Analysis of epidemiological characteristics and surveillance result of host animal on hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Zibo City from 2015 to 2018 / 中华疾病控制杂志

Objective To analyze the epidemic characteristics of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome(HFRS), the distribution and virus-carrying status of host animals in Zibo City from 2015 to 2018, so as to provide references for prevention and control. Methods Descriptive epidemiological study was conducted on the incidence data of HFRS collected in Zibo City from 2015 to 2018. Results A total of 315 cases including one death were reported in Zibo, with the average incidence of 1.69/100000 and the fatality rate of 0.32%. The cases were distributed mainly in Zichuan District and Yiyuan Coutry, which accounting for 67.62%. The main groups of cases were middle-aged and elderly farmers,and people aged 45-69 accounted for 62.86% of total cases. Two peak seasons were observed in spring(March-May) and autumn-winter(October-December). The average rat density and virus-carrying rate were 3.04% and 3.87% respectively rattus norvegicus was the dominant species of rodents in the residential area,while in the field, apodemus agrarius was the dominant species.The virus-carrying rates of rattus norvegicus and apodemus agrarius were 6.48% and 0.75% respectively,which had significant difference in these two group ( 2=6.694,P=0.01). Conclusions The incidence rate of HFRS was declining in Zibo City, while the rat density and the virus-carrying rate were still high in the areas with high incidence, which indicating the outbreak risk of HFRS was existed.It is necessary to strengthen immunization, rodent control and health education in high-endemic areas.

Geometric features of proximal cllosing wedge osteotomy in the treatment of hallux valgus / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND: With the wide application of the proximal closing wedge osteotomy in treatment of hallux valgus deformity, the metatarsal shortening and metatarsal elevation are constantly being mentioned. Scholars even think that the operation is complicated, the technical requirements are high, and the incidence of complications is high, and other osteotomy should be used instead. However, through literature research and clinical experience, it is found that the facts are not completely the case. OBJECTIVE: To perform geometric study of the plane and the physical model of the proximal closing wedge osteotomy so as to reasonably evaluate the effect of this technique on metatarsal shortening and metatarsal elevation. METHODS: The research was divided into four stages, in which the first three stages were plane geometric researches, with weight-bearing frontal image of the patient with hallux valgus as the research materials; the fourth one was solid geometric research, with plaster model of the first metatarsal bone as the research material. In research I (Stage I), the changes in 1/2 inter-metatarsal angle, length of the first metatarsal and distal metatarsal articular angle were learnt through angle adjustment after clipping when the distance from the wedge osteotomy vertex to medial border of the first tarsometatarsal joint was different (B, A, C, D respectively from the near to the distant, with a distance of 10 mm). In research II (Stage II), the changes in 1/2 inter-metatarsal angle, length of the first metatarsal and distal metatarsal articular angle were learnt through angle adjustment after clipping when the distance from the wedge osteotomy vertex to medial and lateral connection of the first tarsometatarsal joint was same, and the distance from the wedge osteotomy vertex to axis of the first metatarsal bone was different. In research III (Stage III), the changes in the above-mentioned research indexes were studied through angle adjustment after clipping when the wedge osteotomy vertex and wedge angle were fixed, but the proximal osteotomy line slope was different. Research IV (Stage IV) was the simulated osteotomy comparison, osteotomy perpendicular to metatarsal backbone or perpendicular to the horizontal plane was conducted on the model through plaster casting, and then osteotomy section was closed; the changes in elevation of the metatarsal head, 1/2 inter-metatarsal angle and length of the first metatarsal bone were measured. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Results of plane geometry: The closer the wedge osteotomy vertex was to the proximal end, the larger the correction gained was and the smaller the changes in the distal metatarsal articular angle were, but the shortening was more obvious. Moreover, the closer the wedge osteotomy vertex was to the axis of the metatarsal bone, the smaller the shortening was; if only the proximal osteotomy line was different, the indices were the same. (2) Results of stereoscopic geometry: In the case of the same osteotomy angle, the cuneiform bone of the same angle was intercepted, and the degree of correction was obviously greater than that of the plane geometry. This should be related to the thickness of the osteotomy saw and the loss of bone mass caused by the osteotomy. The metatarsal bone was significantly higher after correction when perpendicular to the metatarsal stem compared with that perpendicular to the horizontal surface. In 1/2 inter-metatarsal angle, the difference between the two was only 1°. In metatarsal shortening, it was smaller when perpendicular to the metatarsal stem compared with that perpendicular to the horizontal surface. (3) In conclusion, a. the optimal wedge osteotomy vertex is not at the medial border of the joint but is 1 cm from the medial border of the joint; then, it will approach the axis of the metatarsal. In this way, good correction, steady fixation and further reduction of metatarsal shortening can be achieved. b. The optimal direction of the oscillating saw blade is perpendicular to horizontal plane; however, an approximately perpendicular position to the horizontal plane is acceptable. It does not affect the effect of orthopedics, and further reduces the metatarsal shortening. When the bony closure is closed, the distal end of the metatarsal bone is taken to avoid the elevation of the metatarsal bone with a 2 mm step with the proximal end. c. The angle selection of proximal osteotomy surface can be placed on the metatarsal stem according to the internal fixation condition, and it can also form an acute angle with the metatarsal stem, so that the effect of osteotomy will not be changed.

