To determine the role of the migrant population in the transmission of tuberculosis (TB), we investigated the distribution and magnitude of TB in permanent residents and migrant populations of Beijing, People's Republic of China, from 2000 through 2006. An exploratory spatial data analysis was applied to detect the "hot spots" of TB among the 2 populations. Results, using the data obtained from [2004][2005][2006], showed that people who migrated from the western, middle, and eastern zones of China had a signifi cantly higher risk of having TB than did permanent residents. These fi ndings indicate that population fl uctuations have affected the rate of TB prevalence in Beijing, and interventions to control TB should include the migrant population.

BackgroundWe aimed to develop a real-time nosocomial infection surveillance system (RT-NISS) to monitor all nosocomial infections (NIs) and outbreaks in a Chinese comprehensive hospital to better prevent and control NIs.MethodsThe screening algorithm used in RT-NISS included microbiological reports, antibiotic usage, serological and molecular testing, imaging reports, and fever history. The system could, in real-time, identify new NIs, record data, and produce time-series reports to align NI cases.ResultsCompared with a manual survey of NIs (the gold standard), the sensitivity and specificity of RT-NISS was 98.8% (84/85) and 93.0% (827/889), with time-saving efficiencies of about 200 times. RT-NISS obtained the highest hospital-wide monthly NI rate of 2.62%, while physician and medical record reviews reported rates of 1.52% and 2.35% respectively. It took about two hours for one infection control practitioner (ICP) to deal with 70 new suspicious NI cases; there were 3,500 inpatients each day in the study hospital. The system could also provide various updated data (i.e. the daily NI rate, surgical site infection (SSI) rate) for each ward, or the entire hospital. Within 3 years of implementing RT-NISS, the ICPs monitored and successfully controlled about 30 NI clusters and 4 outbreaks at the study hospital.ConclusionsJust like the “ICPs’ eyes”, RT-NISS was an essential and efficient tool for the day-to-day monitoring of all NIs and outbreak within the hospital; a task that would not have been accomplished through manual process.

BackgroundBefore 1986, scrub typhus was only found endemic in southern China. Because human infections typically occur in the summer, it is called "summer type". During the autumn-winter period of 1986, a new type of scrub typhus was identified in Shandong and northern Jiangsu province of northern China. This newly recognized scrub typhus was subsequently reported in many areas of northern China and was then called "autumn-winter type". However, clinical characteristics of associated cases have not been reported.MethodsFrom 1995 to 2006, all suspected scrub typhus cases in five township hospitals of Feixian county, Shandong province were enrolled. Indirect immunofluorescent assay (IFA) was used as confirmatory serodiagnosis test. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) connected with restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and sequence analyses were used for genotyping of O. tsutsugamushi DNAs. Clinical symptoms and demography of confirmed cases were analyzed.ResultsA total of 480 scrub typhus cases were confirmed. The cases occurred every year exclusively between September and December with a peak occurrence in October. The case numbers were relatively higher in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 2000 than in other years. 57.9% of cases were in the group aged 21–50. More cases occurred in male (56%) than in female (44%). The predominant occupational group of the cases was farmers (85.0%). Farm work was reported the primary exposure to infection in 67.7% of cases. Fever, rash, and eschar were observed in 100.0%, 90.4%, and 88.5% of cases, respectively. Eschars formed frequently on or around umbilicus, abdomen areas, and front and back of waist (34.1%) in both genders. Normal results were observed in 88.7% (WBC counts), 84.5% (PLT counts), and 89.7% (RBC counts) of cases, respectively. Observations from the five hospitals were compared and no significant differences were found.ConclusionThe autumn-winter type scrub typhus in northern China occurred exclusively from September to December with a peak occurrence in October, which was different from the summer type in southern China. In comparison with the summer type, complications associated with autumn-winter type scrub typhus were less severe, and abnormalities of routine hematological parameters were less obvious.

Background and Purpose-The purpose of this study was to investigate whether thyroid function and thyroid autoantibodies were associated with the risk of moyamoya disease in pediatric subjects. Methods-Thyroid function and thyroid autoantibodies were evaluated in patients with moyamoya disease and control subjects, and their associations with moyamoya disease were estimated using multivariate analysis. Results-We included 114 pediatric patients and 114 healthy control subjects. The patients displayed higher prevalence of increased thyroid function and elevated thyroid autoantibodies in comparison with control subjects. These remained significant after multivariate adjustment; the ORs (95% CI) for increased thyroid function and evaluated thyroid autoantibodies were evaluated as 12.47 (1.55 to 100.51) and 4.33 (1.29 to 14.59), respectively. Conclusions-Increased thyroid function and elevated thyroid autoantibodies are associated with moyamoya disease and therefore monitoring of thyroid function and thyroid autoantibodies in patients with moyamoya disease is suggested, which might help to guide subsequent clinical management.