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Biomedical subjects

O Kunii

Publications and source records attributed to O Kunii.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

[Present status of medical care for foreigners in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan (1). Survey at all clinics and hospitals].

The number of foreign workers in Japan has rapidly increased during the last several years, because of the nation's insufficient work force. The influx of laborers into Japan has brought various issues to the forefront of society, one of the most serious being their medical care. To clarify the present status of their medical care, we sent a questionnaire to 1,004 clinics and hospitals in Tochigi Prefecture. The response rate was 55.6%, and the results are summarized as follows: 1. Clinics were rather reluctant to accept foreign patients because of the language barrier and the consequent time-consuming medical care. 2. Two-thirds of foreign patients did not enroll in any health insurance system. Most clinics and hospitals requested foreign patients with no health insurance to pay 100% of the medical cost set by the national insurance system of Japan. Some hospitals required more than 200% of the set cost, while some clinics reduced the cost. 3. Only a few doctors can communicate with patients in English. It is very difficult for doctors to communicate with foreign patients, who speak only their own native language, but not English. Most doctors felt it necessary to have the assistance of translators or booklets for translation. 4. Foreign patients endured illness, that is, ignored illness, delayed or stopped medical care at clinics and hospitals, because of communication problems and high medical costs. Labor injury cases among foreign workers were more frequent than among Japanese workers. 5. The medical cost for foreign workers per year has been estimated to be 44 billion yen (370 million dollars).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1993

[Present status of medical care for foreigners in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan (2). Illness behavior of foreign workers].

This study revealed certain health issues and illness behaviors of foreign workers living in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. We collected responses to our questionnaires from 317 foreign workers from 41 factories. The results are summarized as follows: 1. The incidences of signs and symptoms of poor health were high among foreign workers. Most signs and symptoms seemed to be related to physical and psychological stresses in daily life and work. The incidences of work-related injury and disease were also high. 2. A quarter of the foreign workers polled did not visit clinics or hospitals regardless of their suffering from severe illness, mainly because of heavy work duties, language barriers and high medical costs. 3. Foreign workers most often visited clinics, pharmacies and hospitals, when they suffered from illness. They would not pay more than 10,000 yen for an outpatient medical visit or 100,000 yen for admission or for total medical costs. 4. Sixty percent of foreign workers had difficulty in communicating with doctors, even in English. This situation made foreign workers hesitant to visit clinics and hospitals in Japan. 5. Forty percent of foreign workers did not enroll in a health insurance system, but half of them felt it was necessary to do so. 6. Fifty-four percent of foreign workers were psychologically unstable. Emergency psychological care should be applied in some cases, such as potential suicide cases.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Effects of immunoglobulin preparations on the opsonic activities against various pathogens].

We evaluated the opsonic activities of human intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) preparations against pathogenic organisms by measuring the luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) during the phagocytosis of these organisms. Polyethylenglycol-treated IVIG significantly increased the CL of PMN by opsonization against various bacteria and Candida albicans (p less than 0.01). The high CL induced by IVIG with intact Fc-fragment showed no significant differences among lots or preparations made by different treatments. In both PMN-CL in the absence of human serum and whole blood CL at low concentration of serum complement, the CL response was not affected by pepsin-treated IVIG. In the severely burned patients' blood with a very low concentration of serum immunoglobulin, IVIG with intact Fc-fragment significantly increased CL (p less than 0.01). It is suggested that administration of IVIG is useful against infections in these patients. The measurement of whole blood CL in vitro may be useful for evaluating the opsonic activity of IVIG against target pathogens in vivo.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1989

[A case of pneumococcal arthritis in a patient with gout].

