An outbreak of brucellosis in a village in Jiangsu province / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the cause and related risk factors of an outbreak caused by Brucellosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Epidemiological investigation and laboratory test were carried out among occupationally invloved population including sheep slaughters and sellers in the village.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>18 people were serology positive among the 129 occupationally involved persons under survey. Seven of them were confirmed cases, 11 were latent infection, to make the overall attack rate as 14%. 90% of the sheep were from high-risk areas of Brucella. Among the occupationally involved persons, 89% of them never wore face masks, 84% never wear overalls and 70% never wear gloves. Factors as:work but wearing no gloves (RR = 7.4, 95%CI:1.1-53.0), with hand wound (RR = 3.4, 95%CI:1.1-11.0) could increase the risk of Brucella infection.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The cause of this outbreak was due to the plentiful influx of unchecked sheep from the northern part of China and the employees in the process of sheep slaughtering or trading were lack of effective prevention programs.</p>

An outbreak of brucellosis in a village in Jiangsu province / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To investigate the cause and related risk factors of an outbreak caused by Brucellosis. Methods Epidemiological investigation and laboratory test were carried out among occupationally invloved population including sheep slaughters and sellers in the village. Results 18 people were serology positive among the 129 occupationally involved persons under survey. Seven of them were confirmed cases,11 were latent infection,to make the overall attack rate as 14%. 90%of the sheep were from high-risk areas of Brucella. Among the occupationally involved persons,89%of them never wore face masks,84%never wear overalls and 70%never wear gloves. Factors as:work but wearing no gloves(RR=7.4,95%CI:1.1-53.0),with hand wound(RR=3.4,95%CI:1.1-11.0) could increase the risk of Brucella infection. Conclusion The cause of this outbreak was due to the plentiful influx of unchecked sheep from the northern part of China and the employees in the process of sheep slaughtering or trading were lack of effective prevention programs.

An outbreak of brucellosis in a village in Jiangsu province / 中华流行病学杂志

Objective To investigate the cause and related risk factors of an outbreak caused by Brucellosis. Methods Epidemiological investigation and laboratory test were carried out among occupationally invloved population including sheep slaughters and sellers in the village. Results 18 people were serology positive among the 129 occupationally involved persons under survey. Seven of them were confirmed cases,11 were latent infection,to make the overall attack rate as 14%. 90%of the sheep were from high-risk areas of Brucella. Among the occupationally involved persons,89%of them never wore face masks,84%never wear overalls and 70%never wear gloves. Factors as:work but wearing no gloves(RR=7.4,95%CI:1.1-53.0),with hand wound(RR=3.4,95%CI:1.1-11.0) could increase the risk of Brucella infection. Conclusion The cause of this outbreak was due to the plentiful influx of unchecked sheep from the northern part of China and the employees in the process of sheep slaughtering or trading were lack of effective prevention programs.

Expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of systemic lupus erythematosus patients and its relationship with atherosclerosis / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) plays an important role in atherosclerosis. This study was to examine expression of MMP-1 mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and to explore its relationship with atherosclerosis in SLE.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fluorescent quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to examine the expression of MMP-1 mRNA in PBMCs in 80 SLE patients, including 39 prone to atherosclerosis (Group A) and 41 unprone to atherosclerosis (Group B). Meanwhile, 30 patients who were free of cardiovascular diseases and 30 healthy individuals were selected as disease and normal control group (Groups C and D). The changes of MMP-1 gene expression were analyzed by differences of cycle threshold (DeltaCt), with the following formula: DeltaCt = Ct(target) gene - Ct(reference) gene.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The expression level of MMP-1 mRNA in Group A was significantly higher than that of group B (DeltaCt = 8.64 +/- 2.43 vs DeltaCt = 12.09 +/- 2.26, t = 6.588, P < 0.01). The expression level of MMP-1 mRNA of SLE patients was significantly higher than that of Group C (DeltaCt = 10.41 +/- 2.90 vs DeltaCt = 12.29 +/- 2.51, t = 3.135, P < 0.01) and Group D (DeltaCt = 10.41 +/- 2.90 vs DeltaCt = 12.48 +/- 1.69, t = 3.675, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>In comparison to disease and control group, expression of MMP-1 mRNA in PBMCs of SLE patients was significantly elevated, and significant difference of MMP-1 mRNA expression was also found between SLE patients prone and unprone to atherosclerosis, indicating that expression of MMP-1 mRNA may be correlated with the pathogenesis and activity of atherosclerosis in SLE.</p>