BackgroundWith the increasing of ageing population, tuberculosis in the elderly brings a challenge for the tuberculosis (TB) control in China. Enough social support can promote the treatment adherence and outcome of the elderly patients with TB. Exploring effective interventions to improve the social support of patients is of great significance for TB management and control.MethodsA community-based, repeated measurement trial was conducted. Patients with TB >65 years of age were allocated into the intervention or control group. Patients in the intervention group received comprehensive social support interventions, while those in the control group received health education alone. The social support level of patients was measured at baseline and at the first, third and sixth months during the intervention to assess the effectiveness of comprehensive social support interventions.ResultsA total of 201 patients were recruited into the study. Compared with the control group, social support for patients in the intervention group increased significantly over time (βgroup*time=0.61, P<0.01) in the following three dimensions: objective support (βgroup*time=0.15, P<0.05), subjective support (βgroup*time=0.32, P<0.05) and support utilisation (βgroup*time=0.16, P<0.05). The change in the scores in the control group was not statistically significant.ConclusionsThe intervention programme in communities, including health education, psychotherapy and family and community support interventions, can improve the social support for elderly patients with TB compared with single health education.Trial registration numberChiCTR-IOR-16009232

Real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay on anal swabs was recently reported to be persistently positive even after throat testing was negative during severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. However, data about the consistent performance of RT-PCR assay on throat and anal swabs remain limited in paediatric patients. Here, we retrospectively reviewed RT-PCR-testing results of 212 paediatric patients with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection at Wuhan Children’s Hospital. The diagnostic potential of these two types of specimens showed significant difference (positive rate: 78.2% on throat swabs vs. 52.6% on anal swabs, McNemar Test P = 0.0091) and exhibited a weak positive consistency (Kappa value was 0.311, P < 0.0001) in paediatric patients. Furthermore, viral loads detected on both throat and anal swabs also showed no significant difference ( P = 0.9511) and correlation (Pearson r = 0.0434, P = 0.8406), and exhibited an inconsistent kinetic change through the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Besides, viral loads in the throat and anal swabs were correlated with different types of immune states, immune-reactive phase, and the resolution phase/immunologic tolerance, respectively. These findings revealed that RT-PCR-testing on throat and anal swabs showed significant difference for monitoring SARS-CoV-2 infection and correlated with different immune state in paediatric patients.

BackgroundMicrocephaly is a disorder characterized by severe impairment in brain development, reduced brain and head size. Congenital severe microcephaly is very rare, and NDE1 deletion and genetic mutations are important contributors.Case presentationSingle nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chromosomal microarray analysis (CMA) and muation screening of NDE1 gene were performed in an 8-month patient with severe congenital microcephaly, and/or his parents. Genetic studies found a 16p13.11 deletion containing NDE1 gene, and a novel NDE1 mutation c.555_556GC > CT on the non-deleted homolog, inherited from his phenotypically normal parents, respectively. The 2 bp nucleotide change results in a missense mutation p.K185 N and a nonsense mutation p.Q186X. We also conducted literaturte review to compare the clinical phenotypes of our patient to those of cases previously reported with NDE1 mutations, and found all patients had mental retardation, severe microcephaly, and corpus callosum agenesis.ConclusionThis is the first Chinese reported with microcephaly caused by NDE1 mutations. NDE1 is a critical pathogenetic gene in severe congenital microcephaly. Sequencing NDE1 and CMA in patients with severe congenital microcephaly may be warranted.