Preparedness at Japan's Hospitals Designated for Patients with Highly Infectious Diseases

In 2015, in order to assess the preparedness of Japan's special hospitals that have been designated to admit and treat patients with highly infectious diseases, we conducted a cross-sectional study of all 47 hospitals with this designation, using a self-report questionnaire that addressed 5 issues: (1) hospital characteristics and the occupation of the respondents; (2) the availability and content of the hospital guidelines for managing patients with suspected or confirmed viral hemorrhagic fever; (3) the implementation of preparedness activities in the context of the recent Ebola crisis; (4) characteristics of admission rooms for patients; and (5) human resources and occupational issues. Although our study found that most of Japan's designated hospitals were well-equipped, several areas of concern were also identified, including the lack of an effective clinical protocol, problems with management of human resources, and occupational issues. Developing a more feasible response protocol to any possible outbreak of new or reemergent infectious diseases is essential not only for Japan but for the global community in view of the threat posed by highly infectious diseases.