Clinical and epidemiological characteristics of laboratory confirmed cases of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome infection in Shandong Province, China / 中国人兽共患病学报

We investigated the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of laboratory confirmed cases of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in Shandong Province,China.A descriptive epidemiological method combined with case investigation was used in this study.Cases information were collected by standard questionnaire and analyzed by Epidata3.1,SPSS 17.0 and ArcGIS10.0 software.Results showed that a total of 154 cases were analyzed and the case fatality rate was 7.1％.Epidemic peak was from May to October,the high incidence areas were located in the middle and east hilly areas of Shandong Province.The characteristic of SFTS cases were farmers (93.5％),and the age was over 40 years.Most of them were living in the hilly areas (85.7 ％),and had outdoor activities within the previous 2 weeks prior to fever onset (83.8 ％).The 16.8％ of them had tick bites history.Tick carrying rates of sheep,cattle,dogs and cats were 66.7％,40％,34.3％ and 12.5％,respectively.Directly contact with bloody secretion of SFTS death cases can be infected with the disease.Major symptoms include high fever (98.1％),anorexia (90.9 ％),fatigue (53.3％),thrombocytopenia (73.4 ％) and leukocytopenia (60.4 ％).The 35.7 ％ cases need to go through more than three referrals for treatment,the interval time between onset and diagnosis was 5 days(3-15),only hospitals above county level can make the correct diagnosis of the disease.Compared with survival patients,the death cases were elderly patients (t =2.03,P=0.044) and with bleeding performance (x2 =13.09,P＜0.01).In conclusion,SFTS is a severe disease with high mortality.Living hilly environment,doing agricultural labor,feeding animals,tick carrying rates of animals and direct contacting with bloody secretion of deaths maybe possible risk factors.To reduce morbidity and mortality of SFTS,measures should be carried out to propagandize the basic knowledge for SFTS prevention and control and to improve the medical treatment skills of doctors in the epidemic foci.

Epidemiology of hand, foot, and mouth disease and genetic characterization of enterovirus A71: a survey from 2007 to 2012 in Linyi of Shandong Province, China / 病毒学报

To investigate the epidemiology of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) and the genetic characteristics of enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) in Linyi of Shandong Province, China during 2007-2012. The number of reported HFMD cases were obtained from the National Notifiable Disease Reporting System (NNDRS) were analyzed by descriptive epidemiology method; the VP1 region of EV-A71 isolated from HFMD patients in Linyi was amplified and sequenced. Finally, the genetic variability and phylogenecity of VP1 sequences of EV-A71 were analyzed by MEGA 5.0. The results showed that HFMD incidence was reported in each year from 2007 to 2012 in Linyi, and the highest incidence and mortality were reported in 2009, when there were total 14697 cases and 9 of death. The reported incidence was 140.28/100000, and the mortality was 0.086/100000. The peak incidence usually occurred between April and July, and the summit occurred in May. Scattered children accounted for 77.37%-92.00% of all cases. The peak age was 2.5 years during 2007-2009 and 1.5 years during 2010-2012. A total of 1365 laboratory-confirmed HFMD cases were reported in the 6 consecutive years, accounting for 2.98% of the gross number. Among these reports, the ratio of EV-A71 was 44.18%, and the ratio of coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) was 46.59%. All EV-A71 strains isolated in Linyi during 2007-2012 belonged to the C4a evolutionary branch of C4 genotype. In conclusion, HFMD outbreaks occurred every year in Linyi during 2007-2012. Incidence varied significantly among different counties. The peak incidence in each year lasted from April to July. Most of the patients were children under 3 years of age, and scattered children took the highest proportion. Co-circulation of EV-A71 and CVA16 was the major cause of HFMD in each year. Since the first report of HFMD prevalence caused by EV-A71 (C4a) in 2007, the virus has been prevalent continuously in Linyi for 6 years.

