Publications by authors named "Isamu Kamimaki"

Article Synopsis
  • * Each person's experience with NPS can differ significantly, making diagnosis challenging, especially since kidney biopsies may not provide clear results.
  • * A case study of a 6-year-old girl highlighted that genetic testing revealed her condition despite a kidney biopsy showing nonspecific results, emphasizing the need for awareness about certain physical signs to improve diagnosis and avoid unnecessary procedures.
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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in 2019 in China and rapidly spread worldwide, leading to a pandemic. The threat of SARS-CoV-2 is subsiding as most people have acquired sufficient antibodies through vaccination and/or infection to prevent severe COVID-19. After the emergence of the omicron variants, the seroprevalence of antibodies against the N protein elicited by SARS-CoV-2 infection ranged from 44.

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Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is an autoimmune disorder that is sometimes triggered by a preceding viral infection and is characterized by a transient or persistent decrease in the platelet (Plt) count. Herein, we report the first pediatric case of severe ITP that developed immediately after the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in a school-aged girl. A previously healthy six-year-old girl was diagnosed with COVID-19 a day before experiencing a high fever, sore throat, and headache.

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Japan has reported a relatively small number of COVID-19 cases. Because not all infected persons receive diagnostic tests for COVID-19, the reported number must be lower than the actual number of infections. We assessed SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence by analyzing >60,000 samples collected in Japan (Tokyo Metropolitan Area and Hokkaido Prefecture) during February 2020-March 2022.

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Objectives: The incidence of infections caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria has increased. This study aimed to clarify the risk factors and treatment strategies for febrile urinary tract infection (fUTI) caused by ESBL-producing bacteria in Japanese children.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted in 21 hospitals among children aged <16 years diagnosed with an fUTI between 2008 and 2017.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Researchers analyzed RNA-seq data from 465 blood samples, uncovering 1169 expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) and 1549 splice QTLs (sQTLs) linked to COVID-19 severity, including immune-related expressions.
  • * The study highlights the impact of disease severity on gene expression, identifying specific eQTLs that interact with COVID-19 phenotypes, and provides an extensive resource for understanding gene regulation in response to the virus.
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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) with 2,393 COVID-19 patients and 3,289 controls in Japan, identifying a specific genetic variant (rs60200309-A) on chromosome 5 linked to severe cases in individuals under 65.
  • The variant is more common in East Asians and associated with reduced expression of the DOCK2 gene, which was found to be lower in severe COVID-19 cases, particularly in non-classical monocytes.
  • Additionally, inhibiting DOCK2 in hamsters worsened pneumonia symptoms, indicating its potential as a biomarker and therapeutic target for severe COVID-19.
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  • The study analyzed the effectiveness of the inactivated influenza vaccine in children from 6 months to 15 years old over multiple seasons from 2013/14 to 2020/21.
  • Results indicated that the vaccine was effective against influenza A and B, with notable effectiveness in children aged 1 to 2 years old, while younger children (6-11 months) showed lower effectiveness against influenza B.
  • The findings suggest that the vaccine can be recommended for children across different age groups for future influenza seasons, even during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
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A 14-year-old boy presented to the hospital with pain in the right lower abdomen. His condition was diagnosed as acute appendicitis. An emergency operation was performed, and histopathological examination revealed an actinomycete-related organism in the excised appendicitis specimen.

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Infection with Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, a known causal pathogen of human bacterial gastroenteritis, causes various symptoms and complications. A previously healthy 7-year-old girl was admitted because of fever and gastrointestinal symptoms. She was initially diagnosed with intussusception by abdominal ultrasonography.

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Article Synopsis
  • - A study in Japan analyzed the clinical features of febrile urinary tract infections (fUTI) in children under 15, examining data from 2,049 cases between 2008 and 2017, primarily focusing on age and gender distribution.
  • - The findings revealed a strong male predominance, especially in infants, with 87% of male cases and 53.2% of female cases under 1 year old; the median age of patients was 5 months.
  • - The most common bacteria responsible for fUTI were Escherichia coli (76.6%) and Enterococcus spp. (9.8%), prompting the recommendation for Gram staining of urine samples prior to starting antibiotic treatment.
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Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections in children. The symptoms of UTI in young children are nonspecific, therefore urine should be examined whenever UTI cannot be ruled out. In clinical settings, however, collecting urine from children who are not toilet trained is sometimes difficult, presenting a challenge in UTI management.

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Meningitis is associated with elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines in the blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and subdural fluid. Subdural effusion prolongs fever in patients with meningitis. However, the reason for this remains unclear.

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Shwachman-Diamond syndrome characterized by metaphyseal dysplasia, pancreatic insufficiency, and pancytopenia is caused by biallelic mutations in SBDS. Gene conversion between SBDS and its pseudogene SBDSP1 is the major cause. Here, we report two unrelated patients with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome who were shown to be compound heterozygotes for relatively frequent pathogenic alleles (the 258+2T>C allele and another allele composed of 183-184TA>CT and 201A>G) using an established polymerase chain reaction sequencing assay with SBDS-specific primers.

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Purpose: This study was conducted to estimate the blood culture volume that should be collected from pediatric patients to improve diagnostic abilities.

Methods: Blood cultures from neonates and children aged up to 18 years were collected and the volume was measured for over a 1-year period. During the intervention period, examiners were instructed to draw 3 mL of blood for culture, if possible.

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The global prevalence of infections caused by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli has been increasing. In children, ESBL-producing E. coli manifest mostly as febrile urinary tract infections (fUTIs).

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TWCC 58113 was isolated from a specimen from a 12-year-old boy with purulent lymphadenitis. The TWCC 58113 genome was completely sequenced. The TWCC 58113 chromosome was 2,761,442 bp in size with a GC content of 32.

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Round pneumonia is a disease commonly recognized in the pediatric age group, especially under the age of 8 years. is the most common agent causing this characteristic type of pneumonia. We herein report a case of a 6-year-old boy with only mild cough and low-grade fever who was then diagnosed with round pneumonia due to .

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Objectives: We assessed the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV) in children 6 months to 15 years of age during the 2016/17 season. In addition, we estimated the impact of repeated vaccination in children on VE.

Methods: Our study for VEs in preventing influenza and admission due to influenza were conducted according to a test-negative case-control design (TNCC) based on influenza rapid diagnostic test results.

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Background: We investigated features and responses to treatment in patients with febrile and afebrile convulsions with mild gastroenteritis and characterized convulsions with rotavirus and norovirus gastroenteritis.

Methods: We conducted a prospective, observational study to evaluate patients with febrile and afebrile convulsions with mild gastroenteritis who were hospitalized between November 2011 and March 2014 at 13 facilities in the National Hospital Organization. We classified the patients into two groups: presence or absence of fever.

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Diamond-Blackfan anaemia is a congenital bone marrow failure syndrome that is characterized by red blood cell aplasia. The disease has been associated with mutations or large deletions in 11 ribosomal protein genes including RPS7, RPS10, RPS17, RPS19, RPS24, RPS26, RPS29, RPL5, RPL11, RPL26 and RPL35A as well as GATA1 in more than 50% of patients. However, the molecular aetiology of many Diamond-Blackfan anaemia cases remains to be uncovered.

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