Introduction:The types of medical care required during a disaster are determined by variables such as the cycle and nature of the disaster. Following a flood, there exists the potential for transmission of water-borne diseases and for increased levels of endemic illnesses such as vector-borne diseases. Therefore, consideration of the situation of infectious diseases must be addressed when providing relief.The Japan Disaster Relief ( JDR) Medical Team was sent to Mozambique where a flood disaster occurred during January to March 2000. The team operated in the Hokwe area of the State of Gaza, in the mid-south of Mozambique where damage was the greatest.Methods:An epidemiological study was conducted. Information was collected from medical records by abstracting data at local medical facilities, interviewing in habitants and evacuees, and conducting analyses of water.Results:A total of 2,611 patients received medical care during the nine days. Infectious diseases were detected in 85% of all of patients, predominantly malaria, respiratory infectious diseases, and diarrhea. There was no outbreak of cholera or dysentery. Self-reports of the level of health decreased among the flood victims after the event. The incidence of malaria increased by four to five times over non-disaster periods, and the quality of drinking water deteriorated after the event.Conclusions:Both the number of patients and the incidence of endemic infectious diseases, such as malaria and diarrhea, increased following the flood. Also, there was a heightening of risk factors for infectious diseases such as an increase in population, deterioration of physical strength due to the shortage of food and the temporary living conditions for safety purposes, and turbid degeneration of drinking water. These findings support the hypotheses that there exists the potential for the increased transmission of water borne diseases and that there occurs increased levels of endemic illnesses during the post-flood period.

During the last decade, Japan has experienced the largest burden of chemical terrorism-related events in the world, including the: (1) 1994 Matsumoto sarin attack; (2) 1995 Tokyo subway sarin attack; (3) 1998 Wakayama arsenic incident; (4) 1998 Niigata sodium-azide incident; and (5) 1998 Nagano cyanide incident. Two other intentional cyanide releases in To kyo subway and railway station restrooms were thwarted in 1995. These events spurred Japan to improve the following components of its chemical disaster-response system: (1) scene demarcation; (2) emergency medical care; (3) mass decontamination; (4) personal protective equipment; (5) chemical detection; (6) information-sharing and coordination; and (7) education and training. Further advances occurred as result of potential chemical terrorist threats to the 2000 Kyushu-Okinawa G8 Summit, which Japan hosted. Today, Japan has an integrated system of chemical disaster response that involves local fire and police services, local emergency medical services (EMS), local hospitals, Japanese Self-Defense Forces, and the Japanese Poison Information Center.

Metallic stents are excellent in maintaining patency compared with the conventional stents. Therefore, they can be used as first-line treatment of malignant ureteral obstructions.

The purpose of the present two phase 1 studies was to assess the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics for topical application of a novel Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor, JTE‐052, in Japanese healthy adult male volunteers and Japanese adult patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). Additionally, exploratory investigation was performed on the efficacy for disease severity and pruritus score in AD patients. In the QBX1‐1 study, the cutaneous safety of JTE‐052 ointment by a patch test and a photo patch test was assessed in an intra‐individual comparative study using placebo ointment, white petrolatum and non‐application as comparators. The study demonstrated that JTE‐052 ointment would be associated with a low potential for phototoxicity but had no potential for skin irritation or photoallergy. In the QBX1‐2 study, it was revealed that the systemic exposure to JTE‐052 in both healthy volunteers with normal skin and AD patients with inflamed skin was low in application of not only 1% but also 3% JTE‐052 ointment. JTE‐052 ointments of 1% and 3% were generally safe and well tolerated in both populations. In a repeated twice‐daily application for 7 days, the efficacy of JTE‐052 ointment to AD patients was observed with both 1% and 3% ointments in the exploratory investigations evaluated by Eczema Area and Severity Index, Investigator's Global Assessment and Numeric Rating Scale assessments. The mean scores for each assessment declined from the baseline throughout the study. These results suggest that the treatment of JTE‐052 ointment is generally safe and effective in AD patients, although further large confirmatory studies are needed.

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