ABSTRACT
While the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has posed a threat to public health as the number of cases and COVID-19-related deaths are increasing worldwide, the incidence of the virus infection are extremely low in Japan compared with many other countries. To explore the reason for this strange phenomenon, we hypothesized the high prevalence of "natural" secretory IgA in saliva as mucosal IgA reacting with SARS-CoV-2, and thus surveyed the positivity for, as well as levels of, such reactive salivary IgA in a cohort of Japanese people of a wide range of age. The major findings were that 95/180 (52.78 %) of overall individuals who had not been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 were positive for salivary IgA with the levels ranging from 0.002 to 3.272 ng/ml, and that there may be a negative trend in positivity for salivary IgA according to age. These results suggest a role of mucosal IgA in host defense against SARS-CoV-2 infection. One Sentence Summary"Natural" secretory immunoglobulin A autoantibodies may play a role in mucosal defense against SARS-CoV-2.
ABSTRACT
To educate patients with diabetes mellitus, we use a clinical pathway. Pharmacists hold the chair of instruction on the use of drugs and insulin self-injection during the course of the pathway. Until now, teaching contents have been left to discretion of attending pharmacists. Therefore, we draw up a brochure to set standards for instruction. By using this brochure, it has become possible to instruct patients without relying only on the knowledge and experience of pharmacists in charge. Additionally, we have become able to share teaching contents of pharmacists with nurses. By publishing the brochure, intervention of pharmacists in the pathway has become smoother. For better and more efficient instruction on the use of drugs in a limited time frame in the clinical pathway, we need to overhaul of the brochure and to develop a method to evaluate patient’s understanding.
