Public acceptance of COVID-19 control measures and associated factors during Omicron-dominant period in China: a cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to evaluate the public acceptance of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) control measures during the Omicron-dominant period and its associated factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was conducted and 1391 study participants were openly recruited to participate in the questionnaire survey. Logistic regression model was performed to assess the association between the public acceptance and potential factors more specifically. RESULTS: By August 26, 2022, 58.9% of the study participants were less acceptive of the control measures while 41.1% expressed higher acceptance. Factors associated with lower acceptance included young age, such as < 18 (OR = 8.251, 95% CI: 2.009 to 33.889) and 18-29 (OR = 2.349, 95% CI: 1.564 to 3.529), and household per capita monthly income lower than 5000 yuan (OR = 1.512, 95% CI: 1.085 to 2.105). Furthermore, individuals who perceived that the case fatality rate (CFR) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was very low (OR = 6.010, 95% CI: 2.475 to 14.595) and that the restrictions could be eased once the CFR dropped to 2-3 times of the influenza (OR = 2.792, 95% CI: 1.939 to 4.023) showed greater oppositional attitudes. Likewise, respondents who were dissatisfied with control measures (OR = 9.639, 95% CI: 4.425 to 20.998) or preferred fully relaxation as soon as possible (OR = 13.571, 95% CI: 7.751 to 23.758) had even lower acceptability. By contrast, rural residents (OR = 0.683, 95% CI: 0.473 to 0.987), students (OR = 0.510, 95% CI: 0.276 to 0.941), public (OR = 0.417, 95% CI: 0.240 to 0.727) and private (OR = 0.562, 95% CI: 0.320 to 0.986) employees, and vaccinated participants (OR = 0.393, 95% CI: 0.204 to 0.756) were more compliant with control measures. CONCLUSION: More than half of the Chinese public were less supportive of COVID-19 control measures during Omicron-dominant period, which varied based on their different demographic characteristics, cognition and overall attitude towards SARS-CoV-2 infection. Control measures that struck a balance between public safety and individual freedom would be more acceptable during the pandemic.

Breakthrough of chemiluminescence-based LAM urine test beyond HIV-positive individuals: Clinical diagnostic value of pulmonary tuberculosis in the general population.

To investigate the diagnostic value of a novel high-sensitivity urine lipoarabinomannan (LAM) test (chemiluminescence-based) for active tuberculosis in the general population. A retrospective study was conducted on 250 clinical suspected tuberculosis patients who were HIV-negative and visited the Fourth People's Hospital of Foshan from January 2022 to December 2022. Among them, there were 135 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, 34 cases of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, and 81 cases of non-tuberculosis. Urine samples were collected for LAM antigen detection before treatment, and laboratory data of sputum smear acid-fast staining (smear method), sputum culture, and GeneXpert method were collected. Using clinical diagnosis as the reference standard, the diagnostic efficacy of 4 methods for detecting active tuberculosis was evaluated. For the 135 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis, the sensitivity of sputum smears, sputm culture, sputm GeneXpert method, and urine LAM were 29.6% (40/135), 45.9% (62/135), 59.3% (80/135), and 51.9% (70/135), respectively. The combination of LAM + GeneXpert and LAM + culture had the highest sensitivity for detecting active pulmonary tuberculosis, which were 71.0% and 78.2%, respectively. For the detection of sputum culture-negative pulmonary tuberculosis, the positive rates of smear, GeneXpert, and LAM were 0.0% (0/73), 53.4% (39/73), and 52.1% (38/73), respectively. LAM + smear and LAM + Genexpert could detect 52.1% and 68.5% of sputum culture-negative patients, respectively. The high-sensitivity urine LAM test holds promise for tuberculosis diagnosis in the general population. It demonstrates high-sensitivity, enabling the detection of sputum culture-negative pulmonary tuberculosis patients. Furthermore, when combined with existing methods, it can enhance the overall detection rate.

Neutralization Effect of Sera against Delta and Omicron in Patients Recovering from COVID-19 and Inactivated Vaccine Recipients.

