TR in all categories. Hospital pharmacists aggregate information from tracing reports and suggest supportive care to physicians, and the number of physician adoptions was significantly higher in the CTCAE Form TR than in the Free Form TR. 95％ of the community pharmacists rated the CTCAE Form TR as being easier to use than the conventional free-form TR. Information sharing using the CTCAE Form TR can contribute to safe outpatient cancer chemotherapy.

The number of people taking nutritional supplements has increased rapidly due to heightened health consciousness; however, cases of doping through supplement intake have also increased. Therefore, pharmacists need to share not only instructions related to medication, but also anti-doping (AD) directions for supplements with athletes. However, reports on the use of supplements in athletes are limited, and the actual situation is unknown. Then, we conducted a questionnaire survey on 1,249 physical education university students regarding the use of supplements and their awareness on doping. We also examined the steps that need to be taken by pharmacists to facilitate AD.

We found that 60％ of the respondents had taken supplements, 50％ of whom (i.e., 30％ of the total respondents) continued to do so. Furthermore, 40％ took multiple supplements and were at risk of ‘inadvertent doping.’ Most of the respondents took supplements for improving muscle strength, fatigue recovery, and malnutrition. Furthermore, friends and seniors were often the triggers for supplement intake, suggesting that leaders and teams were also involved. Since many respondents purchased supplements at drug stores, it is important for pharmacists to educate athletes and their leaders about AD. Further, supplements, like pharmaceuticals, are constantly advancing and therefore pharmacists need to expand their knowledge and strive to expand their role.

We reported a case of Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-positive methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) lung abscess at the sixth day of life. The patient was a newborn with 36 weeks of gestation and a birth weight of 2,724 grams. There were no signs of maternal infection, and no easily infected patients with asplenia or hypogammaglobulinemia were observed. At the sixth day of life, he developed rapid respiratory and general deterioration. He was diagnosed with lung abscess and treated with Meropenem and Vancomycin for severe necrotizing pneumonia. Pleural fluid culture revealed MSSA, and toxin-producing strains such as PVL were suspected from the response to treatment. Detailed analysis revealed PVL-positive MSSA of sequence type (ST) 30, which is a common community genotype isolated in Japan. Antimicrobial therapy was completed on day 34, and the patient was discharged.

Since MSSA is often found in the nasal cavity and skin of healthy individuals, there is concern about the transmission of PVL-positive MSSA within families and in the community. Therefore, when treating neonatal lung abscess caused by Staphylococci, it is necessary to prevent the spread of the disease by checking the infection status of the patient and family members, and by ensuring the proper use of antibiotics and contact precautions.

Practical training that follows the Model Core Curriculum for Pharmacy Education (2013 Version) began in the 2019 academic year. We conducted a questionnaire survey that will lead to further development of the training system. The subject institutions were those in Miyagi Prefecture that accepted trainees in the 2019 academic year. Responses were received from 27 pharmacies (33.3％) and 14 hospitals (45.2％) for the subject institution survey, and from 69 pharmacy pharmacists (15.4％) and 151 hospital pharmacists (25.5％) for the subject pharmacist survey. Looking at the respondents’ level of involvement in practical training by their position, it was found that among 127 “other pharmacists” who were neither the pharmacist responsible for the pharmacy section nor pharmacist instructors, 56 (44.0％) responded that they were “not very involved” in the practical training, and 13 (10.2％) responded that they were “not involved at all.” Of those 13, nine (69.2％) responded that the reason they were not involved was that they “do not have certification for practical training.” More than 70％ of pharmacists who said that they were “quite involved” in the training regardless of their position, responded that they had difficulty “ensuring my own working hours.” These results suggest that tasks related to practical training may be concentrated on only a certain number of pharmacists in an institution. Hence, training more certified pharmacist instructors and developing systems that would allow many other pharmacists who are not certified to also be involved in practical training are considered necessary.

This study examined factors contributing to the degree of burden on pharmacists in home care and their causes. Based on the medication management records (346 cases), created by 6 insurance-covered pharmacies providing home care services in Aichi Prefecture, and using decision tree analysis, we analyzed the relationships between the degree of burden on pharmacists and 37 factors related to patients/home care (in-pharmacy services, home-visit services, services involving multiple professionals, and services to clarify patient conditions). Among the patient-related factors, pharmacists found <end-of-life care>, specifically intervention for patients with <malignant tumors>, the most burdensome. <Sterile preparation of prescription opioids> and the use of <designated therapeutic drugs> also influenced the degree of burden on them. Among the home care-related factors, <interprofessional collaboration> contributed the most to the degree of burden. On the other hand, the <number of prescription drugs>, <dispensing time>, and <mental distress of caregivers> also increased it. Home care service systems require a wide range of medical functions from support on discharge to the management of sudden changes and end-of-life care, in addition to daily care support. The results suggest that the sophistication of home care services provided by pharmacies is resulting in increased temporal and psychological burdens, and that pharmacotherapy is also becoming more complex. With a shift of their services from objects to persons, interpersonal communication-related factors may also have begun to influence the degree of burden on pharmacists.

To improve the COVID-19 vaccination rate, it is necessary for medical professionals to provide appropriate information about the vaccination to the public. In the present study, to clarify the relationship between pharmacist opinions about providing information on COVID-19 vaccination, and the occurrence of adverse reactions with the vaccination, questionnaire surveys for pharmacists vaccinated against COVID-19 were performed. Pharmacist opinions were analyzed by Berelson’s content analysis. A total of 216 valid questionnaires were collected. The number of pharmacists that had trepidation about the vaccination was 59.0％ (1st dose) and 60.6％ (2nd dose), respectively, and the safety of the vaccine was the most common reason for the response. Pain at the injection site was the most common adverse reaction with the vaccination. The incidence of headache, chills, fever, and joint pain increased on the 2nd dose compared to the 1st. The most common pharmacist opinion was about adverse reactions of the vaccine. These results suggest that pharmacists, as medical professionals felt apprehensive through the experience of adverse reactions, or gathering information about the vaccine. We could clarify the pharmacist opinion that it is important to provide information about adverse reactions for promoting the COVID-19 vaccination. Thus, we hope that pharmacists can dispel general public anxiety over the COVID-19 vaccination by providing accurate information of adverse reactions, such as those that are likely to occur in each dose, the timing of their occurrence, how to deal with adverse reactions, and that this then leads to promoting the public’s uptake of the COVID-19 vaccination.