A comparative study of the trends in epidemiological aspects of Lyme disease infections in Korea and Japan, 2011-2016.

Lyme disease (LD) is one of the most prevalent tick-borne emerging infections in North America, Europe, and far Eastern Asia including Korea and Japan. This study was undertaken with the aim of a comparative and quantitative analysis of the epidemiological aspects of LD infections in Korea and Japan from 2011 to 2016. The raw data analyzed in this study were obtained from the websites of the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), Korea, and the National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID), Japan. In total 65 cases of LD were observed with a cumulative incidence rate (CIR) of 0.22 per million population in Korea from 2011 to 2016. During the same period in Japan, there were 75 cases of LD with a CIR of 0.10 [significantly higher than that in Korea (p <0.01)]. Further, the results showed that in Korea, LD incidence was slightly higher in women than in men; but in Japan, the case was reverse, with incidence much higher in men than women. The proportion of cases differed significantly by age-specific adjusted groups within both countries (p <0.01). In both the countries, the incidence of LD was highest among those aged ≤20 yr (93.8% cases in Korea, and 94.7% cases in Japan). Cases peaked in autumn (46.7% of total cases) in Korea and in summer (60.0%) in Japan (p <0.01). The counties in rural areas had a significantly higher proportion of cases than the capital cities in both the countries (p <0.01). The study indicates that LD in Korea and Japan is an emerging zoonosis, and pose a serious risk to public health. The results underscore the continued emergency of LD and provide a basis for targeting prevention campaigns to a population with increasing incidence. Proper information, education and communication (IEC) activities can be helpful in reducing the spread of infection.

Predictive Factors of Spontaneous Reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions among Community Pharmacists.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the association between spontaneous reporting (SR) and the knowledge, attitude, and needs of community pharmacists (CPs), using a questionnaire following a conceptual model known as the mixed model of knowledge-attitude-practices and the satisfaction of needs. METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires were used with a nationwide convenience sample of CPs between September 1, 2014 and November 25, 2014 in Korea. The association between SR and the predictive factors was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: In total, 1,001 questionnaires were analyzed. The mean age of the respondents and the number of years spent in community pharmacy practice were 45.6 years and 15.3 years, respectively. CPs with experience of SR was 29.4%. Being older than 60 (ORadj, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.06-0.42), having prior experience with adverse drug reactions (ADR) (ORadj, 6.46; 95% CI, 2.46-16.98), having higher specific knowledge of SR (ORadj, 3.58; 95% CI, 1.96-6.56), and having less concern about the obstacles to SR (ORadj, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.23-0.57) were significant contributing factors to SR. The main obstacles to SR included perception of ADRs as 'not serious ADR' (77.9%), 'already well known ADR' (81.5%), and 'uncertain about causality' (73.3%). CPs without reporting experience had greater concerns related to the reporting method and the liability of the pharmacy than those with reporting experience (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Findings from our study showed around one in three CPs had ADR reporting experience in Korea, while 87.1% had prior experience with ADR cases. The knowledge of SR, prior experience of ADR, and less concern about the obstacles to SR were contributing factors for reporting levels.

Patterns of Adverse Drug Reactions in Different Age Groups: Analysis of Spontaneous Reports by Community Pharmacists.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical manifestations and causative drugs associated with adverse drug reactions (ADRs) spontaneously reported by community pharmacists and to compare the ADRs by age. METHODS: ADRs reported to the Regional Pharmacovigilance Center of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association by community pharmacists from January 2013 to June 2014 were included. Causality was assessed using the WHO-Uppsala Monitoring Centre system. The patient population was classified into three age groups. We analyzed 31,398 (74.9%) ADRs from 9,705 patients, identified as having a causal relationship, from a total pool of 41,930 ADRs from 9,873 patients. Median patient age was 58.0 years; 66.9% were female. RESULTS: Gastrointestinal system (34.4%), nervous system (14.4%), and psychiatric (12.1%) disorders were the most frequent symptoms. Prevalent causative drugs were those for acid-related disorders (11.4%), anti-inflammatory products (10.5%), analgesics (7.2%), and antibacterials (7.1%). Comparisons by age revealed diarrhea and antibacterials to be most commonly associated with ADRs in children (p < 0.001), whereas dizziness was prevalent in the elderly (p < 0.001). Anaphylactic reaction was the most frequent serious event (19.7%), mainly associated with cephalosporins and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Among 612 ADRs caused by nonprescription drugs, the leading symptoms and causative drugs were skin disorders (29.6%) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (16.2%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: According to the community pharmacist reports, the leading clinical manifestations and causative drugs associated with ADRs in outpatients differed among age groups.