A 62 year-old man had suffered from gout and mild renal insufficiency since he was 40 years old. He was admitted to our hospital complicated by a productive cough, high fever and a right swollen knee joint. The chest radiographs demonstrated a left upper lobe infiltration shadow. Streptococci pneumoniae were found in the sputum, arterial blood and synovial fluid of the right knee joint, suggesting a severe pneumonia followed by pneumococcal septicemia which led to purulent arthritis. He was treated with cefamandole (CMD) and penicillin G (PC-G) for one week, but the chest X-ray findings were not improved. After treatment with cefbuperazone (CBPZ) and latamoxef (LMOX), his fever and other symptoms gradually resolved. Streptococcus pneumoniae is an uncommon organism of septic arthritis. Pneumococcal arthritis in a patient without immunodeficiency such as this case is very rare, and has not been reported in Japan.

Arthritis, Infectious↗
PubMed1989

[A case of septic shock due to pneumonia caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae].

A 51-year-old male, who had a history of excessive drinking and chronic hepatitis, was admitted to our hospital because of high fever and shock. Physical examinations, chest X-ray films and hemodynamic data revealed that he had progressed to septic shock due to pneumonia. Combination chemotherapy of latamoxef plus piperacillin was immediately started. After Klebsiella pneumoniae was isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, the antibiotics were changed to ceftizoxime plus amikacin. Furthermore human gamma globulin preparations and frozen fractional plasma were administered because of granulocytopenia and a decrease in complement. Gabexate mesylate, methylprednisolone (MP) and branched chain amino acids were given to prevent disseminated intravascular coagulation and/or multiple organ failure. With this intensive care, he recovered from shock and pneumonia. The effects of MP on the whole blood chemiluminescence (CL) were examined. Incubation of whole blood with 25, 50 or 100 micrograms/ml of MP for 10 to 60 minutes had no effects on the CL response. This indicates that MP does not affect the production of reactive oxygen species from phagocytic cells at concentrations comparable to those used in drug therapy.

Humans↗
PubMed1989

Effects of 2(3)-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole pretreatment on cefpiramide binding to mouse glutathione S-transferases.

Binding of cefpiramide (CPM) and other beta-lactam antimicrobial agents to 2(3)-tert-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole (BHA)-induced liver glutathione (GSH) S-transferases (EC 2.5.1.18) from CD-1 mice was studied. A marked induction of hepatic GSH S-transferase from mice fed BHA was observed. Gel chromatography of liver cytosol from mice fed BHA showed an increased binding of CPM, cefotetan and cefazolin to BHA-induced GSH S-transferases. The extent of their binding to GSH S-transferase seemed to be correlated with the extent of their excretion into the bile. Binding of CPM to the GSH S-transferase fraction was inhibited by both indocyanine green, which is known to bind liver GSH S-transferases intensively, and by cefoperazon, which is mainly excreted into the bile. This study suggests that GSH S-transferases are the main binding proteins of CPM in the liver cytosol fraction and play an important role as carrier proteins of CPM and some antimicrobial agents in mouse liver.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

[Studies of lomefloxacin in biliary tract infections].

Lomefloxacin (NY-198), a new antimicrobial quinolone, was examined for its antimicrobial activities against clinical isolates and clinical efficacies to biliary tract infections. The following results were obtained. 1. The MICs of NY-198 against Escherichia coli (20 strains) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (20 strains) were good and similar to those of ofloxacin (OFLX) or norfloxacin (NFLX). The MICs of NY-198 against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (20 strains) were inferior by 1 dilution factor to OFLX or NFLX, and against Enterococcus faecalis (10 strains), they were similar to NFLX and slightly inferior to OFLX. 2. NY-198 was administered to 8 patients with biliary tract infections (acute cholecystitis 7 cases, chronic cholangitis 1 case). The results were good in 7 and unevaluable in 1 case because the duration of the therapy was too short. 3. As for side effects, mild urticaria was observed in 1 case and epigastralgia with nausea in another. As for abnormal laboratory test values slight elevations of GOT and GPT were recognized in 1 case. 4. In conclusion, we consider NY-198 is a useful oral drug for the treatment of biliary tract infections.

4-Quinolones↗