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>

Progress in research of new human enterovirus types / 病毒学报

More and more new human enteroviruses (HEVs) types were identified with the broad application of the molecular serotyping methods for enteroviruses. Since enterovirus 71 (EV71) was first reported in 1969, numerous epidemic outbreaks associated with new enteroviruses have occurred all around the world, and pose a significant threat to public health . The epidemics of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) caused by EV71 infection in China have raised great concern of global scholars. This paper reviewed research progress in recent years of the molecular typing, evolution, epidemiology, and pathogenesis attributable to new enterovirus types.

Isolation, identification and characterization of SFTS bunyavirus from ticks collected on the surface of domestic animals / 病毒学报

To understand the maintenance and transmission of SFTS virus, the potential vector ticks were collected from sheep, cattle and dogs in the endemic areas of SFTSV in Shandong Province. Among the collected ticks, the dominant species was H. longicornis ticks. Real-time PCR for RNA detection, virus isolation and characterization, genomic sequencing, phylogenetic and antigenic analysis were performed in this investigation. The results showed that the SFTS viral RNA was detected in 2.14% H. longicornis, and a SFTS virus was isolated from one of viral RNA positive ticks collected from sheep. Whole genome analysis of the SFTSV isolates with 11 human-origin SFTS virus revealed a highly pairwise similarity, and the growth curve analysis showed nearly identical in virus yield and the dynamic of virus reproduction compared to human derived viral isolates. Immunofluorescence and neutralization test showed identical serological reaction character of the two different origin viral strains. In this study, the characters of a SFTSV isolate was firstly described, which suggested that the tick species H. longicornis acting important vector role in the transmission of SFTS virus.

Identification and genetic characterization of coxsackievirus A24 isolated from patients with acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis in Shandong Province / 病毒学报

To identify the pathogen of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis (AHC) in Shandong Province in 2010, eye mucous swab samples were collected from 26 patients in Qingdao and Linyi City. Real time-PCR assays for EV70, CVA24 and Adenovirus were performed on these samples. The result showed 17 samples (65.39%) were CVA24 positive while all the samples for HEV70 and Adenovirus detection were negative, which implied that CVA24 was the causative pathogen of this outbreak. A total of 10 virus strains isolated on Hep-2 cells were identified as CVA24 through VP1 amplification and nucleotide sequence analysis. The nucleotide and amino acid homologies on VP1 region among these isolates were 99.3%-100.0% and 99.5%-100.0%, respectively, and the strains aggregated together to one clade in phylogenetic tree. These results showed that the CVA24 circulating in Qingdao and Linyi City belonged to one transmission chain. Shandong CVA24s segregated into 5 different clades, and great nucleotide divergence was observed be tween AHC isolates and others.

