Hantaviruses cause two severe human diseases: hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Various rodent species act as animal reservoirs for hantavirus. In Japan, urban rat- (Rattus norvegicus) and laboratory rat-derived human infections were reported during the 1960s and 1970s-1984, respectively. Although no human cases of infection have been reported since 1984, infected urban rats have been found throughout Japan, and infected grey red-backed voles (Clethrionomys rufocanus) have been identified in Hokkaido. These carriers can be considered to be potential sources of human infection. This review examines the epidemiology and epizootiology of this important zoonosis in Japan.

Due to the rising importance of Candida glabrata and other non-albicans Candida as principle human opportunistic pathogens, 356 women with abnormal vaginal discharge who attended a private obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Amman, Jordan, between January 1999 and February 2001 were examined. The isolation rate of Candida spp. from high-vaginal swabs was 44.9%. CHROMagar Candida and conventional mycological methods identified six isolated Candida spp., including C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. tropicalis, C. parapsilosis, C. krusei, and C. kefyr. The percentages of C. albicans, C. glabrata, and C. tropicalis isolates were 43.1%, 32.5%, and 8.1%, respectively. C. albicans was isolated in combination with C. tropicalis and C. krusei in two patients. Statistical analysis of the present results clearly show an increase in the incidence of vulvovaginal candidiasis caused by C. glabrata in the two study periods, 1994-1996 and 1999-2001 (P = 0.0186). In contrast, comparing the proportions of vulvovaginal candidiasis caused by C. albicans in the two periods, there was no significant difference. These results may have significant clinical implications, as C. glabrata are innately less susceptible to most antifungal agents than C. albicans; these findings support viewing this organism as a major pathogen.

The prevalence and intensity of Loa loa and Mansonella perstans were studied in three villages of the ljebu north area in Ogun State, western Nigeria. Blood samples were collected by finger-pricking from 373 (181 males, 192 females) subjects with an age range of 4 to 55 years. The blood samples were examined microscopically for the presence of microfilariae (mf). L. loa and M. perstans were present in the blood samples in 39 (10.5%) and 12 (3.2%) of the subjects, respectively. Neither of the infections were found to be sex-dependent. The geometric mean of the L. loa intensity was 1.8 mf per 50 μl of blood, while that of M. perstans was 1.5 mf per 50 μl. The prevalence of mixed infections of both L. loa and M. perstans was 1.0%.

In 1998 and 1999, there were three outbreaks caused by Salmonella Enteritidis in Shiga Prefecture. One outbreak was suspected to be a diffuse outbreak, caused by frozen cream puffs that had been sold in chain stores throughout Shiga Prefecture between the beginning of September and the beginning of October, 1998. The other outbreaks occurred in May and in August, 1999. All isolates of the three outbreaks showed an identical lysis pattern against the typing phage, though this pattern did not conform to the current scheme, so-called RDNC. In addition all isolates were resistant to ampicillin and streptomycin. However, the patterns of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis strongly indicated that the three outbreaks were actually independent.

Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) is known to be the endothelial receptor for Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes. Associations of the variant allele coding methionine at position 29 in the N-terminal domain of ICAM-1, ICAM-1^Kilifi with severe malaria have been investigated in African populations, and the results of these investigations have varied widely. In this study, we investigated a possible association between the ICAM-1^Kilifi and severe malaria in adult malaria patients living in northwest Thailand. The frequencies of the ICAM-1^Kilifi among patients with mild malaria, with non-cerebral severe malaria, and with cerebral malaria were 1.7%, 2.7%, and 2.3%, respectively. This variant showed neither positive nor negative association with severe malaria in Thailand.