ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of Toxoplasma gondii infection among key populations in Wuxi City,Jiangsu Province,so as to provide evidences for developing preventive and control interventions for T. gondii in-fection. Methods A questionnaire was designed to conduct face-to-face interviews to HIV/AIDS carriers/patients,tumor pa-tients,pregnant women and pet breeders. The blood samples were collected to test anti-Toxoplasma IgM and IgG antibodies by using ELISA method. Results Totally 404 participants were investigated,and 38 were positive in testing T. gondii antibodies (9.4%),and among these,37(97.4%)were IgG positive and 1(2.6%)was IgM positive. The multivariate logistic regression indicated that age,regularly contacting cats/dogs and being HIV positive were associated with the infection of T. gondii(OR=2.1,2.6 and 2.3,all P < 0.05). Breeding pets,being HIV positive and being tumor patients were more likely to infect T. gondii than being pregnant(OR = 1.5,8.1 and 2.8,all P < 0.05). Conclusion The high infection rate of T. gondii is observed among key populations in Wuxi City,so that the effective measurements should be taken to enhance the intervention among key popula-tions including immunocompromised people,pet breeders or people having bad dietary habits of eating raw food.
ABSTRACT
Objective To understand the capability of parasitic disease control and prevention among professional and tech?nical personnel in medical and health institutions in Wuxi City,so as to provide the evidence for promoting relative capability building. Methods Forty?one professional and technical persons from 22 medical and health institutions received the evalua?tion through the theoretical knowledge exam and laboratory operation skill assessment. Results The average score of theoretical knowledge exam was(76.5±15.6)with the pass rate of 80.5%and excellent rate of 48.9%. The average score,pass rate and ex?cellent rate for Plasmodium blood slide making were(7.3 ± 1.5),87.8%and 41.5%respectively,the average score,pass rate and excellent rate for Plasmodium blood slide reading were(14.0 ± 7.2),31.7% and 12.2% respectively;the average score, pass rate and excellent rate for helminthes microscope examination were(19.4 ± 10.4),24.4%and 0 respectively;the average score,pass rate and excellent rate for Oncomelania hupensis snail identification were(8.6±1.1),95.1%and 73.2%respectively. The average scores of helminthes microscope examination and Oncomelania hupensis snail identification were higher in the par?ticipants with middle?level professional title or above than in the participants with primary level professional title (both P <0.05). The average scores of theoretical knowledge exam,Plasmodium blood slide reading and helminthes microscope examina?tion were higher in the participants from disease control and prevention institutions than in the staff who came from medical insti?tutions(all P<0.05). Conclusions The professional and technical personnel in medical and health institutions in Wuxi do bet?ter in theoretical knowledge,Plasmodium blood slide making and Oncomelania hupensis snail identification. However,the capa?bility of parasite microscope examination is urgently needed to be improved in the future.
ABSTRACT
Objective To establish a monitoring database of historical Oncomelania hupensis environments at grass?root lev?el for schistosomiasis prevention based on Google Earth(GE),so as to improve the management efficiency of historical O. hu?pensis environments. Methods GE was labeled with the information about the historical O. hupensis environments through add?ing landmark,path and polygon. Meanwhile,POCO web album was used to storage the practice situation pictures of the environ?ments,which could be imported into GE so that the environments could be monitored dynamically. Results There were 553 historical O. hupensis snail environments in Yangjian Town,Xishan District,Wuxi City and the accumulative area was 506 000 m2. Among these environments,224(40.5%)were Class IV environments,accounting for 40.5%of accumulative area. Conclu?sions The monitoring database of historical O. hupensis environments based on GE at country level is established successfully and it can be used to manage the historical snail environments visually and monitor the changes dynamically.
ABSTRACT
Objective To understand the distribution and characteristics of historical Oncomelania hupensis snail environ-ments and wetland environments in Wuxi City since 1952 so as to provide the evidence for formulating the monitoring strategy after the schistosomiasis transmission was interrupted. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted to collect the informa-tion of historical O. hupensis snail environments and wetland environments. Google Earth was used to present and analyze the distribution and characteristics of them. Results There were 2 124 historical O. hupensis snail environments in Wuxi City and the accumulative area was 2 995.7 hm2. In 2013 there were 61 surveillance sites of wetland with the area of 32.8 hm2 totally 1 695 snails were caught and no O. hupensis snails were found. Conclusion The historical O. hupensis snail environments were distributed widely and covered a large area in Wuxi City. The surveillance should be focused on the key environments and wetland.