Objective: Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) have been reported to reduce the incidence of myringotomy with tympanostomy tube insertion (MTTI) in children. However, little information is available focusing specific ages. We examined the prophylactic efficacy of PCVs on the onset of complex otitis media (ComOM) that requires MTTI.Method: From 2011, the public support for PCV7 started with the usual four‐dose schedule and an emergency schedule for 2‐ to 4‐year‐old children in Japan. PCV7 was replaced with PCV13 in 2013. We reviewed the nationwide database obtained from the JMDC Claims Database (https://www.jmdc.co.jp/en/) to examine the MTTI incidence during the era before and after PCV introduction (from 2008 to 2010 and from 2011 to 2017, respectively). Subjects were analyzed by stratified age groups (from 0 to 8 years old) and in subdivided groups of 6 months (from 0 to 35 months old). We compared the MTTI incidence between the groups for each age as well as between those for each calendar year.Results: A significant reduction in the MTTI incidence was detected in the 1‐year‐old children of the PCV era compared to those of the pre‐PCV era. The reduction rates were more prominent in the 12–17 months group as compared to the 18–23 months group (PCV7 p = .005 and PCV13 p = .011, PCV7 p = .014 and PCV13 p = .153, respectively). The significant difference in the 1‐year‐old children continued in six of seven calendar years from 2011 to 2017, whereas no significant reduction was detected in children >3 years old.Conclusions: The introduction of both PCV7 and PCV13 reduced MTTI incidences in children around 1 year old, and the effects were more prominent during the early half‐periods. Our results support etiological evidence that pneumococcal infection in children aged 1 year and younger might play roles in the pathogenesis of ComOM that requires MTTI.

For >2 years, Japan’s government has been urging the populace to take countermeasures to prevent COVID-19, including mask wearing. We examined whether these preventive behaviors have affected the rate and degree of sensitization against pollen and house dust antigens in patients with allergic rhinitis. We retrospectively surveyed 2565 patients who had undergone allergy blood testing during the period 2015–2021. We subdivided this period into eras based on the COVID-19 pandemic: the pre-COVID (2015–2019, n = 1879) and COVID (2020–2021, n = 686) eras. The positive rates for Japanese cedar and cypress in the 40–59-year-olds and those for house dust in the 20–39-year-olds were significantly reduced in the COVID era versus those in the pre-COVID era. Each group’s mean antigen-specific CAP scores decreased significantly from the 1st to 2nd era: from 1.98 to 1.57 for cedar (p < 0.01), 1.42 to 0.95 for cypress (p < 0.05), and 2.86 to 2.07 for house dust (p < 0.01). Our survey of the patients’ clinical records indicates that 47.5% of the pollinosis patients reported improvement in nasal symptoms after the three seasons of pollen dispersion in the COVID era. Japan’s quarantine policies designed to combat the spread of COVID-19 thus coincide with pivotal measures to alleviate allergic reactions.

Backgrounds: Many reported rates of positive results by nicking enzyme amplification reaction (NEAR) applied together with the Abbott ID NOW™ COVID-19 (AIN) test and dry patient samples is lower than rates provided by other nucleic acid amplification tests. Few studies have used fresh samples, however. Methods: We conducted this retrospective study using fresh samples to determine the correlations among fever, associated symptoms, and the NEAR detection rate. Quarantined cases of suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection at Kunimoto ENT clinic (Jan 14, 2022–May 7, 2023) who had been in close contact with SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals were enrolled. Specimens were collected by the thin-diameter nasal sterile swab from the nasopharynx and examined immediately. We evaluated the positive-result rates, fever, and symptoms. Results: The total number of close-contact patients evaluated was 661 and AIN-positive cases was 427. The detection rate in the fever ≥37.4°C patients was 97% (257/266), significantly higher than the corresponding rate in the <37.4°C patients (170/395) (p<0.00001). The detection rate in the patients with ≤1 symptoms other than fever was 98% (394/402). Conclusions: These results suggest that the AIN results are sufficiently dependable when fresh samples are obtained from patients with a fever ≥37.4°C, and with more than one symptom.