Social contacts patterns relevant to the transmission of infectious diseases in Suzhou, China following the COVID-19 epidemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected human social contact patterns, but there is limited understanding regarding the post-pandemic social contact patterns. Our objective is to quantitatively assess social contact patterns in Suzhou post-COVID-19. METHODS: We employed a diary design and conducted social contact surveys from June to October 2023, utilizing paper questionnaires. A generalized linear model was utilized to analyze the relationship between individual contacts and covariates. We examined the proportions of contact type, location, duration, and frequency. Additionally, age-related mixed matrices were established. RESULTS: The participants reported an average of 11.51 (SD 5.96) contact numbers and a total of 19.78 (SD 20.94) contact numbers per day, respectively. The number of contacts was significantly associated with age, household size, and the type of week. Compared to the 0-9 age group, those in the 10-19 age group reported a higher number of contacts (IRR = 1.12, CI: 1.01-1.24), while participants aged 20 and older reported fewer (IRR range: 0.54-0.67). Larger households (5 or more) reported more contacts (IRR = 1.09, CI: 1.01-1.18) and fewer contacts were reported on weekends (IRR = 0.95, CI: 0.90-0.99). School had the highest proportion of contact durations exceeding 4 h (49.5%) and daily frequencies (90.4%), followed by home and workplace. The contact patterns exhibited clear age-assortative mixing, with Q indices of 0.27 and 0.28. CONCLUSIONS: We assessed the characteristics of social contact patterns in Suzhou, which are essential for parameterizing models of infectious disease transmission. The high frequency and intensity of contacts among school-aged children should be given special attention, making school intervention policies a crucial component in controlling infectious disease transmission.

Comparison of China Reference with Different National and International References: The Prevalence of High Blood Pressure in 695,302 Children and Adolescents in a Metropolis of Yangtze River Delta, China.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to compare performances of China reference and different national references on high blood pressure (HBP). METHODS: A cross-sectional study including 695,302 children and adolescents aged 7 to 17 years in Suzhou, China, was conducted to determine the prevalence of HBP based on U.S., international, Europe, and China references in 2016. RESULTS: Different percentiles of height and blood pressure were found among four references. Referring to U.S. reference, the prevalence of HBP was the highest with 26.0%, followed by International reference with 20.0%, Europe reference with 19.5%, and China reference with 19.2%. McNemar tests indicated statistically significant differences between HBP prevalence comparing China reference with the other 3 references (P < 0.001). The area under the curve was 0.947, 0.851, and 0.949 for U.S., international, and Europe reference, respectively. U.S. reference showed the highest sensitivity (98.2%), but the lowest specificity (91.2%), and Europe reference showed the highest kappa value (0.893). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of HBP varied among these four references, and the appropriate choice of reference would be important to recognize high-risk children and judge the trends of HBP prevalence in the targeted population.

The different correlations between obesity and osteoporosis after adjustment of static mechanical loading from weight and fat free mass.

OBJECTIVES: To explore complex correlations between obesity (OB) and osteoporosis (OP) after adjustment of static mechanical loading from weight and fat free mass (FFM). METHODS: A total of 3749 Chinese aged ≥65 years were selected from our ongoing cohort study. OB indices and bone mineral density (BMD) were measured for each subject. Linear regression analyses were performed to explore the correlations between OB indices and OP under three adjustment models (unadjusted, adjusted with weight and adjusted with FFM). RESULTS: Under no adjustment, three general obesity indices (body mass index: BMI, fat mass: FM, and percentage FM: PFM) were positively associated with BMD at three skeletal sites (P<0.001) in the regression analyses. However, after the adjustment with weight, these associations were mostly significant but reverse i.e., negatively in direction. After adjustment with FFM, the three indices were still positively and significantly (P<0.001) associated with BMD but regression coefficients were smaller compared to the unadjusted associations. Similar associations were observed for central adiposity and lower limb adiposity indices. CONCLUSIONS: The combined relation of OB to OP due to the physiological factors secreted from adipose tissues and the static mechanical loading from FM is positive in direction.

Protein array test detected three osteoporosis related plasma inflammatory cytokines in Chinese postmenopausal women.

