Public Library of Science Acta Medica Okayama 1932-6203 18 10 2023 Shortage and unequal distribution of infectious disease specialists in Japan: How can we refine the current situation? e0291677 EN Hideharu Hagiya Department of Infectious Diseases, Okayama University Hospital Background This study aimed to assess the distribution of board-certified infectious disease (ID) specialists at medical schools and Designated Medical Institutions (DMIs) in Japan. Methods Data on the number of board-certified ID specialists was extracted by gender, prefecture, and hospital from the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases database. The numbers and types of Japanese university hospitals that have a Faculty of Medicine, as well as the DMIs legally determined by the Infectious Diseases Control Law, were collected from the database of the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare of Japan. Results As of November 2022, there were 1,688 board-certified ID specialists in Japan, with 510 employed at 82 university hospitals. Two medical schools had no ID specialists, and six had only one ID specialist. There was no ID specialists in 14.3% of Class I DMIs and 66.7% of Class II DMIs. Additionally, 14.9% of prefectures had no ID specialists at all in their Class II DMIs. The percentage of female doctors among ID specialists was 12.7%, approximately half of the overall male-to-female ratio of medical doctors in Japan. Conclusion The allocation of Japanese ID specialists to medical schools and legally designated healthcare institutes is inadequate and skewed. Female physicians are expected to play a more active role in this increasing demand. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Public Library of Science Acta Medica Okayama 1932-6203 18 10 2023 A randomized controlled trial of teprenone in terms of preventing worsening of COVID-19 infection e0287501 EN Eiki Ichihara Department of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Hospital Kou Hasegawa Department of General Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences Kenichiro Kudo Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Hospital Organization Okayama Medical Center Yasushi Tanimoto Department of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, National Hospital Organization Minami-Okayama Medical Center Kazuhiro Nouso Department of Gastroenterology, Okayama City Hospital Naohiro Oda Department of Internal Medicine, Fukuyama City Hospital Sho Mitsumune Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Hospital Organization Okayama Medical Center Haruto Yamada Department of Infectious Disease, Okayama City Hospital Ichiro Takata Department of Internal Medicine, Fukuyama City Hospital Hideharu Hagiya Department of General Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences Toshiharu Mitsuhashi Center for Innovative Clinical Medicine, Okayama University Hospital Akihiko Taniguchi Department of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Hospital Shinichi Toyooka Department of General Thoracic Surgery and Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences Kohei Tsukahara Department of Emergency, Critical Care and Disaster Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Toshiyuki Aokage Department of Emergency, Critical Care and Disaster Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Hirokazu Tsukahara Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences Katsuyuki Kiura Department of Allergy and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Hospital Yoshinobu Maeda Department of Hematology, Oncology and Respiratory Medicine, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences Background Some COVID-19 patients develop life-threatening disease accompanied by severe pneumonitis. Teprenone induces expression of heat-shock proteins (HSPs) that protect against interstitial pneumonia in preclinical models. We explored whether teprenone prevented worsening of COVID-19 infections. Methods This open-label, randomized, pilot phase 2 clinical trial was conducted at five institutions in Japan. We randomized patients hospitalized for COVID-19 with fever to teprenone or noteprenone groups in a 1:1 ratio. We stratified patients by sex, age < and >= 70 years and the existence (or not) of complications (hypertension, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, chronic pulmonary disease and active cancer). No limitation was imposed on other COVID-19 treatments. The primary endpoint was the intubation rate. Results One hundred patients were included, 51 in the teprenone and 49 in the no- teprenone groups. The intubation rate did not differ significantly between the two groups: 9.8% (5/51) vs. 2.0% (1/49) (sub-hazard ratio [SHR] 4.99, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59-42.1; p = 0.140). The rates of intra-hospital mortality and intensive care unit (ICU) admission did not differ significantly between the two groups: intra-hospital mortality 3.9% (2/51) vs. 4.1% (2/ 49) (hazard ratio [HR] 0.78, 95%CI: 0.11-5.62; p = 0.809); ICU admission 11.8% (6/51) vs. 6.1% (3/49) (SHR 1.99, 95%CI: 0.51-7.80; p = 0.325). Conclusion Teprenone afforded no clinical benefit. No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.