Vibrio vulnificus septicaemia in Japan: an estimated number of infections and physicians' knowledge of the syndrome

SUMMARY Questionnaire surveys were implemented to study the incidence and physicians' knowledge of Vibrio vulnificus infections in Japan. Registered emergency physicians were selected by stratified random sampling for a questionnaire survey. A total of 235 out of 386 physicians (61 %) responded to the questionnaire and 12 V. vulnificus septicaemia cases were reported from 10 respondents. The annual estimated number of V. vulnificus septicaemia was calculated as 425 (95 % CI 238-752). The study also revealed that only 15-7 % (95 % CI 11 3-21 0) of responding physicians had a basic knowledge of V. vulnificus infection. Education for both physicians and people in the high-risk group for developing the infection (e.g. immunocompromised, chronic liver disease) will be necessary for the prevention, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of the disease. Vibrio vulnificus grows in warm estuaries and seawater. It can cause septicaemia, which is life threatening, especially for the immunocompromised or people with chronic liver disease. The infection has been a leading cause of seafood-related deaths [1]. The food implicated in most reported cases has been raw oysters. Illness occurs after ingestion of the seafood or exposure to estuarine water; oysters harvested in warmer months are major vehicles of the disease in the United States [2]. The clinical course is very acute and severe and one third of patients with V. vulnificus