Analysis of epidemic features of scrub typhus between year 2006 and 2010 in Shandong province, China / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the epidemic features of scrub typhus between year 2006 and 2010 in Shandong Province.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Based on the data collected through Diseases Reporting Information System between year 2006 and 2010 in Shandong province, 1291 cases of scrub typhus were selected. The study described the population distribution features of the scrub typhus patients, and explored the temporal and spatial distribution features of the disease by applying the methods of spatial thematic mapping, inverse distance weighted, spatial autocorrelation analysis, spatial clustering analysis, temporal clustering analysis and spatial variation analysis in temporal trends based on Geographic Information software (ArcGIS 9.3) and Spatial Clustering Software (SatScan 7.0).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The onset age of the 1291 patients ranged between 1 and 92 years old.639 out of 1291 patients were over 55 years old, accounting for 49.5%.640 patients were male and the other 651 patients were female, occupying 49.6% and 50.4% respectively. The gender ratio was 1:1.02. Patients were found in farmers, workers, students and preschool children. However, most of the cases were farmers, up to 84.8% (1095/1291). Global Moran's I index was 0.324 (P < 0.01). The local Moran's I index in 8 locations were proved to have statistical significance (P < 0.01); all of which were H-H clustering areas. Gangcheng (38 cases), Laicheng (154 cases), Xintai (160 cases) and Donggang (105 cases) were important locations, whose local Moran's I index were 2.111, 1.642, 1.277 and 0.775 respectively. The clustering period of scrub typhus in respective year were as follows: 2006.09.23 - 2006.11.20 (202 cases), 2007.10.02 - 2007.11.11 (197 cases), 2008.09.30 - 2008.11.07 (302 cases), 2009.09.25 - 2009.11.10 (204 cases), and 2010.10.05 - 2010.11.13 (226 cases), whose RR values were separately 45.55, 34.60, 50.64, 53.09 and 79.84 (P < 0.01). Two spatial clustering area were found in the study, one was the area centered Taian and Xintai with radiation radius at 58.28 km (542 cases) and the other one was the area centered Rizhao and Donggang with radiation radius at 22.68 km (134 cases), whose RR values were 4.52 and 3.96 (P < 0.01). The spatial features of the two clustering areas were inland low hills area and coastal hills area. The highest annual growth rate of the disease was 45.04%, found in the area centered Linyi and Mengyin counties, with the radiation radius at 45.82 km. The RR value was 3.68 (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The majority of the scrub typhus patients were middle-aged and elderly farmers. The epidemic peak was between the last 10 days of September and the first 10 days of November. A positive spatial correlation of the disease was found; and most cases clustered in inland low hills area and costal hills area; especially the area around Linyi and Mengyin, with the highest annual growth rates of the disease.</p>

Study on the characteristics of temporal distribution and the epidemic trend of autumn-winter type scrub typhus under time series analysis / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To explore the characteristics of temporal distribution and epidemic trend of autumn-winter type scrub typhus using the time series analysis.Methods Based on the data of scrub typhus collected from Shandong Diseases Reporting Information System from 2006 to 2011,both spectral analysis and moving average analysis were used to analyze the annual data of scrub typhus while scrub typhus incidence in 2012-2014 was forecasted.Seasonal decomposition analysis was applied to analyze the monthly data from January of 2006 to October of 2011,followed by Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Model (ARIMA) which was constructed to forecast case number in November and December of 2011 and compared to the actual incidence.Results The results of spectral analysis showed that the prevalence of autumn-winter type scrub typhus had a feature of ‘3-year-periodicity’.A long-term up-trend was confirmed by method of moving average analysis,with annually case numbers of 310,337 and another number of 366 forecasted for 2012 to 2014,respectively,with the annual increase rate as 9％ per-year.Data from analysis of monthly data of scrub typhus showed that through multiple seasonal decomposition analysis,the results indicated that the prevalence of this disease possessed a typical autumn-winter type.The seasonality indexes for scrub typhus in October and November were 8.454 and 2.230,respectively,while others were less than 1.000.The ARIMA (0,1,1 ) (0,1,0)12 model of ( 1 -B) ( 1 -B12)X,=( 1 -0.811B)u,that was used to forecast the prevalence of autumn-winter type scrub typhus and was constructed with the residual error of 16 lags as white noise.The Box-Ljung test statistic for the model was 3.116,giving a P value of 0.999.The model fitted the data well.Good accordance was achieved between the observed values and the forecasted values of scrub typhus in November and December of 2011 which was produced by the ARIMA model,and all observed values were within the forecasted 95％ CI.Conclusion The prevalence of autumn-winter type scrub typhus showed a 3-year-periodicity,with a long-term up-trend,and the case numbers of 2012 to 2014 were forecasted,rising on the end with an increasing rate of 9％ per year,which occurred seasonally with October as the peak time in every year.The ARIMA (0,1,1 ) (0,1,0) 12 model seemed to be quite appropriate in predicting the autumn-winter type scrub typhus.

