Analysis of a Community-based Intervention to Reduce Heat-related Illness during Heat Waves in Licheng, China: a Quasi-experimental Study / 生物医学与环境科学（英文）

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To reduce health-related threats of heat waves, interventions have been implemented in many parts of the world. However, there is a lack of higher-level evidence concerning the intervention efficacy. This study aimed to determine the efficacy of an intervention to reduce the number of heat-related illnesses.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A quasi-experimental design was employed by two cross-sectional surveys in the year 2014 and 2015, including 2,240 participants and 2,356 participants, respectively. Each survey was designed to include one control group and one intervention group, which conducted in Licheng, China. A representative sample was selected using a multistage sampling method. Data, collected from questionnaires about heat waves in 2014 and 2015, were analyzed using a difference-in-difference analysis and cost effectiveness analysis. Outcomes included changes in the prevalence of heat-related illnesses and cost-effectiveness variables.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Relative to the control participants, the prevalence of heat-related illness in the intervention participants decreased to a greater extent in rural areas than in urban areas (OR=0.495 vs. OR=1.281). Moreover, the cost-effectiveness ratio in the intervention group was less than that in the control group (US$15.06 vs. US$15.69 per participant). Furthermore, to avoid one additional patient, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio showed that an additional US$14.47 would be needed for the intervention compared to when no intervention was applied.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The intervention program may be considered a worthwhile investment for rural areas that are more likely to experience heat waves. Meanwhile, corresponding improving measures should be presented towards urban areas. Future research should examine whether the intervention strategies could be spread out in other domestic or international regions where heat waves are usually experienced.</p>

Research progress on ebola virus glycoprotein / 病毒学报

Ebola virus (EBOV) causes outbreaks of a highly lethal hemorrhagic fever in humans and there are no effective therapeutic or prophylactic treatments available. The glycoprotein (GP) of EBOV is a transmembrane envelope protein known to play multiple functions including virus attachment and entry, cell rounding and cytotoxicity, down-regulation of host surface proteins, and enhancement of virus assembly and budding. GP is the primary target of protective immunity and the key target for developing neutralizing antibodies. In this paper, the research progress on genetic structure, pathogenesis and immunogenicity of EBOV GP in the last 5 years is reviewed.

Analysis of clinical features and early warning indicators of death from hand, foot and mouth disease in Shandong province / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To understand the clinical features of death from hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and to explore the early warning index of HFMD death.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 41 HFMD death cases were collected as case group in Shandong province between 2009 and 2011, and another 123 serious HFMD cases were selected as control group according to the similar gender, place of origin and hospital level, with the ratio at 1:3. We investigated the general situation, clinical treatment, past medical history, clinical symptoms and signs of the ill children, and applied the conditional logistic regression to explore early warning index of HFMD death.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The rate of patients who had symptoms in nervous system, digestive system, circulatory system and respiratory system were separately 90.2% (37/41), 58.5% (24/41), 53.7% (22/41) and 90.2% (37/41) in case group; and the proportions were 44.7% (55/123), 13.8% (17/123), 10.6% (13/123) and 12.2% (15/123) respectively in control group. The difference between the two groups showed statistical significance (χ(2) = 25.881, 32.791, 34.011, 86.505, P < 0.05). In case group, 37 patients had neurogenic pulmonary edema, 26 patients got encephalitis, 15 patients had respiratory and circulatory failure, 7 patients got pulmonary hemorrhage, 4 patients had multiple organ failure, 4 patients got myocarditis and 1 patient had cerebral hernia. According to multi-factor logistic regression analysis, the early warning indicators of HFMD death included neck resistance (case group: 34.1% (14/41), control group: 4.1% (5/123); OR = 7.145, 95%CI: 1.748 - 29.204), vomiting (case group: 58.5% (24/41), control group: 13.8% (17/123); OR = 5.632, 95%CI: 1.793 - 17.685) and increase of heart rate (case group: 53.7% (22/41), control group: 10.6% (14/123), OR = 6.370, 95%CI: 1.517 - 26.743).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>In the process of clinical treatment and care, we should interfere the serious HFMD patients with neck resistance, vomiting and increase of heart rate, and thereby reduce the death from HFMD.</p>

Time between the onset and diagnosis of dengue fever and related influencing factors in China / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To study the time between the onset and diagnosis of Dengue fever and its influencing factors in China.Methods Data were obtained from the Infectious Disease Surveillance System (IDSS).Descriptive analysis was performed for the time interval while nonparametric tests and logistic regression analysis were used to study the related influencing factors.Results Time interval appeared positively skewed with distribution at median of 6 days,quartile range as 4 days,while 57.8％ of them were longer than five days.Data showed that patients with longer intervals among the imported cases,being elderly,cases in non-endemic season and provinces as Fujian,Yunnan and Zhejiang appeared to have had greater influences on the disease.Median of those imported cases was six days,one day longer than locally generated cases,while median of the nonepidemic month was one day more than that of the epidemic month.In Fujian and Yunnan provinces,the medians were 7 days,one day more than that from Guangdong province.The median among young people was 5 days,one day less than that of the patients older than 20 years of age.Conclusion Most Dengue patients did not get diagnosed early enough so it was of urgent need to enhance the sensitivity of the monitoring system,especially in epidemic regions and during non-epidemic season.

A case-control study on the risk factors of central nervous system congenital malformations / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine the risk factors in the development of central nervous system (CNS) congenital malformations.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A hospital-based 1:2 matched case-control study was conducted. Each case was matched with two normal controls on sex and residential area, date of birth, within half a year. By means of simple and multivariable conditional logistic regression, 48 factors were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Maternal exposure to pesticide or having cold with fever, family history of positive congenital malformations, preference eating pickled vegetables, negative life events, large consumption of meat, eggs, beans and milk during pregnancy and paternal exposure to poisonous chemicals were significantly associated with CNS congenital malformations, with odds ratios 16.471, 12.621, 10.246, 7.274, 3.730, 0.229, 5.616, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Maternal exposure to pesticides, cold with fever, positive congenital malformations family history, preference of eating pickled vegetables, negative life events during pregnancy, and paternal exposure to poisonous chemicals were the key risk factors contributing to CNS congenital malformations, while maternal exposure to big consumption of meat, eggs, beans and milk during pregnancy was protective factors that reducing CNS congenital malformations.</p>

Development of Chinese Version of QLQ-STO22 / 中国心理卫生杂志

Objectives:To translate the English version of Quality of Life Questionnaire of Stomach 22 into Chinese,and to test the reliability and validity of the Chinese Version of QLQ-STO22.Methods:From 1st June to 31st December,2003,140 patients with gastric cancer were sampled as study participants in three hospitals using cluster sampling method.All participants were interviewed with QLQ-STO22 Chinese version by the investigators who were trained in advance.Results:Nearly all ICCs of scales of STO22 were above 0.75;the split-half reliability coefficient is 0.78 and the Cronbach'a coefficient is 0.80.These results proved that the questionnaires had good test-retest reliability,split-half reliability and internal consistency.Three common factors were extracted by factor analysis,which ccould account for more than 60% of total variance and factor loads of the three common factors were above 0.5 in related items.Conclusion:QLQ-STO22 has good reliability and validity,which is available for the study of life quality among Chinese gastric cancer patients.