Robust evidence is needed for the hazardous effects of outdoor particulate matter (PM) on mortality and morbidity from all types of cancers. To summarize and meta-analyze the association between PM and cancer, published articles reporting associations between outdoor PM exposure and any type of cancer with individual outcome assessment that provided a risk estimate in cohort studies were identified via systematic searches. Of 3,256 records, 47 studies covering 13 cancer sites (30 for lung cancer, 12 for breast cancer, 11 for other cancers) were included in the quantitative evaluation. The pooled relative risks (RRs) for lung cancer incidence or mortality associated with every 10-μg/m³ PM_2.5 or PM₁₀ were 1.16 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10–1.23; I² = 81%) or 1.22 (95% CI, 1.02–1.45; I² = 96%), respectively. Increased but non-significant risks were found for breast cancer. Other cancers were shown to be associated with PM exposure in some studies but not consistently and thus warrant further investigation.

This study aimed to examine the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of child sexual abuse (CSA) prevention among parents of children with hearing loss. The study involved 127 pairs of parents with deaf and hard of hearing children from three special education schools in Beijing and Hebei province, China. The findings revealed that the parents lacked knowledge about CSA prevention, such as the character of perpetrators and child victims. Parents were supportive about potential CSA prevention education in schools. Most parents told children much about personal safety, but topics on CSA prevention were still insufficient. The study also found that education level was significantly associated with knowledge and attitude. Elder parents knew more and talked more about CSA prevention. Mothers and girls’ parents were more willing to communicate with children about CSA prevention. The conclusion of the study was that parents appeared to have gained a positive attitude, but poor knowledge and practice. Their knowledge and skills of effective communication should be strengthened to promote CSA prevention practice.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese government implemented nationwide traffic restrictions and self-quarantine measures from January 23 to April 8 (in Wuhan), 2020. We estimated how these measures impacted ambient air pollution and the subsequent consequences on health and the health-related economy in 367 Chinese cities. A random forests modeling was used to predict the business-as-usual air pollution concentrations in 2020, after adjusting for the impact of long-term trend and weather conditions. We calculated changes in mortality attributable to reductions in air pollution in early 2020 and health-related economic benefits based on the value of statistical life (VSL). Compared with the business-as-usual scenario, we estimated 1239 (95% CI: 844–1578) PM2.5-related deaths were avoided, as were 2777 (95% CI: 1565–3995) PM10-related deaths, 1587 (95% CI: 98–3104) CO-related deaths, 4711 (95% CI: 3649–5781) NO2-related deaths, 215 (95% CI: 116–314) O3-related deaths, and 1088 (95% CI: 774–1421) SO2-related deaths. Based on the reduction in deaths, economic benefits for in PM2.5, PM10, CO, NO2, O3, and SO2 were 1.22, 2.60, 1.36, 4.05, 0.20, and 0.95 billion USD, respectively. Our findings demonstrate the substantial benefits in human health and health-related costs due to improved urban air quality during the COVID lockdown period in China in early 2020.

Schistosomiasis is a water-borne parasitic disease distributed worldwide, while schistosomiasis japonica localizes in the People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, and a few regions of Indonesia. Although significant achievements have been obtained in these endemic countries, great challenges still exist to reach the elimination of schistosomiasis japonica, as the occurrence of flooding can lead to several adverse consequences on the prevalence of schistosomiasis. This review summarizes the influence of flooding on the transmission of schistosomiasis japonica and interventions responding to the adverse impacts from the One Health perspective in human beings, animals, and the environment. For human and animals, behavioral changes and the damage of water conservancy and sanitary facilities will increase the intensity of water contact. For the environment, the density of Oncomelania snails significantly increases from the third year after flooding, and the snail habitats can be enlarged due to active and passive diffusion. With more water contact of human and other reservoir hosts, and larger snail habitats with higher density of living snails, the transmission risk of schistosomiasis increases under the influence of flooding. With the agenda set for global schistosomiasis elimination, interventions from the One Health perspective are put forward to respond to the impacts of increased flooding. For human beings, conducting health education to increase the consciousness of self-protection, preventive chemotherapy for high-risk populations, supply of safe water, early case finding, timely reporting, and treating cases will protect people from infection and prevent the outbreak of schistosomiasis. For animals, culling susceptible domestic animals, herding livestock in snail-free areas, treating livestock with infection or at high risk of infection, harmless treatment of animal feces to avoid water contamination, and monitoring the infection status of wild animals in flooding areas are important to cut off the transmission chain from the resources. For the environment, early warning of flooding, setting up warning signs and killing cercaria in risk areas during and post flooding, reconstructing damaged water conservancy facilities, developing hygiene and sanitary facilities, conducting snail surveys, using molluscicide, and predicting areas with high risk of schistosomiasis transmission after flooding all contribute to reducing the transmission risk of schistosomiasis. These strategies need the cooperation of the ministry of health, meteorological administration, water resources, agriculture, and forestry to achieve the goal of minimizing the impact of flooding on the transmission of schistosomiasis. In conclusion, flooding is one of the important factors affecting the transmission of schistosomiasis japonica. Multi-sectoral cooperation is needed to effectively prevent and control the adverse impacts of flooding on human beings, animals, and the environment.

The goal of schistosomiasis prevention and control in China is shifting from transmission interruption to elimination. However, the area inhabited by the intermediate host, the snail Oncomelania hupensis, has not changed much in recent years. Different environmental types have different impacts on snail breeding, and understanding these differences is conducive to improving the efficiency of snail monitoring and control and to saving resources. Based on previous epidemiological data, we selected 199 villages in 2020 and 269 villages in 2021 from transmission control, transmission interruption, and elimination areas of snail breeding. Snail surveys were conducted in selected villages using systematic sampling and/or environmental sampling methods in six types of snail-breeding environments (canals, ponds, paddy fields, dry lands, bottomlands, and undefined environments). All live snails collected from the field were evaluated for Schistosoma japonicum infection using the microscopic dissection method, and a subsample of snails was subjected to loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) to assess the presence of S. japonicum infection. Snail distribution data and infection rate and nucleic acid positive rate of schistosomes in snails were calculated and analyzed. The 2-year survey covered 29,493 ha of the environment, in which 12,313 ha of snail habitats were detected. In total, 51.16 ha of new snail habitats and 107.76 ha of re-emergent snail habitats were identified during the survey. The occurrence rate of snails in canals (10.04%, 95% CI: 9.88–10.20%) and undefined environments (20.66%, 95% CI: 19.64–21.67%) was relatively high in 2020, and the density of snails in bottomlands (0.39, 95% CI: 0.28–0.50) and undefined environments (0.43, 95% CI: 0.14–1.60) was relatively high in 2021. Of the 227,355 live snails collected in this study, none were S. japonicum-positive as determined by microscopy. Of the 20,131 pooled samples, however, 5 were S. japonicum-positive based on LAMP analysis, and they were distributed in three environmental types: 3 in bottomland, 1 in dry land, and 1 in a canal. The bottomland environment has a high risk of schistosomiasis transmission because it contains a large area of newly emerging and re-emerging snail habitats, and it also had the most breeding snails infected with S. japonicum. Thus, this habitat type should be the key target for snail monitoring and early warning and for the prevention and control of schistosomiasis.