Etiological and molecular characteristics of pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus during 2009-2010 in Shandong Province / 病毒学报

To isolate and identify the influenza virus in Shandong Province in 2009-2010 and analyze the genetic characteristics of hemagglutinin and neuraminidase gene, further study the variation of gene. A total of 17 126 nasopharyngeal swabs from fever patients were collected and detected by real time quantitative RT-PCR method. The results showed 4004 samples were pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus positive, with an overall positive rate as 23.38%. The positive samples were incubated and cultured in MDCK cells. The HA and NA genes of isolated pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus were sequenced, the homology analysis of the HA and NA genes showed an average of 96.9%-99.3% and 99.1%-99.6% sequence identity, respectively, compared with WHO-recommended vaccine strain. The genetic evolution and amino acid substitutions were performed with Mega 4.0 Software. Twenty one amino acids were changed in HA protein, of which 11 were located in the antigenic site; Sixteen amino acids were changed in NA protein, which didn't lead to the changes of enzyme sites. Furthermore, one glycosylation site of HA protein and NA protein were changed respectively. No H275Y mutation in NA protein was found. The results showed that the HA and NA genes of the epidemic strains were highly homologous, some mutations in the HA and NA proteins were found, the antigenic site and glycosylation site of some strains were changed during the epidemic process. All the strains were sensitive to oseltamivir.

Analysis of etiology of four pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus outbreaks in Shandong province, in 2009 / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To isolate and identify the influenza virus that caused four influenza-like-illness outbreaks in Jining city of Shandong Province in 2009 and analyze the genetic characteristics of hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) gene, the variation of these genes were studied.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>34 nasopharyngeal swabs from fever patients of four influenza-like-illness outbreaks were collected and diagnosed by real time quantitative RT-PCR method. The positive samples were incubated and cultured for virus. HA and NA genes of isolated pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus were sequenced, the homology analysis was done with DNAStar software and the genetic evolution and amino acid substitutions were performed with Mega 4.0 software. The sequences were compared with WHO recommended vaccine virus, native reference virus.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Seventeen of 34 nasopharyngeal swabs were positive, 11 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) viruses were isolated and HA and NA genes of 7 strains were sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis for hemagglutinin and neuraminidase gene of Shandong outbreak strains showed that there were 98.4% - 99.6% and 99.2% - 100.0% sequence identity. Compared with WHO-recommended vaccine strain, the reference virus in mainland China strain, eleven amino acids were changed for HA protein, including position 38, 40, 56, 90, 100, 145, 172, 173, 220, 303 and 338, and 38, 40, 303 of HA protein were located in the antigenic determination C cluster, 172, 173 in the D cluster, 56 in the E cluster, site 40 of HA protein were glycosylated. In NA protein, seven amino acids were changed, including position 80, 106, 241, 248, 351, 369 and 386, site 40 of NA protein were glycosylated. No mutations of 275 in NA protein were found.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The HA and NA genes of the epidemic strains showed high homology, some mutations in the HA and NA proteins were found, the antigenic site and glycosylation site of some strains were changed during the epidemic process.</p>

Molecular epidemiology investigation of rabies virus nucleoprotein genes in China / 中华实验和临床病毒学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the relationship between the distribution of rabies virus and genetic variation, the genetic characterization and variation of rabies virus strains in China were analyzed.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The downstream 720 nucleotides of Nucleoprotein (N) gene coding region of the rabies specimens from different areas and host animals were sequenced, and then homology and phylogenesis were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Nucleotide similarities of 34 N gene sequences were 87.5%-100%, and the deduced amino acid similarities were 93.3%-99.6%. Most of the nucleotide variations were synonymous mutations.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The 34 rabies specimens all belong to genotype I and are of regional characteristic. The rabies viruses in high-incidence areas in China are of various origins and present the transmission tendency from high-incidence areas to surrounding regions. There may be cross-infection and mutual spread of rabies virus between wildlife and domestic animals as well as native and foreign animals.</p>

