ABSTRACT
What is already known about this topic?: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic could have a damaging impact on access to tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and treatment. What is added by this report?: The overall delay experienced by TB patients during the COVID-19 pandemic has shown a modest decrease in comparison to the period before the pandemic. Notably, higher patient delays were observed among agricultural workers and those identified through passive case-finding methods. Furthermore, the patient delay in eastern regions was shorter compared to western and central regions. What are the implications for public health practice?: The observed increase in patient delay in 2022 should be of concern for ongoing TB control efforts. Health education and active screening initiatives must be enhanced and broadened among high-risk populations and regions characterized by extended patient delays.
ABSTRACT
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THIS TOPIC?: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is widespread globally. In China, COVID-19 has been well controlled and has appeared only in importation-related cases. Local epidemics occur sporadically in China and have been contained relatively quickly. WHAT IS ADDED BY THIS REPORT?: Epidemiological investigation with genome sequence traceability analysis showed that the first case of COVID-19 in Nangong City acquired infection from a confirmed case from Shijiazhuang City; infection subsequently led to 76 local cases. All cases were associated with the index case, and most were located in Fenggong Street and did not spread outside of Nangong City. The main routes of transmission were family clusters, intra-unit transmission, and nosocomial transmission. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE?: This study highlights new techniques for rapidly tracing cases and identifying COVID-19 transmission chains. The different epidemiological characteristics in Nangong City, from the earliest stages of the outbreak, suggest that allocation of health sources for prevention and treatment were reasonable. Preventing transmission within medical institutions and isolation facilities and strengthening management in the community should be priorities for COVID-19 control during a city lockdown.
ABSTRACT
We report on a hospitalized patient with 2019 novel coronavirus disease whose fecal samples tested negative 22 days after respiratory samples tested negative, highlighting that the duration of viral shedding is longer than that previously expected. Current clinical examinations for treatment and discharge standards are limited to respiratory samples. However, we believe that nucleic acid testing of both respiratory and fecal samples is necessary for discharging patients. Further studies are needed to confirm the potential of fecal-oral transmission or fecal-respiratory transmission via aerosols.