Incidence of Mumps Deafness in Japan, 2005-2017: Analysis of Japanese Insurance Claims Database.

Background: Mumps deafness causes serious problems, and incidence data are needed to identify its disease burden. However, such data are limited, and the reported incidence is highly variable. Nationwide studies in Japan with a large age range are lacking.

Mumps-Related Disease Burden in Japan: Analysis of JMDC Health Insurance Reimbursement Data for 2005-2017.

Background: Mumps vaccination coverage is low in Japan, partly because of its voluntary nature. Although pediatric cases of mumps virus infection are captured by the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases program under the Infectious Disease Law, there are currently no data regarding the occurrence of mumps and its complications in adults.

Methods: We investigated the annual incidence rates of mumps and its complications based on health insurance reimbursement data for 5,209,660 individuals aged 0-64 years for 2005-2017, obtained from JMDC Inc.

[Relationship between Echovirus Epidemics and Incidence of Aseptic Meningitis following Mumps Vaccination Based on Previous Japanese Reports: Possibility of Misclassification of Echovirus Infection in Previous Reports].

Objectives: In Japan, the vaccination for mumps has been on a voluntary basis since 1993 because of safety concerns arising from the high incidence of aseptic meningitis associated with Japanese mumps vaccine strains. However, recent reports on the voluntary mumps vaccination have described the decreased incidence of postvaccination aseptic meningitis for unknown reasons. To explore the underlying reason for this decrease, we analyzed the influence of echoviruses, the most common causative viruses for community-acquired aseptic meningitis, on the previously reported incidence of aseptic meningitis following mumps vaccination.

Effects of a Public Subsidy Program for Mumps Vaccine on Reducing the Disease Burden in Nagoya City, Japan.

Nagoya City initiated a public subsidy program for mumps vaccination using either the Torii or Hoshino strains in August 2010. To determine the effects of the program, we used publicly available information from Nagoya City to investigate the changes in immunization rates and numbers of patients who developed post-immunization adverse reactions, including post-vaccinal aseptic meningitis, in the 7 years since its initiation. We also investigated the numbers of mumps patients reported by sentinel sites in a national database during this period.

An inverse correlation of VZV skin-test reaction, but not antibody, with severity of herpes zoster skin symptoms and zoster-associated pain.

Background: Cell-mediated immunity (CMI) has been considered to be related to the development of herpes zoster (HZ). However, there have been no large-scale prospective studies on the relationship between VZV-specific CMI and severity of HZ.

Objective: We carried out a large-scale prospective cohort study to clarify the relationship between immunological factors for varicella-zoster virus (VZV) and the clinical severity of HZ.

The Shozu Herpes Zoster (SHEZ) study: rationale, design, and description of a prospective cohort study.

Background: The incidence and risk factors for herpes zoster have been studied in cross-sectional and cohort studies, although most such studies have been conducted in Western countries. Evidence from Asian populations is limited, and no cohort study has been conducted in Asia. We are conducting a 3-year prospective cohort study in Shozu County in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan to determine the incidence and predictive and immunologic factors for herpes zoster among Japanese.