Tuberculosis and COVID-19 are among the infectious diseases that constitute a public health concern. Therefore, this study aims to examine the recent epidemiology of tuberculosis and COVID-19 in East Java Province, Indonesia, in 2020. Case-based surveillance data were acquired with a retrospective design between January and December 2020 by the East Java Health Officer. The data were analyzed using Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) for mapping, and Microsoft Excel for recording. Furthermore, the statistical analysis (Spearman correlation test) was carried out via Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) applications. A total number of 38,089 confirmed cases of tuberculosis was recorded, with an incidence rate of 95.49/100,000 population, a case fatality rate (CFR) of 3.6%, and an average treatment success rate of 87.78%. COVID-19 is a new viral disease, with a total of 84,133 confirmed COVID-19 cases in East Java, with an incidence rate of 232.9/100,000 population. The highest incidence rate was found in Mojokerto city, while the lowest was found in Sampang. Furthermore, the CFR values of tuberculosis and COVID-19 were 1.4% and 6.8%, respectively. The regional survey in East Java Province showed that the incidence of tuberculosis remains high. This indicated that the search for active cases and preventive promotion was not completed. Therefore, inter-sectoral collaboration can be adapted to provide suitable tuberculosis health care.

The community uses incense (bakhour) through ceremonies, traditional health practices, and aromatherapy. Nevertheless, evidence from experiments and studies of populations suggests that a habit of burning incense makes the lungs work less well. The study investigated the relationship between exposure to incense smoke and impaired lung function and respiratory diseases. Data tracing was carried out systematically following PRISMA guidelines from January to April 2022 and registered in the PROSPERO database. The articles selected in this review were cross-sectional, cohort, observational, and experimental studies based on the criteria: (1) animals or humans exposed to incense smoke; (2) exposure to incense smoke which was carried out indoors or outdoors; (3) the selected articles which were included in the original type of article; (4) the publication year between 2016-2021 and the selected articles entered into reputable journals (Scopus and Web of Science). JBI guidelines and synthesis guidelines without meta-analysis (SWiM) to determine the level of evidence and minimize bias and interpretation of results. This study describes respiratory symptoms or diseases, home use of incense, and lung function measurement. Six articles were included; 6 (100%) reported using incense indoors, and 5 (83%) reported using incense outside the home. Respiratory symptoms and diseases caused by exposure to incense sticks are 5 (83%) shortness of breath, 6 (100%) wheezing, asthma, and inflammation of the lungs, 2 (33%) chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 4 (67%) allergic rhinitis. Incense smoke particles decrease lung function based on FVC, FEV, PEFR, and FEF values of 25-75%. The results indicate that smoking incense adversely affects lung function and leads to respiratory diseases. The community and related parties can minimize and conduct education and prevention related to simultaneous incense exposure in the community to reduce the burden of diseases and disorders due to respiratory incense smoke in areas that use it daily.

The expansion and transformation of Mpox (MPX) disease alongside HIV and genital skin diseases has led to an increase in global morbidity and mortality in a relatively brief period. These diseases have a similar transmission pathway through sexual intercourse (mainly MSM/men-sex with males). This review aims to provide a concise, evidence-based overview of MPX, HIV, and genital skin disease coinfections, and to identify epidemiological threats and challenges. Our investigations revealed that from January 2022 to July 2023, there was a significant increase in the number of MPX cases, which reached a total of 88,600, resulting in 152 deaths across 113 countries. There have been case reports of triple-burden disease in six different areas of the world, with at least 52% of reported cases occurring in men who have had sexual activity with other men, 84.1% of whom do not use condoms and do not take pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). In addition, the highest number of deaths due to co-infection with MPX, HIV infection, and genital skin diseases occurred in vulnerable groups (LGBTQIA2S+), especially in men who had sex with men, up to 90.9%, and experienced an increase in the frequency of triple burden diseases to 104.9%. From an epidemiological standpoint, this condition generates several threats and challenges, including an increasing burden of infectious diseases, an increase in immunocompromised populations, an increase in overlapping risk factors, diagnostic difficulties, an increase in interactions and comorbidities, and relatively complex treatment challenges. To suppress these outbreaks and pandemics, comprehensive control and prevention should be proposed collaboratively, including collaboration with the education sector to conduct better research and investigation using one health in complex settings. Epidemiological modeling can be used in the future to accelerate the control of these diseases.

