[A cluster of paragonimiasis westermani infections in Thai immigrants].

We report a cluster of infections in four female Thai immigrants aged between 35 and 49 years who developed paragonimiasis westermani within 16 months of ingesting freshwater crabs purchased from a market in Japan. Their symptoms included cough, bloody sputum, chest pain, and dyspnea. Radiographic and CT findings comprised pleural effusion, pneumothorax, air-space consolidation, and nodular opacities. Paragonimus eggs were identified in the feces of one patient, and in the pleural effusion and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of another. All diagnoses of paragonimiasis westermani were established by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of their serum. Paragonimiasis is a re-emerging disease in Japan. Moreover, since the number of immigrant patients is increasing, it is necessary to pay attention to infectious diseases resulting from their eating habits as well as imported diseases.

A patient with E. coli-induced pyelonephritis and sepsis who transiently exhibited symptoms associated with primary biliary cirrhosis.

A 28-year-old woman had chief complaints of headache and a 40 degrees C fever. At this time, findings indicative of inflammation including elevated CRP and increased WBC were observed, and E. coli was detected on blood and urine culture. As a result, the patient was diagnosed with pyelonephritis and sepsis. Furthermore, markedly increased hepatobiliary enzymes and elevated anti-mitochondrial antibody were confirmed. The administration of antimicrobial agents resulted in improvement of the pyelonephritis and sepsis and normalization of hepatobiliary enzyme and anti-mitochondrial antibody levels. It has been documented that the incidence of urinary tract infection is high among patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). The findings obtained from the present patient are of considerable interest in elucidating the mechanism of onset in PBC.