Temporal dynamic in the impact of COVID- 19 outbreak on cause-specific mortality in Guangzhou, China.

BACKGROUND: Studies related to the SARS-CoV-2 spikes in the past few months, while there are limited studies on the entire outbreak-suppressed cycle of COVID-19. We estimate the cause-specific excess mortality during the complete circle of COVID-19 outbreak in Guangzhou, China, stratified by sociodemographic status. METHODS: Guangzhou Center for Disease Control Prevention provided the individual data of deaths in Guangzhou from 1 January 2018 through 30 June 2020. We applied Poisson regression models to daily cause-specific mortality between 1 January 2018 and 20 January 2020, accounting for effects of population size, calendar time, holiday, ambient temperature and PM2.5. Expected mortality was estimated for the period from 21 January through 30 June 2020 assuming that the effects of factors aforementioned remained the same as described in the models. Excess mortality was defined as the difference between the observed mortality and the expected mortality. Subgroup analyses were performed by place of death, age group, sex, marital status and occupation class. RESULTS: From 21 January (the date on which the first COVID-19 case occurred in Guangzhou) through 30 June 2020, there were three stages of COVID-19: first wave, second wave, and recovery stage, starting on 21 January, 11 March, and 17 May 2020, respectively. Mortality deficits were seen from late February through early April and in most of the time in the recovery stage. Excesses in hypertension deaths occurred immediately after the starting weeks of the two waves. Overall, we estimated a deficit of 1051 (95% eCI: 580, 1558) in all-cause deaths. Particularly, comparing with the expected mortality in the absence of COVID-19 outbreak, the observed deaths from pneumonia and influenza substantially decreased by 49.2%, while deaths due to hypertension and myocardial infarction increased by 14.5 and 8.6%, respectively. In-hospital all-cause deaths dropped by 10.2%. There were discrepancies by age, marital status and occupation class in the excess mortality during the COVID-19 outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: The excess deaths during the COVID-19 outbreak varied by cause of death and changed temporally. Overall, there was a deficit in deaths during the study period. Our findings can inform preparedness measures in different stages of the outbreak.

A study on acquired immune deficiency syndrome related behaviors in male clients of female sex workers / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the socio-demographic characteristics, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) related behaviors of male clients of female sex workers and their determinants.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Contacting subjects through 5 ways including volunteers of female sex workers (FSWs), sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics, long-distance bus stations, long-distance cargo station while adopting methods as snowballing, employing an anonymous questionnaire. Data was analyzed by logistic regression analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) The majority of clients were 25-45 years old, married and of junior high school or above educational levels; (2) Among male clients of FSWs, numbers of having had commercial sexual intercourse was between 1 to 240, averaged 24 in the previous year. It significantly related to their occupation and the experience of their friends or colleagues who ever visited female sex workers; (3) 27.98% of them used condom every time during commercial sexual intercourse, which significantly related to the score of knowledge on AIDS, concourse of sex intercourse and inhabitation; (4) 28.36% of them had ever contracted STD, which significantly related to the frequency of commercial sexual intercourse in the previous year, risk awareness of being infected with human immunodeficiency virus, and frequency of condom use during commercial sexual intercourse.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The proportion of always using condom was low among male clients of FSWs, and had had STDs. And it's necessary for active and specific intervention programs to them.</p>

Analysis of hepatitis virus infection in hepatocellular carcinoma patients receiving surgical operation in China and Japan / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To describe and compare the hepatitis virus infection in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients receiving surgical operation in China and Japan.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Information of surgical HCC patients was retrieved from the medical records. The concerned characteristics of the HCC cases from two countries were described and compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 425 diagnosed cases that underwent surgical resection for HCC in China were investigated, and the corresponding cases in Japan were 247. The proportion of the hepatitis virus infection was 75.53% in patients with HCC from China. Within the infection cases, 91.28% were positive for HBsAg but negative for anti-HCV. The proportion was 82.59% in patients with HCC from Japan. Within the infection cases, 77.94% were positive for anti-HCV but negative for HBsAg. The proportion of hepatocirrhosis in the hepatitis virus infection patients with HCC were 89.10% and 68.14% in China and Japan, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The hepatitis B virus infection showed be a main cause of HCC in China, however, the HCC in Japan be mostly related to hepatitis C virus infection.</p>

A study on the estimation of the size of male homosexual population / 中华流行病学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the practical survey method on estimating the size of male homosexual population.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Nine male homosexual gathering spots were selected and three methods as division method, capture-mark-recapture method and multiplier method were applied in counting the numbers of homosexual men in one city in Sichuan province.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Number of counting through division method was 877 and the three numbers through capture-mark-recapture method were 1408, 1207 and 949 respectively. However, appropriate data was not obtained by multiplier method.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Division method was easy to operate with its high credibility, but costly. Capture-mark-recapture method was less costly less both in capital and time, and the results could be testified to each other. Multiplier method should be modified before applied to obtain reliable information.</p>