Study on the status of infection and distribution of rabies virus in China / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To investigate the status of infection and distribution of rabies virus (RV) in different epidemic areas in China. Methods Brain specimens from animals and suspected patients were collected at the districts of high-, medium- and low incidence rates of human rabies and detected by both direct Immunofluorescence assay (DFA) and RT-PCR. Results 254 of 3007 specimens of dog brains showed RV positive by DFA (positive rate of 8.4% ). Among these 254 samples, 78 showed positive (positive rate of 30.7% ) by RT-PCR. 93 specimens from dogs and cats that had attacked human beings, 63 of them showed positive by DFA (positive rate of 67.7%) and all of them were also positive by RT-PCR. In addition, RV could also be detected in Apodemus agrarius,ferret badger, and suspected patients specimens from the districts under survey. There was no statistical difference between the infection rates of RV in different provinces and regions with different incidence of rabies. Conclusion There might be a relatively high infection rate of RV among the domestic dogs/cats in the endemic areas in China. Wild animals might have been infected with RV in the districts under survey.

Analysis on the factors related to rabies epidemic in China, in 2005 / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyse the related epidemic factors of rabies and to provide basic evidence for developing rabies control and prevention programs in China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Possible factors that causing rabies epidemics in the southern part of China were obtained through collecting both epidemic and surveillance data of rabies in 2005, and to analyse every factor by software of Excel 2002.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The number of rabies cases was 2548 in 2005. Among 885 cases being investigated, 60.56%, 49.04%, 96.16% had not had any chance to receive treatment, vaccine or immunoglobulin. Among the exposed persons, 89.95% received treatment on wounds and 94.93% were immunized, and 8.56% received immunoglobulin. 94.86% of them accomplished the full rabies post-exposure prophylaxis course, but 8.56% of them did not accomplish it. 88.50% of the cases and 92% of the persons under exposure were bitten by dogs. The density of dogs was 3.20-13.37 per 100 persons. The vaccination coverage rates among dogs were 5.31% -75.11% with a positive rate of 2.93 % -6.40%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Factors as: low rate of post-exposure prophylaxis and failed to have finished the necessary post-exposure treatment (PET) of the cases, nonstandard PET in hospital or local clinic, low rabies vaccination coverage and high infectivity of rabies virus in animal host (mainly for dog) might be responsible for rabies epidemics in China, in 2005.</p>

Genotype identification and sequence analysis of Orientia tsutsugamushi isolated from Shandong area / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To determine genotype, nucleotide sequence homology and phylogenesis of Orientia tsutsugamushi isolated from Shandong, China.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Orientia tsutsugamushi isolated from patients, Apodemus agrarius and Leptotrombidium scutellare in Shandong area were identified by nested-PCR. On the basis of the nucleotide sequence of the gene that encoding the Ot M, 56 x 10(3) antigen, the primers were frequently used in Japan and Korea. Nucleotide sequences of three isolates were determined. The DNA sequences were compared with nucleotide sequences of Orientia tsutsugamushi registered in GenBank for sequence homology analysis. Phylogenetic analysis of the isolates and'some published sequences was carried out with Neighbor-joining method by MEGA 3.1 software.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>481- 507 bp DNA fragments encoding Orientia tsutsugamushi M, 56 x 10(3) protein were amplified successfully in the samples of Gilliam, Karp, Kato and Shandong isolates by group-specific primers. The corresponding target fragments of the three international reference strains of Gilliam, Karp, and Kato were amplified successfully with each of their own type specific primers. 523 bp DNA fragments were amplified successfully from Shandong isolates by the nPCR with Kawasaki-specific primer, and no DNA fragment was amplified by the nPCR with Gilliam, Karp, Kato, Kuroki and Saitama-specific primer. Comparing with the sequences of Orientia tsutsugamushi registered in GenBank, all the Shandong isolates shared higher than 95% nucleotide sequence homology with Kawasaki strain founded in Japan. Data from phylogenetic analysis showed that Shandong isolates belonged to the same branch with Kawasaki strain.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>To facilitate international comparison and communication, the primers should be employed in the Orientia tsutsugamushi research in China. Orientia tsutsugamushi isolated in China were similar to Kawasaki strain</p>