title: [Association between Diarrheal Infectious Diseases and Antidiarrheal Drugs Assessed with Prescription Surveillance].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  It appears to be possible to measure the outbreak of infectious diseases with accompanying diarrhea by early detection of an outbreak. However, because some diseases are reported weekly from sentinel medical institutions, early detection of outbreaks might be inadequate. In this study, we examined the number of patients with diarrhea assessed with prescription surveillance and validated its association with the number of patients who have infectious diseases with diarrhea.
  
  
  METHODS
  The number of patients who were prescribed an antidiarrheal drug or intestinal drug was estimated for each prefecture using the prescription surveillance system from April 1, 2011 through March 31, 2014. Moreover, we examined the association between the prevalence of diarrhea in prescription surveillance and the number of patients with diarrheal infectious diseases.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed a positive correlation between the prevalence of diarrhea in prescription surveillance and the number of reported cases per sentinel with gastrointestinal infections. However, no positive correlation was found with the others infectious diseases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Estimation of the number of patients with diarrhea in prescription surveillance might facilitate early detection of an outbreak of gastrointestinal infections.
authors.forename: Yuuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Hirokazu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawanohara
authors.forename: Miwako
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kamei
mesh_terms: D000930:Antidiarrheals / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D055656:Prescriptions
chemical_list: D000930:Antidiarrheals