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Objective@#To investigate the awareness of hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge and its influencing factors among female sex workers (FSWs) in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province.@*Methods@#According to the HIV/AIDS Sentinel Surveillance Plan, FSWs at ages of 15 to 65 years monitored by the national AIDS surveillance sentinel in Jiaxing City were recruited, and demographic information, awareness of hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge and related behaviors were collected by questionnaire surveys. Factors affecting the awareness of hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge were identified by a multivariable logistic regression model.@*Results@#A total of 430 questionnaires were allocated, and 412 were valid, with an effective rate of 95.81%. The respondents had a mean age of (28.58±4.93) years, and included 258 unmarried FSWs (62.62%), 344 with registered residence outside Zhejiang Province (83.50%), 212 with junior high school education or below (51.46%) and 243 from high-end entertainment places (58.98%). The overall awareness of hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge among FSWs was 20.39%, and the awareness of "Transfusion of blood containing hepatitis C virus may acquire hepatitis C" (38.83%) and the awareness of "tattooing, eyebrow tattooing and ear piercing in streets or small shops may infect hepatitis C" (38.11%) were relatively low. Multivariable logistic regression analysis identified marital status (divorced or widowed, OR=0.161, 95%CI: 0.054-0.482), educational level (high school or technical secondary school, OR=2.568, 95%CI: 1.446-4.560; junior college or above, OR=6.110, 95%CI: 2.658 -14.045) and grade of entertainment places (high-end entertainment places, OR=2.756, 95%CI: 1.525-4.982) as factors affecting the awareness of hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge among FSWs.@*Conclusion@#FSWs in Jiaxing City have a low awareness of hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge, especially lacking of knowledge about the transmission routes and prognosis of hepatitis C.
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Objective@#To investigate the hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge among clinicians in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, so as to provide the evidence for intensified training and improved diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C among clinicians.@*Methods@#In November, 2021, clinicians were sampled using a stratified random sampling method from a city-level and a county (district)-level hepatitis C designated hospital in Jiaxing City. A questionnaire survey was performed using the Questionnaire for Hepatitis C Prevention and Control Knowledge among Clinicians, and the awareness of basic knowledge, professional knowledge and related knowledge about hepatitis C prevention and control among clinicians were descriptively analyzed. @*Results@# A total of 186 questionnaires were allocated and 179 valid questionnaires were recovered, with an effective recovery rate was 96.24%. The respondents included 107 men (59.78%) and 72 women (40.22%) and had a mean age of (37.06±9.46) years. There were 107 respondents with a bachelor degree (59.78%), 56 with junior professional titles (31.28%), and 170 from non-infectious disease departments (94.97%). The awareness of basic hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge was 96.09%, and the awareness of “Transfusion of blood containing hepatitis C virus may acquire hepatitis C” was high (98.88%), and the awareness of “Hepatitis C can be cured” was low (77.09%). The awareness of professional hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge was 3.91% to 100.00%, and the awareness of “Pathogens of hepatitis C” (100.00%) and “Recommended screening populations for hepatitis C” (86.59%) was high, while the awareness of “There are two categories of hepatitis C cases: clinically diagnosed cases and confirmed cases” (3.91%) and “Clinical diagnosis of hepatitis C: positive anti-HCV antibody + any one of abnormal liver function or epidemiological history or clinical symptoms” (3.91%) was low. The awareness rates of “The state has included antiviral agents against hepatitis C into medical insurance” was and “Antiviral agents against hepatitis C are reimbursed in outpatient and inpatient departments of our hospital” were 81.56% and 59.78%, respectively. There were 69 clinicians participating hepatitis C-related training within one year (38.55%), and the awareness of clinicians that had participated in hepatitis C-related training had a higher awareness rate of basic hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge than those without participation (100.00% vs. 93.64%, P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#The awareness of basic hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge is high among clinicians in Jiaxing City; however, the training on diagnosis and classification criteria of hepatitis C and related medical insurance policy require to be improved.
