Annual Report 2024

Department of Infectious Diseases

Keiji Okinaka, Yusuke Ainoda

Introduction

 The mission of the Department of Infectious Diseases is to provide expert consultation on clinical infectious diseases.

 We also collaborate closely with the Office of Infection Control and Prevention to prevent healthcare-associated infections, particularly during cancer care in order to ensure a safe healthcare environment.

The Team and What We Do

• Our team provides medical support for fever and infections in cancer patients, handling a total of 315 cases during the period (Table 1). We work in tandem with the Office of Infection Control and Prevention to enhance infection control measures.

Table 1. Number of infectious diseases consultation

• Our team followed 337 cases of positive blood cultures during the period.
• The total number of patients confirmed to have been treated by broad-spectrum antimicrobials at our hospital during the period was 6,034 cases, including 687 out of 661 cases where intervention occurred within one week following advice from our department.

Research Activities

• We hold weekly research meetings to support and promote interdisciplinary research within the Office of Infection Control and Prevention. Several of the members presented their research findings at the academic conference.

Education

• Provided resident education for physicians from other hospital departments who selected our department for their rotation.
• We conduct a weekly journal club, engaging various healthcare professionals, in collaboration with the Office of Infection Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Center Hospital.
• Our team provides infectious diseases lectures as part of the Clinical Oncology Education Intensive Course for residents.
• In partnership with other national centers' departments of infectious diseases, we organize regular educational conferences to enhance infection control knowledge.
• Secured medical education grants from three companies and organized vaccine-related lectures for young physicians in December and March.
• Delivered a lecture on infectious diseases at the Resident Seminar of the Japanese Society of Hematology.

Future Prospects

• We will continue collaborating with the Office of Infection Control and Prevention to prevent intra-hospital transmission of infections, including COVID-19 and multidrug resistant organisms.
• We are actively recruiting residents and are committed to nurturing the next generation of healthcare professionals.
• We will continue disseminating information about vaccination for cancer patients and maintain efforts to increase vaccination rates. Additionally, we aim to collaborate with local clinics regarding vaccination.