[Surveillance for food poisoning of unknown origin derived from fresh seafood in Japan in 2009].

Objectives: The frequency of food poisoning from fresh seafood in Japan in 2009 and the regional characteristics and causative factors of such poisoning require investigation. In all cases, no bacterial or viral pathogens have been detected, although sliced raw flounder (sashimi) was suspected as being causative by the food sanitation inspectors. However, the cause of these poisonings is still unknown, and comprehensive approaches are required to completely understand the problem.

Stroke incidence and usage rate of thrombolysis in a Japanese urban city: the Kurashiki stroke registry.

Background: To investigate stroke incidence and rate of thrombolytic therapy in an urban city of around 500,000 residents.

Methods: Patients suffering acute stroke in Kurashiki City (population 474,415) between March 2009 and February 2010 (inclusive) and admitted to 1 of 10 hospitals throughout the city were prospectively enrolled.

Results: We enrolled patients with first-ever stroke (n = 763; men 415; median age 72 years) and first-ever/recurrent stroke (n = 1009; men 552; median age 73 years).

[Preservation of quality of life and its relation to lifestyle in centenarians in Japan: a visitation interview survey].

Purpose: To investigate quality of life (QOL) and associated factors in centenarians, we conducted a visitation interview survey for all male and one half of the female centenarians living in Japan, and studied QOL, lifestyle and health status.

Methods: All the male centenarians and a randomly-sampled half of the female centenarians living in Japan were included in the study based on the National Census. Finally, 556 male and 1341 female centenarians participated in the present visitation interview survey and were studied using a structured questionnaire.