This study aims to analyze the serum neutralization capacity against Delta and Omicron variants in three clusters of individuals, including those who had recovered from COVID-19 and those who had received two and three doses of inactivated vaccine. Pseudovirus neutralization tests were performed on serum samples. The neutralizing titers between different groups were compared using the Wilcoxon's signed-rank test. Among the two-dose vaccinees, the neutralization titers of the Omicron variant were reduced by approximately 3.1-fold compared to the wild-type virus (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, among the three-dose vaccinees, the neutralization titers for Delta and Omicron variants were 3.5-fold (p < 0.05) and 5.0-fold (p < 0.05) lower, respectively, as compared to the wild-type virus. In addition, among the recovering patients, the neutralization titers for Delta and Omicron variants were 3.9-fold (p < 0.05) and 29.1-fold (p < 0.05) lower, respectively, as compared to the wild-type virus. Overall, only 12.0% (11/92) of participants showed neutralizing titers against Omicron above the detection limit. The ability to neutralize wild-type pseudovirus was significantly boosted in three-dose vaccinees as compared to two-dose vaccinees. Sera from recovered patients showed greater neutralizing titers for the wild-type and Delta pseudoviruses than the two- and three-dose inactivated vaccine groups. The present study revealed a loss of neutralizing activity against the Omicron variant in almost all samples. Moreover, the immunization effect obtained through natural infection is more robust than that from the active immunization method of vaccination.

Association between triglyceride-glucose index and worsening renal function in the elderly.

Background: Triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index is a simple marker of insulin resistance. However, insufficient data is available on whether the TyG index is associated with worsening renal function (WRF) in the elderly. Therefore, this study was designed to explore the association between the TyG index and WRF based on a community elderly cohort. Methods: In this study, 7,822 elderly (aged ≥ 65 years) adults from southern China were enrolled and divided into four groups according to the TyG index quartiles. The primary endpoint was incident chronic kidney disease (CKD), defined as incident estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2. Additional endpoints included a decline in eGFR of 30% and 40% during the follow-up period. Results: During the median 2.04 year follow-up period, 1,541 (19.7%) participants developed CKD. After adjusting for confounding factors, multivariable Cox regression models revealed significant associations between TyG index and incident CKD (HR per SD increase, 1.21; 95% CI: 1.14-1.29), a decline in eGFR of 30% (HR per SD increase, 1.38; 95% CI: 1.26-1.50), and decline in eGFR of 40% (HR per SD increase, 1.42; 95% CI: 1.24-1.63). Furthermore, compared with those in Q1, participants in Q4 demonstrated a higher risk of developing CKD (HR, 1.59; 95% CI: 1.35-1.88). These positive associations remained consistent across different subgroup populations. Conclusion: Our study suggests a positive and independent association between the TyG index and WRF in the elderly.

Impact of Vaccination and Control Measures on the Fatality of COVID-19: An Ecological Study.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, reducing the case fatality rate (CFR) becomes an urgent goal. OBJECTIVE: This study explored the effect of vaccination and variants on COVID-19 fatality and provide a basis for the adjustment of control measures. METHODS: This study collected epidemiological information on COVID-19 from January to October 2021. By setting different lag times, we calculated the adjusted CFR. The Spearman correlation coefficient and beta regression were used to explore factors that may affect COVID-19 fatality. RESULTS: Every 1% increase in the percentage of full vaccinations may reduce the 3 weeks lagging CFR by 0.66%. Increasing the restrictions on internal movement from level 0 to 1, restrictions on international travel controls from level 2 to 3, and stay-at-home restrictions from level 0 to 2 were associated with an average reduction in 3 weeks lagging CFR of 0.20%, 0.39%, and 0.36%, respectively. Increasing strictness in canceling public events from level 0 to 1 and 2 may reduce the 3 weeks lagging CFR by 0.49% and 0.37, respectively. Increasing the severity of school and workplace closures from level 1 or level 0 to 3 may increase the 3 weeks lagging CFR of 0.39% and 0.83, respectively. Every 1-point increase in the Global Health Security (GHS) index score may increase the 3 weeks lagging CFR by 0.12%. CONCLUSION: A higher percentage of full vaccinations, higher levels of internal movement restrictions, international travel control restrictions, cancelations of public events, and stay-at-home restrictions are factors that may reduce the adjusted CFR.

