[Investigation of intestinal nematode infections in Hongze County, Jiangsu Province].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the situation of intestinal nematode infections and assess the preventive effects, so as to provide the evidence for formulating the further measures of prevention. METHODS: Five villages from 5 townships of different geographical locations were selected and 500 residents of each village were surveyed. The eggs of intestinal nematodes were detected by the Kato-Katz technique, and 50 students and 50 residents per village were investigated by questionnaires about health education. RESULTS: Among 3 011 people detected, 17 persons were infected with intestinal nematodes and the total infection rate was 0.56%. The rates of Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, Trichuris trichiura, Enterobius vermicularis, and Trichostrongylus were 0.10%, 0.33%, 0.03%, 0.03% and 0.07%, respectively. The awareness rate of health knowledge was 97.80% and the formation rate of health behavior was 97.00%. CONCLUSION: The infection rates of intestinal nematodes, the awareness rate of health knowledge and the formation rate of health behavior in the population of Hongze County have achieved the criteria of effective control of intestinal parasitic diseases.

[Analysis of malaria situation and discussion of control strategies in Huai'an City, 2014].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the malaria epidemic situation in Huai'an City in 2014, so as to provide the evidence for formulating and adjusting effective strategies and measures to eliminate malaria. METHODS: The reported malaria cases from the Internet Reporting System and the epidemiological data of malaria of Huai'an City in 2014 were collected and analyzed statistically. RESULTS: A total of 56 malaria cases were reported in Huai'an City in 2014 with the incidence of 0.12/10,000, and 43.59% of increasing rate compared with the previous year (39 cases). All these cases were imported from African countries. There were 50 cases of falciparum malaria, 4 cases of ovale malaria, 1 case of quartan malaria and 1 case of mixed infections. All the patients were male and aged 24-59 years. Totally 96.43% of the patients (54 cases) were peasants and 69.64% of them (39 cases) only received junior high school education. The malaria cases were mainly distributed in Huai'an District (32 cases), Xuyi County (8 cases) and Huaiyin District (6 cases), totally accounting for 82.14%. There was no significant seasonal variation in the reporting time of the cases. The median time from onset to seeing a doctor was 2 days and the median time from seeing a doctor to being diagnosed was 1 day. Totally 16.67% of the patients (8 cases) were misdiagnosed when they first visited a doctor. All the patients were laboratory confirmed and all of them received the standard treatment after diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: There have been no local malaria cases reported from Huai'an City in the last three years. However, the situation of imported malaria is more serious and the species of infected Plasmodium are more diverse. Therefore, to accomplish the aim of malaria elimination in the whole city, it is necessary to further strengthen the multi-sectoral cooperation, health education, malaria screening and professional training to control the imported malaria.

[Study on potential risks of schistosomiasis transmission in Grand Canal West water diversion route of eastern route project of South-to-North Water Diversion Project].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the potential risks of Oncomelania hupensis diffusion and schistosomiasis transmission in the Grand Canal west water diversion route of the eastern route project of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. METHODS: The engineering layout from Nanyun west floodgate to Hongze Lake, the aquaculture along Hongze Lake, and the data of hydrology and transferred water were investigated. The investigations on Oncomelania hupensis and schistosomiasis were carried out in the surveillance sites of Jinbao Channel and Hongze Lake. The possibilities of snail spreading and schistosomiasis transmission were researched. RESULTS: Oncomelania snails lacked their breeding environment and ecological condition in the Hongze Lake region. The engineering facilities of the Jinhu and Hongze pumping stations went against the snail spreading. The water levels at all steps decreased gradually from Hongze Lake to Jinbao Channel. Therefore, the pumping stations were necessary when the water transferred to Hongze Lake. The multi-year average diverted water volume reached 2.558 billion cubic meters a year in the Jinbao Channel. Of the total diverted water volume, there was 75% of the volume in drought years. The Oncomelania snails were not found in the surveillance sites of the Jinbao Channel and the Hongze Lake region from 2008 to 2011. A total of 3 088 residents were examined with the serology tests and the positive rate was 0.29% in 2008. Totally 4 758 overwater flow people were examined with the serology tests and the positive rate was 2.42% from 2008 to 2011. The serum positive rate was higher in the overwater flow people than that in the residents (chi2 = 0.083, P < 0.01). The stool examinations were all negative in the above mentioned serum positive people. CONCLUSIONS: The Hongze Lake area has still no Oncomelania snail breeding and schistosomiasis endemic so far. There are also no schistosomiasis re-prevalent signs in the Jinbao Channel area where schistosomiasis was once prevalent. The Oncomelania snail breeding and diffusion, and schistosomiasis endemic are unlikely to appear in the Grand Canal west water diversion route of the eastern route project of the South-to-North Water Diversion and Hongze Lake area.

[Effect of caring for chronic filariasis patients in Huaiyin District].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of the caring for patients with lymphedema/chronic filariasis elephantiasis in Huaiyin District. METHODS: The chronic filariasis care sites were established and the medical workers provided the guidance regularly to patients for their self-cares. RESULTS: Through the caring for patients with chronic filariasis, their symptoms alleviated obviously, and the symptom frequency showed a significant downward trend. CONCLUSION: The caring for the chronic filariasis patients can alleviate the symptoms and improve the quality of life.