%0 Case Reports
%T The first identification and retrospective study of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome in Japan.
%A Takahashi T
%A Maeda K
%A Suzuki T
%A Ishido A
%A Shigeoka T
%A Tominaga T
%A Kamei T
%A Honda M
%A Ninomiya D
%A Sakai T
%A Senba T
%A Kaneyuki S
%A Sakaguchi S
%A Satoh A
%A Hosokawa T
%A Kawabe Y
%A Kurihara S
%A Izumikawa K
%A Kohno S
%A Azuma T
%A Suemori K
%A Yasukawa M
%A Mizutani T
%A Omatsu T
%A Katayama Y
%A Miyahara M
%A Ijuin M
%A Doi K
%A Okuda M
%A Umeki K
%A Saito T
%A Fukushima K
%A Nakajima K
%A Yoshikawa T
%A Tani H
%A Fukushi S
%A Fukuma A
%A Ogata M
%A Shimojima M
%A Nakajima N
%A Nagata N
%A Katano H
%A Fukumoto H
%A Sato Y
%A Hasegawa H
%A Yamagishi T
%A Oishi K
%A Kurane I
%A Morikawa S
%A Saijo M
%J J Infect Dis
%V 209
%N 6
%D Mar 2014
%M 24231186
%F 7.759
%R 10.1093/infdis/jit603
%X <B>BACKGROUND: </B>Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is caused by SFTS virus (SFTSV), a novel bunyavirus reported to be endemic in central and northeastern China. This article describes the first identified patient with SFTS and a retrospective study on SFTS in Japan.<BR><B>METHODS: </B> Virologic and pathologic examinations were performed on the patient's samples. Laboratory diagnosis of SFTS was made by isolation/genome amplification and/or the detection of anti-SFTSV immunoglobulin G antibody in sera. Physicians were alerted to the initial diagnosis and asked whether they had previously treated patients with symptoms similar to those of SFTS.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>A female patient who died in 2012 received a diagnosis of SFTS. Ten additional patients with SFTS were then retrospectively identified. All patients were aged ≥50 years and lived in western Japan. Six cases were fatal. The ratio of males to females was 8:3. SFTSV was isolated from 8 patients. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that all of the Japanese SFTSV isolates formed a genotype independent to those from China. Most patients showed symptoms due to hemorrhage, possibly because of disseminated intravascular coagulation and/or hemophagocytosis.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>SFTS has been endemic to Japan, and SFTSV has been circulating naturally within the country.