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Objective@#To perform an epidemiological survey of the first case with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in Pinghu City of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province on March 13, 2022, so as to provide insights into the management of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemics. @*Methods@#According to the requirements of the Protocol on Prevention and Control of COVID-19 (8th Edition), epidemiological investigations were performed among 39 cases with SARS-CoV-2 infections in Pinghu City from March 13 to 20, 2022. Cases' demographics, clinical symptoms, history of immunization and exposure were collected, and close contacts were identified. Pharyngeal swabs were sampled from infected cases for detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid and whole-genome sequencing, and the source of infection and transmission route were investigated. @*Results@#The index case for this COVID-19 epidemic was an imported case from Shanghai Municipality, who infected 6 persons via aerosol transmission when playing in the badminton venue of Pinghu National Fitness Center on March 9; subsequently, one of these infected cases infected another 18 persons when playing in the badminton venue of Jiadian Village Resident's Fitness Center in Zhapu Township on March 12. Sixteen confirmed cases were reported, and all cases were mild; another 23 asymptomatic cases were diagnosed, with no death reported. This epidemic occurred from March 11 to 20, with 3 generations of spread and a median incubation period of 3 days. The SARS-CoV-2 infected cases had a median age of 33.5 (interquartile range, 12.0) years and included 36 cases with a history of COVID-19 vaccination. There were 16 cases with fever, cough, runny nose and sore throat, and 13 cases with imaging features of pneumonia. The effective reproductive number (Rt) of the COVID-19 epidemic was 7.73 at early stage, and was less than 1 since March 21. Whole-genome sequencing identified Omicron BA.2 variant among 33 cases, which had high homology with the index cases. @*Conclusion@#This epidemic was a cluster of COVID-19 caused by imported Omicron BA.2 variant infection from Shanghai Municipality, and the COVID-19 transmission was mainly caused by indoor aerosols.
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Objective@#To evaluate the protective effect of influenza vaccine among people aged 70 years and older in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, so as to provide a basis for formulating immunization strategies.@*Methods@#The influenza-like illness (ILI) cases aged 70 years and older treated in influenza surveillance sentinel hospital in Jiaxing City from November 2022 to May 2023 were selected. The medical information and influenza vaccination information were collected by a questionnaire survey, and influenza virus was detected using the quantitative fluorescent real-time PCR assay. The test-negative design case-control study was used to analyze the influencing factors of influenza virus positive and evaluate vaccine effect (VE).@*Results@#Totally 1 084 ILI cases were enrolled, including 535 males (49.35%) and 549 females (50.64%). There were 732 cases (67.53%) aged 70 to 79 years, and 352 cases (32.47%) aged 80 years and older. There were 689 cases with underlying diseases, accounting for 63.56%. A total of 224 influenza virus positive samples were detected, with a positive rate of 20.66%. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that a lower possibility of influenza virus positive was seen in ILI cases aged 80 years and older, with underlying diseases and with influenza vaccination in the current season (all P<0.05). A total of 345 cases were vaccinated against influenza in the current season, with a vaccination rate of 31.83%. The VE of influenza vaccine was 37.40% (95%CI: 12.40%-55.40%), of which the VE to A (H1N1) was 36.00% (95%CI: 7.50%-55.70%) and to A (H3N2) was 40.90% (95%CI: -26.00%-72.30%). The VE for ILI cases aged 70 to 79 years was 41.00% (95%CI: 13.90%-59.60%), and for ILI cases aged 80 years and older was 20.60% (95%CI: -64.60%-61.70%).@*Conclusions@#Influenza vaccine has a certain protective effect on cases aged 70 years and older. Free influenza vaccination for the elderly should be continuously promoted and the vaccination coverage should be increased.
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Objective@#To investigate the delay in identification of pulmonary tuberculosis and influencing factors among children and adolescents in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province from 2013 to 2022, so as to provide the reference for targeted prevention and control measures.@*Methods@#The information of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Jiaxing City from 2013 to 2022 were captured from the Tuberculosis Information Management System of Chinese Disease Control and Prevention Information System, including demographics, diagnosis, treatment and etiological results. The delay in identification of pulmonary tuberculosis was analyzed among children and adolescents, and the factors affecting the delay in identification of pulmonary tuberculosis were identified using a multivariable logistic regression model.@*Results@#A total of 2 407 pulmonary tuberculosis cases were reported among children and adolescents in Jiaxing City from 2013 to 2022, including 1 522 males (63.23%). The median age was 21.00 (interquartile range, 4.00) years. There were 410 students (17.03%), and 1 856 cases with non-local household registration (77.11%). There were 596 cases with delay in identification of tuberculosis (24.76%), 895 cases with delay in healthcare-seeking (37.18%) and 128 cases with delay in definitive diagnosis (5.32%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis that children and adolescents who occurred symptoms in the first quarter (OR=1.684, 95%CI: 1.261-2.249), were diagnosed first in county-level medical institutions (OR=3.800, 95%CI: 2.898-4.983) and had positive results of etiological testing (OR=1.534, 95%CI: 1.255-1.874) were more likely to delay in identification of pulmonary tuberculosis.@*Conclusions@#The delay in identification of pulmonary tuberculosis is associated with the time of symptom onset, the level of medical institution making first diagnosis, and the results of etiological testing. It is suggested to reinforce the publicity of pulmonary tuberculosis prevention and control, expand the coverage of screening programs and improve the diagnosis capability of medical institutions.