Inflammatory cytokines were involved in pathological conditions of osteoporosis (OP). However, the specific OP-associated inflammatory cytokines are still awaiting to be detected by using a systemic method. Herein, we adopted an extreme sampling scheme and examined inflammatory cytokines between subjects with low and high bone mineral density (BMD) through protein microarray. First, 8 candidate cytokines including B lymphocyte chemoattractant (BLC), osteopontin (OPN) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 4 (IGFBP4) were identified in the discovery extreme sampling subgroup. Then, the different expressions for BLC, OPN and IGFBP4 were validated and replicated in two independent extreme sampling subgroups. Further functional experiments showed that the cytokine BLC was involved in bone metabolism by inhibiting bone formation and promoting bone resorption. Together, this study further revealed that inflammatory cytokines were closely related with OP, and that they highlighted critical roles of BLC in the pathogenesis of OP.

A Centralized Outbreak of Varicella among Children Attending Preschool in Suzhou, China.

BACKGROUND: Varicella vaccine is available for voluntary purchase with a single dose currently recommended for children aged ≥12 months. An epidemiological study was undertaken in order to determine the characteristics of the outbreak, assess vaccine effectiveness, and examine risk factors for vaccine failure. METHODS: A varicella case was defined as a generalized papulovesicular rash (without other apparent causes) in a child without prior varicella attending the kindergarten during February 22 to April 7 of 2016. Varicella among vaccinated children (breakthrough varicella) was defined as varicella occurring >42 days after vaccination. Children's vaccination status was verified with immunization records through local vaccination information platform. RESULTS: Of the 738 children, 664 (90.0%) had no prior varicella history. Of these, 364 (54.8%) had received a single-dose varicella vaccine before outbreak. A total of 30 cases occurred in the outbreak, and 9 of them (30%) had breakthrough varicella. Age at vaccination (<15 months vs. ≥15 months) and time since vaccination before the outbreak (<3 years vs. ≥3 years) were not related to the occurrence of breakthrough varicella (P > 0.05). Single-dose varicella vaccination was 64.7% effective in preventing any varicella. CONCLUSIONS: Single-dose varicella vaccine is effective in reducing the varicella attack rate, but not high enough to prevent outbreak. Timely detection and effective isolation are key factors in controlling varicella. Improving single-dose vaccination coverage and implementing two-dose vaccination strategy should be recommended to provide excellent protection to prevent varicella in the future in Suzhou.

The relationship between obesity subtypes based on BMI and cardio-cerebrovascular disease.

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of various obesity phenotypes and metabolic abnormalities on cardio-cerebrovascular disease. We performed a large-scale, cross-sectional study including 10,089 participants aged ≥18 years in the National High-Technology district of Suzhou, China, from March 2016 to April 2016. Cardio-cerebrovascular disease included stroke and coronary heart disease. The prevalence rates of cardio-cerebrovascular disease among people with normal weight, overweight, and obesity in the unhealthy metabolism subgroup were higher than those among the three BMI groups in the healthy metabolism subgroup. Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that after adjustment, the odds ratio (OR) of metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) with cardio-cerebrovascular disease was not statistically significant and that metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO) was statistically associated with cardio-cerebrovascular disease, with an OR of 2.106 (1.294-3.429) in Model 1 and 3.043 (1.510-6.133) in Model 2. This study also found that regardless of whether in Model 1 or Model 2, the number of participants with MHO was much lower than that of those with MUO. Therefore, the obese population usually had metabolic abnormalities. Although MHO was not statistically associated with cardio-cerebrovascular disease, obesity should be controlled along with metabolic abnormalities to reduce the risk of cardio-cerebrovascular disease.

Tumor necrosis factor gene polymorphisms are associated with silicosis: a systemic review and meta-analysis.

Studies investigating association between tumor necrosis factor (TNF) gene polymorphisms and silicosis susceptibility report conflicting results. The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess association between TNF gene polymorphisms and silicosis susceptibility. A systematic literature search was conducted to find relevant studies. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to estimate the strength of association. Finally, a total of 12 articles, involving 1990 silicosis patients and 1898 healthy controls were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, meta-analysis revealed a significant association between the TNF -308A allele and silicosis (OR = 1.348, 95%CI = 1.156-1.570, P<0.001). A significant association of AA+AG genotype of the TNF -308 A/G polymorphism with susceptibility to silicosis was also found (OR = 1.466, 95%CI = 1.226-1.753, P<0.001). After stratification by ethnicity, significant associations were detected under the genetic models (A allele and AA+AG genotype) for TNF -308A/G polymorphisms in the Asian population (P<0.05). Similarly, meta-analysis of the TNF -238A/G polymorphism revealed the same pattern as that shown by meta-analysis of TNF -308A/G. The meta-analysis suggests that the TNF -308A/G and -238A/G polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility to silicosis, especially in Asians.