Professor Naoki Hasegawa, Infection Control Center, Faculty of Medicine, Keio University, Assistant Professor Naoki Minamimiya, Faculty of Internal Medicine, etc. It is reported that the morbidity rate in Japan is increasing at a rapid rate of 7 times compared to 2.6 years ago.Published in the international academic journal "Emerging Infectious Diseases".
"Pulmonary NTM disease" that shows symptoms similar to tuberculosis.The major difference from tuberculosis is that it does not spread from person to person and progresses slowly, but treatment with antibacterial agents is not effective.In contrast to the decrease in tuberculosis, the number of cases is increasing, and there are many cases of severe illness due to the lack of effective treatment.However, the epidemiological survey has not been conducted since 2007, and the actual condition of pulmonary NTM disease in recent years was unknown.
This time, we conducted a questionnaire survey of 884 facilities. The prevalence of pulmonary NTM disease was calculated by asking them to fill in the number of new diagnoses of pulmonary NTM disease and tuberculosis from January to March 2014 and comparing it with the prevalence of tuberculosis.
As a result, the estimated prevalence of pulmonary NTM disease is 14.7 / 10 person-years. Compared to the 2007 national survey, it increased sharply by about 2.6 times, and it became clear that the number of patients exceeded that of pulmonary tuberculosis.In particular, among pulmonary NTM diseases, intractable pulmonary Mycobacterium abscessus disease has shown a significant increase of about 2007 times since 5, and it is said that future measures are urgently needed.The survey also found that Japan has the highest prevalence of pulmonary NTM disease in the world.
The cause of the increase is thought to be an increase in awareness among medical professionals, an increase in screening opportunities, and an aging population, but it is not clear, and further research is needed in the future.
Although many tuberculosis can be cured, there is still no effective treatment for pulmonary NTM disease, and the prevalence is expected to exceed that of tuberculosis.In addition, it is expected that the impact on society will be great in the future, and it will be a future task to grasp the detailed actual condition of pulmonary NTM disease including the prevalence and take measures.
