Association between platelet count and the risk and progression of hand, foot, and mouth disease among children

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the association between platelet (PLT) count and the risk and progression of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). METHODS: In total, 122 HFMD patients and 40 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The differences between variables among the different subgroups were compared. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between various parameters and HFMD risk/progression. Sensitivity analysis was conducted by detecting the trend of the association between PLT count quartiles and HFMD risk/progression. A generalized additive model was used to identify the nonlinear relationship between PLT count and HFMD risk/progression. The relationship between gender and PLT count as well as the risk/progression of HFMD was detected using a stratified logistic regression model. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed in terms of age, male/female ratio, white blood cell (WBC) count, and PLT count between patients with stage I-II, III-IV HFMD and healthy controls. Moreover, the alanine aminotransferase and magnesium levels between patients with stage I-II and III-IV HFMD significantly differed. Moreover, a significant difference was noted in the male/female ratio among the different PLT groups. The group with a low PLT count had a lower risk of HFMD progression than the group with a high PLT count (Q4) (p=0.039). Lower age, male gender, and WBC count were found to be associated with HFMD risk. Meanwhile, PLT count was correlated to HFMD progression. The sensitivity analysis yielded a similar result using the minimally adjusted model (p for trend=0.037), and minimal changes were observed using the crude and fully adjusted model (p for trend=0.054; 0.090). A significant nonlinear relationship was observed between PLT count and HFMD progression after adjusting for age, gender, and WBC (p=0.039). CONCLUSIONS: PLT was independently associated with HFMD progression in a nonlinear manner.

Comparison of two health education intervention on tuberculosis prevention in schools / 中国学校卫生

Objective@#To compare the effectiveness of Internet plus mode with tradition education mode on tuberculosis prevention in schools,so as to provide the reference for reducing the risk of catching tuberculosis in schools.@*Methods@#Two junior and two senior high schools as well as two universities were selected from Baoding. The two same level schools were randomly divided into the traditional education group and the Internet plus group. All the students received 2-month TB health education intervention. Questionnaire survey was conducted before and after intervention. A total of 2 804 and 2 821 students were investigated before and after intervention respectively.@*Results@#The awareness rate of TB prevention and treatment core knowledge among the traditional education group and the Internet plus group before intervention was 47.5% and 47.8%, respectively (χ2=0.19, P>0.05). After intervention, the percentage of students with positive attitude and behavior regarding TB was 93.0% and 85.1% in the Internet plus group and the traditional model education group, respectively, including willingness to accept TB test (88.6% vs 81.5%), active reporting to school on TB diagnosis (96.4% vs 90.5%), no spitting in public, cover up when sneeze or cough (94.3% vs 90.6%), opening windows for ventilation (98.1% vs 95.7%), and willingness to share knowledge (98.7% vs 96.4%), active prevention of TB (86.3% vs 78.2%)(P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#Internet plus mode health education intervention shows more effectiveness on tuberculosis health education, compared with traditional health education.