In September 2016, 140 patients with primary symptoms of sore throat and fever were identified in a school dormitory in Osaka, Japan. Epidemiological and laboratory investigations determined that these symptomatic conditions were from a foodborne outbreak of group G streptococcus (GGS), with GGS being isolated from samples from patients, cooks, and foods. The strain of GGS was identified as subsp. of two types ( and ). The causative food, a broccoli salad, was contaminated with the two types of subsp. , totaling 1.3 × 10 CFU/g. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) of samples from patients, cooks, and foods produced similar band patterns among samples with the same type. This result suggested the possibility of exposure from the contaminated food. The average onset time was 44.9 h and the prevalence rate was 62%. This is the first report to identify the causative food of a foodborne outbreak by subsp. .
A questionnaire survey was conducted at local pharmacies in an urban area to investigate awareness and management of cardiovascular risk factors in patients with diabetes. Among respondents, 51, 86, and 94 % stated that they knew their low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and systolic blood pressure levels, respectively. Among patients aware of their risk factor levels, 49 % achieved HbA1c \7 %, 45 % achieved systolic blood pressure \130 mmHg, and 32 % achieved LDL \120 mg/dL. Only 10 % of patients met all three criteria recommended by the current guidelines. When the achievement of less stringent criteria was examined, 79 % of the patients achieved HbA1c \8 %, 75 % achieved systolic blood pressure \140 mmHg, 73 % achieved LDL \140 mg/dL, and 48 % achieved all three criteria. Significantly smaller proportions of patients in the youngest age category (\62 years), and those with the longest disease duration ([15 years) met all three of these less stringent criteria. Awareness of HbA1c was significantly associated with achievement of systolic blood pressure \140 mmHg, independently of age, gender, or duration of diabetes treatment. In conclusion, risk factor management in patients with diabetes is not sufficient according to the current standards. Therefore, effective measures against inadequate control of modifiable risk factors in diabetes especially early in life are recommended.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.