Two cases of Taeniasis Infection.

We report two cases of taeniasis caused by tapeworm infection. The first was a Japanese female, 23 years old, who had a history of eating raw meat during a visit to Thailand. She was referred to our hospital with a history of passing proglottids in feces. Taenia saginata or T. asiatica was suspected based on the proglottid morphologic features in addition to supportive information regarding her travel and dietary history. The patient was given praziquantel and the tapeworm was excreted. The second was a 35-year-old Thai male who had lived in Japan since 2000 and not left the country since that time. He had consumed beef cooked in the so-called yakiniku style and also sometimes raw, because of nostalgia for that Thai custom. The patient passed proglottids several times and then came to us. The proglottids were compatible with those of T. saginata. Praziquantel was prescribed and the tapeworm was excreted. In both cases, mitochondrial DNA analysis identified the worm species as T. saginata. Since morphological discrimination of three human-infecting Taenia species, T. saginata, T. solium, and T. asiatica, is not always possible, it is necessary to employ DNA analysis for diagnosis of taeniasis to confirm the worm species

絵本レビューを情報源とする子どもの認知発達的反応の収集・類型化とそれに基づく絵本の分類

本論文では，絵本に対する子どもの認知発達的反応が描写された絵本レビューに対してテキストマイニング技術を適用し，絵本に対する子どもの認知発達的反応事例を網羅的に収集した．特に，典型的な5種類の反応の事例に対して，反応の詳細および絵本の特徴に基づき，合計13種類の下位分類を設定することができた．さらに，以上の結果と，既存の発達心理学文献における知見との間の比較分析を行った結果，発達心理学文献での報告事例の規模・種類とも上回る子どもの認知発達的事例を収集・類型化できることが分かった

Pasteurella bettyae infection requiring finger amputation due to rapid deterioration and tissue damage

We report a case of infection of the middle finger of a 69-year-old man who visited our hospital. Pus was collected from the erythematous and swollen area of the nail cage of the left-hand middle finger and evaluated in our microbiology laboratory. Gram staining of the specimen revealed multinucleated leukocytes and abundant gram-negative bacilli. Isolated colonies were identified as Pasteurella bettyae using VITEK MS and 16 S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing. The patient's blood test results improved after treatment with penicillin, but the local factors affecting the finger did not improve, and amputation of the middle finger had to be performed. This case represents a report of a very rare hand infection caused by P. bettyae. Polymorphic identification methods, such as MALDI-TOF MS and 16 S rRNA gene sequencing, are needed for members of the genus Pasteurella isolated from severe infections and abnormal sites, and further studies are warranted

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and multiplex polymerase chain reaction test on outpatient antibiotic prescriptions for pediatric respiratory infection.

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic on outpatient antibiotic prescriptions for pediatric respiratory infections at an acute care hospital in Japan in order to direct future pediatric outpatient antibiotic stewardship. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the FilmArray Respiratory Panel (RP) on outpatient antibiotic prescriptions was assessed from January 2019 to December 2021 using an interrupted time series analysis of children <20 years. The overall antimicrobial prescription rate decreased from 38.7% to 22.4% from the pre-pandemic period to the pandemic. The pandemic (relative risk [RR] level, 0.97 [0.58-1.61]; P = 0.90; RR slope, 1.05 [0.95-1.17] per month; P = 0.310) and FilmArray RP (RR level, 0.90 [0.46-1.75]; P = 0.75; RR slope, 0.95 [0.85-1.06] per month; P = 0.330) had no significant effect on the monthly antibiotic prescription rates. The COVID-19 pandemic was not significantly related to the antibiotic prescription rate, suggesting that it did not impact physicians' behavior toward antibiotic prescriptions. Replacing rapid antigen tests with the FilmArray RP introduced on December 1, 2020, did not affect the magnitude of the reduction in antibiotic prescription rate for pediatric respiratory infections

Trends in the number of patients tested and antibiotic prescriptions, including overall antimicrobials, penicillin, cephalosporins, quinolones, macrolides, sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, and other antimicrobials.

Dots indicate the antibacterial prescription rates of these antimicrobials; dots and bars represent the individual monthly totals from January 2019 to December 2021.</p

Patient characteristics and monthly antimicrobial prescription rates during the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods.

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Interrupted time series analysis with monthly antibiotic prescription rate, number of antibiotic prescriptions, and number of patient visits with RAT or FilmArray test as outcome.

Interrupted time series analysis with monthly antibiotic prescription rate, number of antibiotic prescriptions, and number of patient visits with RAT or FilmArray test as outcome.</p

Patient characteristics and antimicrobial prescription rates during the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods.

Patient characteristics and antimicrobial prescription rates during the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods.</p