Short-Term Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution and Influenza: A Multicity Study in China.

BACKGROUND: Air pollution is a major risk factor for planetary health and has long been suspected of predisposing humans to respiratory diseases induced by pathogens like influenza viruses. However, epidemiological evidence remains elusive due to lack of longitudinal data from large cohorts. OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to quantify the short-term association of influenza incidence with exposure to ambient air pollutants in Chinese cities. METHODS: Based on air pollutant data and influenza surveillance data from 82 cities in China over a period of 5 years, we applied a two-stage time series analysis to assess the association of daily incidence of reported influenza cases with six common air pollutants [particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5µm (PM2.5), particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤10µm (PM10), NO2, SO2, CO, and O3], while adjusting for potential confounders including temperature, relative humidity, seasonality, and holiday effects. We built a distributed lag Poisson model for one or multiple pollutants in each individual city in the first stage and conducted a meta-analysis to pool city-specific estimates in the second stage. RESULTS: A total of 3,735,934 influenza cases were reported in 82 cities from 2015 to 2019, accounting for 72.71% of the overall case number reported in the mainland of China. The time series models for each pollutant alone showed that the daily incidence of reported influenza cases was positively associated with almost all air pollutants except for ozone. The most prominent short-term associations were found for SO2 and NO2 with cumulative risk ratios of 1.094 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.054, 1.136] and 1.093 (95% CI: 1.067, 1.119), respectively, for each 10 µg/m3 increase in the concentration at each of the lags of 1-7 d. Only NO2 showed a significant association with the daily incidence of influenza cases in the multipollutant model that adjusts all six air pollutants together. The impact of air pollutants on influenza was generally found to be greater in children, in subtropical cities, and during cold months. DISCUSSION: Increased exposure to ambient air pollutants, particularly NO2, is associated with a higher risk of influenza-associated illness. Policies on reducing air pollution levels may help alleviate the disease burden due to influenza infection. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12146.

Myofibroblasts: A New Factor Affecting the Hyperlipidemia-Induced Elastic Abnormality of Corpus Cavernosum in Rabbits Detected by 2-D Shear Wave Elastography.

OBJECTIVE: Two-dimensional shear wave elastography (2-D SWE) has been proven to detect hyperlipidemia-induced elastic abnormality in the corpus cavernosum. This study investigated cytological factors affecting the elasticity of the corpus cavernosum in rabbits with hyperlipidemia using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). METHODS: Male New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into a hyperlipidemia group (high-cholesterol diet) and a control group (standard diet). Penile 2-D SWE was performed to detect the elastic abnormality in the corpus cavernosum. ScRNA-seq was performed to observe cellular changes in the corpus cavernosum of rabbits with hyperlipidemia. Immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence and histological examinations were conducted to verify the results of scRNA-seq. RESULTS: Two-dimensional SWE revealed that the Young's modulus of the corpus cavernosum was significantly greater in the hyperlipidemia group than that in the control group (p < 0.001). Histological findings revealed extracellular matrix accumulation within the corpus cavernosum, with stronger staining of collagen types I and Ⅲ. ScRNA-seq revealed that fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells were the major cell types in the corpus cavernosum. A novel subtype of fibroblasts (myofibroblast) was discovered in the hyperlipidemia group, which was verified by immunofluorescence staining and gene ontology analysis. Fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells were three cellular sources for myofibroblasts. CONCLUSION: Myofibroblasts are activated and proliferate and secrete large amounts of collagen fibers in the corpus cavernosum during hyperlipidemia, leading to abnormal Young's modulus detected by 2-D SWE and their recognition as a new factor affecting the hyperlipidemia-induced elastic abnormality of the corpus cavernosum.

[Retrospective research on proportion of HIV related death causes in nine counties in China].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the proportion of HIV related death cause, and its years of potential life lost (YPLL) and work years of potential life lose (WYPLL) in project counties. METHOD: According to the protocol of the third national death causes surveillance and HIV related death causes surveillance, retrospective study was implemented including baseline investigation of deaths' name list, demography information, door-to-door interview and death causes deduction in Gejiu, Ruili and Longchuan county in Yunnan province, Yangdong county in Guangdong province, Luzhai county in Guangxi zhuang Autonomous Region, Weishi and Zhecheng county in Henan province, Xishui county in Hubei province and Gu'an county in Hebei province. RESULTS: The study was conducted among nine counties located in seven provinces. A total of 118 719 cases were included, raw mortality was 5.83 per thousand, 2002 death cases were related to HIV, which contributed 1.67% of total deaths. The average age of HIV death was 38.03 yearsow, which was earlier than the non-HIV-related life-span (63.10 years). The YPLL and WYPLL of HIV death was 33.80 years and 20.50 years, respectively, which had contributed the second highest average YPLL. CONCLUSION: HIV has an important proportion among all death causes, and has contributed severe average YPLL and WYPLL.

[Forecast about number of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis 2001 - 2010].

OBJECTIVE: To forecast the number of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in 2010. METHODS: A mathematical model was established based on the nationwide epidemiological survey on tuberculosis conducted in 2000 so as to forecast the numbers of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis in 2000s. RESULTS: (1) The number of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis would be a little more than that in 2000, with the pulmonary tuberculosis case detection rate rho of 0.26 being adopted. (2) The number of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis would be smaller than that in 2000, with the pulmonary tuberculosis case detection rate rho of 0.30 being adopted. (3) If the current intervention strategy manages to keep the pulmonary tuberculosis case detection rate at the level of 0.35, the decline in number of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis will approach the goal set by the national program that the number of patients with pulmonary tuberculosis be decreased by 50%. CONCLUSION: The goal set by the national program can be achieved only when the pulmonary tuberculosis case detection rate reaches 0.35.