Risk of prevalence of latent tuberculosis infection in health care workers-an idiographic meta-analysis from a Chinese perspective.

BACKGROUND: China is one of the countries sharing the major burden of tuberculosis (TB) in the world. Health care workers (HCWs) are subject to a high risk of occupational latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI)-an asymptomatic state of TB disease. However, the heterogenic composition of healthcare professionals in terms of nature of their work leads to the inconsistency in predicting the prevalence of LTBI amongst them. Furthermore, the global statistics do not account for the analysis conducted within the Chinese population. Our study reflects a systemic and epidemiological meta-analysis to investigate the risk of contracting LTBI by the HCWs of China. METHODS: A systematic review of the literature was performed to identify studies reporting LTBI prevalence or incidence among HCWs and a control groups in China. Risk of infection, as well as subgroup analysis was calculated by pooled effect estimates. Review Manager 5.0 was used to perform the meta-analyses. RESULTS: Twenty studies containing 9,654 HCWs met the inclusion criteria. The average prevalence of LTBI among HCWs was 51.5%, ranging from 27.9-88.8%. HCWs had a higher risk of prevalence of LTBI than the control groups [odds ratio (OR), 1.78, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.46-2.16]. In the subgroup analysis, the prevalence of LTBI in HCWs with respect to the control groups was observed to be highest in Eastern China (OR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.35-3.11). Furthermore, the pooled OR for LTBI was 1.90 and 1.65 separately from the results of the tuberculin skin test (TST) and the interferon-gamma release assay. Lastly, upon comparing the HCWs with the control groups from the community and the nosocomial source, it was observed that the pooled OR favored for the prevalence of LTBI, which was primarily community-sourced (3.12 and 1.54). HCWs had an increased risk of prevalence of LTBI than the control groups, both in general hospitals and TB specific hospitals (pooled OR 2.4 and 1.57). CONCLUSIONS: Risk of LTBI infection among HCWs is relatively high in China, especially in the eastern region, predisposed by the cumulative exposure to Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the community and the general hospitals. Overall, our data reflects an alarming risk posed to our HCWs, and calls for immediate reforms at the policy levels, so as to implement effective screening and treatment of affected HCWs in China.

Screening a novel FGF3 antagonist peptide with anti-tumor effects on breast cancer from a phage display library.

Accumulating evidence has suggested that fibroblast growth factor 3 (FGF3) is expressed in breast cancer and correlates with the stage and grade of the disease. In the present study, a specific FGF3­binding peptide (VLWLKNR, termed FP16) was isolated from a phage display heptapeptide library with FGF3. The peptide FP16 contained four identical (WLKN) amino acids and demonstrated high homology to the peptides of the 188­194 (TMRWLKN) site of the high­affinity FGF3 receptor fibroblast growth factor receptor 2. Functional analyses indicated that FP16 mediated significant inhibition of FGF3­induced cell proliferation, arrested the cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase by increasing proliferation­associated protein 2G4, suppressing cyclin D1 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen, and inhibited the FGF3­induced activation of extracellular signal­regulated kinase 1/2 and Akt kinase. Taken together, these results demonstrated that the peptide FP16, acting as an FGF3 antagonist, is a promising therapeutic agent for the treatment of breast cancer.

[Application of Excel programs of Fisher exact probability test for medical data].

OBJECTIVE: To accomplish the computation of Fisher exact probability test for fourfold table data in Excel. METHOD: The computing program of exact probability method for medical data in fourfold table design was edited by employing the IF statement and the relevant functions, such as SUM, FACT, DSUM, etc in Excel. The computational results are compared and evaluated according to the case studies. RESULTS: The output of Fisher Exact Probability was generated and presented correctly following the input of four numerical values into the computation program in the setting of Excel. The parametric outcomes are in agreement with those produced by SAS and SPSS, in the combination tables containing the P value, two-tailed cumulative P value, left-tailed P-value, right-tailed P-value, Chi2 values and P values both for direct Chi-squared test and corrected Chi-squared test. CONCLUSIONS: Direct Chi-squared test, corrected Chi-squared test combined with Fisher Exact Probability test for fourfold table data can be conveniently, rapidly, and accurately accomplished in Excel.