Nationwide surveillance of bacterial respiratory pathogens conducted by the surveillance committee of Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010: General view of the pathogens' antibacterial susceptibility.

The nationwide surveillance on antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens from patients in Japan, was conducted by Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases and Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010. The isolates were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections during the period from January and April 2010 by three societies. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted at the central reference laboratory according to the method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institutes using maximum 45 antibacterial agents.

In vitro and in vivo anti-plasmodial activity of essential oils, including hinokitiol.

Abstract. The anti-plasmodial activity of 47 essential oils and 10 of their constituents were screened for in vitro activity against Plasmodium falciparum. Five of these essential oils (sandalwood, caraway, monarda, nutmeg, and Thujopsis dolabrata var.

Usefulness of gram-stained sputum obtained just after administration of antimicrobial agents as the earliest therapeutic indicator for evaluating the effectiveness of empiric therapy in community-acquired pneumonia caused by pneumococcus or Moraxella catarrhalis.

We present here three cases in which morphological changes and/or a decreased number of Streptococcus pneumoniae or Moraxella catarrhalis could be observed in gram-stained sputum obtained just after the first administration of an antimicrobial agent. Case 1 was a 53-year-old man with pneumonia caused by gram-positive diplococcus, identified as S. pneumoniae, who was administered 2 g of ampicillin over a period of 1 h.

Case of Mycobacterium tuberculosis meningitis: Gram staining as a useful initial diagnostic clue for tuberculous meningitis.

A 32-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of fever, headache, and loss of consciousness. Four days before admission, he had had difficulty speaking. On the day of admission, his colleague had found him to be unconscious and lying on his back.

A case study of measles vaccination for university students during the measles outbreak in Tokyo, Japan, 2007.

In April 2007, seven students belonging to the same class at Teikyo University developed measles. To prevent the spread of infection, 27 of 106 students in the same class who had low anti-measles antibody titers as measured by hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assay were vaccinated. After the outbreak had subsided, the HI values were investigated in 103 students, and they answered questionnaires about their health condition during the period of the outbreak and their previous clinical histories of measles, including vaccination records.

Nationwide surveillance of bacterial respiratory pathogens conducted by the Japanese Society of Chemotherapy in 2008: general view of the pathogens' antibacterial susceptibility.

For the purpose of nationwide surveillance of the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens collected from patients in Japan, the Japanese Society of Chemotherapy conducted a third year of nationwide surveillance during the period from January to April 2008. A total of 1,097 strains were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections. Susceptibility testing was evaluable with 987 strains (189 Staphylococcus aureus, 211 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 6 Streptococcus pyogenes, 187 Haemophilus influenzae, 106 Moraxella catarrhalis, 126 Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 162 Pseudomonas aeruginosa).

The usefulness of changing focus during examination using Gram staining as initial diagnostic clue for infective tuberculosis.

Gram staining is a useful technique for detecting bacteria but is highly questionable in detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Its detection generally requires special staining, such as Ziehl-Neelsen staining. We experienced three cases in which tuberculosis was first suggested by Gram staining of sputum or pus, confirmed by Ziehl-Neelsen staining, and diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction or culture.

Polymerase chain reaction assay for specific identification of Candida guilliermondii (Pichia guilliermondii).

The incidence rates of fungemia caused by Candida guilliermondii have been increasing over the past several years. Although still relatively rare (1.3% of all cases of fungemia in Japan), most cases of C.

Exotic myiasis caused by 19 larvae of Cordylobia anthropophaga in Namibia and identified using molecular methods in Japan.

A case of exotic myiasis caused by tumbu fly (Cordylobia anthropophaga) parasitism acquired while travelling in the Republic of Namibia is reported. This is the fifth case reported in Japan, and is very unusual in that the patient was infected with 19 larvae. This is also the first case diagnosed using molecular methods in Japan.

Destructive pulmonary embolism in a patient with community-acquired staphylococcal bacteremia.

We report a 17-year-old man with destructive pulmonary embolism caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia. The patient was not immunocompromised and had neither underlying diseases nor risk factors, such as concomitant influenza viral infection, which exacerbate staphylococcal infections. The rapid and extensive progression of pulmonary involvement in all lung fields make this a rare case; there have been few reports in the literature describing a similar radiographic appearance in patients with community-acquired staphylococcal bacteremia.