Investigation on Demodex infections among university students in Kunming City / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

Objective To investigate the prevalence of Demodex infection among students in Kunming Medical University, and identify the factors affecting Demodex infections, so as to provide the evidence for the development of the strategy for the prevention of Demodex infections. Methods A total of 1 463 students from Grade 2014 who studied Medical Parasitology in Kunming Medical University were included in the survey. Demodex was examined in students’facial skin using the cellophane tape method, and the species was identified using microscopy. The students’gender, ethnicity, place of origin and skin type were captured using a questionnaire survey. Results The overall prevalence of Demodex infections was 19.07% (279/1 463) on the facial skin among the university students, and a higher prevalence was seen in girls (21.16%, 183/865) than in boys (16.05%, 96/598) (χ2 =5.965,P <0.05).TheprevalenceofDemodex infectionswas18.33%(66/360)amongminorethnicstudents,andnoethnicity-specific prevalence was seen (P > 0.05). Demodex folliculorum was the predominant species, with a prevalence of 50.54% (141/279), and mild infections were predominant among all infections (96.77%, 270/279), without severe infections seen. Multivariate nonconditional logistic regression analysis revealed that gender and roommates with Demodex infections were risk factors of Demodex infections, and the infection was not associated with ethnicity, place of origin or skin type. There were only 2.53% (37/1 463) of the subjects understanding the knowledge pertaining to the prevention and control of Demodex infection. Conclusions A relatively low prevalence of Demodex infection is detected in the facial skin of students from Kunming Medical University, and Demodex infection is associated with gender and roommates with Demodex infections. Health education pertaining to the prevention of Demodex infections is suggested to be intensified among university students.

Progress of researches on Fasciola and fascioliasis in Yunnan Province / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

Fascioliasis is a zoonotic parasitic disease that seriously endangers human health and hinders socioeconomic development. Fasciola mainly infects ruminants, such as cattle and sheep. However, there has recently been a rise in the number of human cases with fascioliasis with the improvements of diagnostic techniques. During the past decades, sporadic cases of fascioliasis were predominantly identified; however, there were outbreaks of fascioliasis in Yunnan Province, which has been paid much attention. The review summarizes the advances in the distribution of Fasciola species and the progress of researches on fascioliasis in Yunnan Province.