Article in Japanese

Recent changes in the epidemiology of infectious disease due to a lack of experience in infectious diseases among pediatricians

Yusuke ISOBE¹⁾, Mikihiro SHIMIZU²⁾, Keiichi ODAGIRI²⁾, Eiko NAGATA³⁾, Isao MIYAIRI¹⁾

The epidemiology of infectious disease has changed significantly due to the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the vaccines used. This study hypothesized that such changes may have resulted from a lack of experience in infectious diseases among pediatricians, which is gained traditionally during pediatric specialty training. Therefore, in May 2022, 102 pediatricians, who were alumni of the Department of Pediatrics, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, were surveyed on their experience of 27 types of infectious diseases. Ninety percent or more of them, with less than 5 years’ pediatric practice, reported experience in only 10 of the diseases. Experience with vaccines for preventable diseases such as measles (0％), rubella (5％), and varicella (50％) was limited, thus suggesting decreased case encounters after their introduction. Experience with community-acquired respiratory tract infections such as influenza (68％), mycoplasma (55％), and pertussis (32％) also was limited, which suggested the impact of infectious disease control measures against COVID-19. In contrast, experience with COVID-19 was greater in younger physicians, suggesting their practice on the frontline. There is a need to augment the training program by recognizing the lack of experience in infection diseases among younger pediatricians.

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1）Department of Pediatrics, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
2）Clinical Research Center, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine
3）Olive Children’s Clinic

Key words	pediatric specialty training, Vaccine Preventable Diseases, communityacquired respiratory tract infection, COVID-19
Received	June 9, 2023
Accepted	December 2, 2023

36 (1)：11─18,2024