Objectives: Non-specific low back pain (NSLBP) is a prevalent health issue that can progress from acute to chronic, resulting in prolonged disability and diminished quality of life. This study aimed to develop a prognostic scoring model to predict the transition from acute to chronic NSLBP in primary care settings.Methods: This prospective cohort study enrolled 112 adults with acute NSLBP from primary health care units in Indonesia. Participants were assessed at baseline and at a 3-month follow-up visit. Bivariate and multivariable analyses were conducted to identify significant predictors of chronicity. A scoring system was then developed based on the final logistic regression model.Results: Three factors were found to be significant predictors of the transition to chronic NSLBP: age above 30 years, low education level, and moderate to severe pain intensity. The prognostic scoring model demonstrated good discrimination, with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.705, 70.8% sensitivity, and 62.5% specificity at the optimal cut-off score of 2.5.Conclusions: This simple prognostic scoring model can help clinicians identify patients at high-risk of developing chronic NSLBP. Early identification of at-risk patients could guide targeted interventions to prevent chronicity. Further validation in diverse populations is necessary to confirm the broader applicability of this model.

BackgroundCervical cancer screening coverage remains suboptimal in many developing countries. Although WHO recommends HPV DNA testing, limited trained personnel and inadequate infrastructure hinder implementation. Point-of-care (POC) testing offers a promising solution for low-resource settings. This study evaluated the performance of the STANDARD™ M10 POC platform for hr-HPV detection in urine, self-collected vaginal swabs, and cervical swabs compared to laboratory-based assays.MethodsWe compared the STANDARD™ M10 hr-HPV POC platform with established PCR-based assays (Cobas® 6800 HPV and CerviScan hr-HPV). Sexually active women aged 20–65 years were recruited, including those with histologically confirmed cervical cancer and normal cytology. Paired urine, self-collected vaginal, and clinician-collected cervical swabs were analyzed. Agreement was assessed using positive percent agreement (PPA), negative percent agreement (NPA), overall percent agreement (OPA), and Cohen’s kappa (κ).ResultsA total of 114 participants contributed 341 specimens. For cervical swabs, the STANDARD™ M10 assay demonstrated almost perfect agreement with Cobas® 6800 HPV (PPA 97.14%, NPA 98.18%, κ = 0.953) and CerviScan hr-HPV (PPA 100%, NPA 95.46%, κ = 0.946). Similarly high concordance was observed for self-collected vaginal swabs (κ = 0.964 vs Cobas® 6800 HPV; κ = 0.946 vs CerviScan). Urine specimens showed substantial agreement with CerviScan hr-HPV (PPA 94.60%, NPA 85.94%, κ = 0.837). Concordance was highest for HPV16 and HPV18 detection, with discrepancies mainly involving non-16/18 hr-HPV types and invalid results.ConclusionsThe STANDARD™ M10 molecular platform demonstrates comparable performances to centralized PCR-based methods across multiple specimen types in detecting hr-HPV and supports decentralized cervical cancer screening.

The number of cases and deaths of mothers and babies in Indonesia is increasing, which is mediated by low-risk detection in early pregnancy, and a lack of knowledge resulting in the dissemination of pregnancy-related information tends to be poorly understood. As a solution to this problem, the purpose of this study was to analyze the effectiveness and usability of the Poedji Rochjati Score Card (PRSC) feature on the @hamilku.id Digital Platform based on the Delphi method. Qualitative research methods with technical observations were carried out online by obstetricians and gynecologists. The main focus of this research was usability testing involving 46 pregnant women who used the application and 9 randomly selected respondents. The assessment and evaluation were guided by the Delphi method, which involved two rounds of testing by six obstetricians and gynecologists. The results were descriptively analyzed. The findings showed that pregnant female respondents aged between 17 and 34 years had a higher education level, were dominated by people without jobs/housewives, were domiciled in Sidoarjo, had undergone antenatal care (ANC) ≤ 6 times, and had undergone ≥ 5 pregnancies. According to the PRS, 52.2% of pregnant women were classified as having high-risk pregnancies (HRPs). Based on the evaluation of the application from the usability aspect, 83.3% of the participants stated that the information was comprehensive and that the medical terminology was easy to understand. However, only half of them considered visualization in the form of images or animations to be very helpful in illustrating pregnancy risks. Delphi testing with obstetricians and gynecologists revealed that the digital PRSC features generated positive ratings, indicating that the tool is accurate, informative, easy to understand, and effective at improving the quality of health services. The second round showed an improvement in the quality and relevance of the digital PRSC features, with more diverse feedback from the respondents providing a broader perspective for future research and feature development. As a result, the digital PRSC feature can help individuals precisely and accurately identify pregnancy risks.