title: Infectious disease frequency among evacuees at shelters after the great eastern Japan earthquake and tsunami: a retrospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and tsunami, the World Health Organization cautioned that evacuees at shelters would be at increased risk of infectious disease transmission; however, the frequency that occurred in this population was not known.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed medical charts of evacuees who visited medical clinics at 6 shelters from March 19, to April 8, 2011. Excluded were patients who did not reside within the shelters or whose medical records lacked a name or date. We investigated the frequency of and cumulative incidences of acute respiratory infection [ARI], acute gastroenteritis, acute jaundice syndrome, scabies, measles, pertussis, and tetanus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 1364 patients who visited 6 shelter clinics, 1167 patients (86.1%) were eligible for the study. The median total number of evacuees was 2545 (interquartile range [IQR], 2277-3009). ARI was the most common infectious disease; the median number of patients with ARI was 168.8 per week per 1000 evacuees (IQR, 64.5-186.1). Acute gastroenteritis was the second most common; the median number of patients was 23.7 per week per 1000 evacuees (IQR, 5.1-24.3). No other infectious diseases were observed. The median cumulative incidence of ARI per 1000 evacuees in each shelter was 13.1 person-days (IQR, 8.5-18.8). The median cumulative incidence of gastroenteritis was 1.6 person-days (IQR, 0.3-3.4).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and tsunami, outbreaks of ARI and acute gastroenteritis occurred in evacuation shelters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Fukui Hospital, Fukui, Japan.
authors.forename: Takahisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawano
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Kohei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Japanese Emergency Medicine Network, Fukui, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Watase
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Fukui Hospital, Fukui, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, Community Health Care Promotion, University of Fukui Hospital, Fukui, Japan.
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yamamura
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004190:Disasters; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D055866:Earthquakes; D060447:Emergency Shelter / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D057192:Tsunamis