Dengue fever has been endemic in Paraguay since 2009 and is a major cause of public-health-management-related burdens. However, Paraguay still lacks information on the association between climate factors and dengue fever. We aimed to investigate the association between climatic factors and dengue fever in Asuncion. Cumulative dengue cases from January 2014 to December 2020 were extracted weekly, and new cases and incidence rates of dengue fever were calculated. Climate factor data were aggregated weekly, associations between dengue cases and climate factors were analyzed, and variables were selected to construct our model. A generalized additive model was used, and the best model was selected based on Akaike information criteria. Piecewise regression analyses were performed for non-linear climate factors. Wind and relative humidity were negatively associated with dengue cases, and minimum temperature was positively associated with dengue cases when the temperature was less than 21.3 °C and negatively associated with dengue when greater than 21.3 °C. Additional studies on dengue fever in Asuncion and other cities are needed to better understand dengue fever.

While the reduction in influenza cases in the Northern hemisphere in 2020 has been widely reported, the influenza transmission dynamics in the Southern hemisphere remain uncharacterized. This study analysed the change in influenza-positive proportion (IPP) between 2010-2019 and 2020 in countries in the Southern hemisphere with ≤40% missing IPP data in FluNet to assess how coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) relates to influenza activity. The analysis considered the incidence of COVID-19 reported by the World Health Organization and the implementation date of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) reported by the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker. In each of the seven included countries, the average IPP was lower in 2020 than in 2010-2019 (P < 0.01), with the largest difference being 31.1% (95% confidence interval 28.4-33.7%). In Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and South Africa, higher IPPs were observed during epidemiological weeks 4-16 in 2020 compared with the same weeks in 2010-2019. The IPP increased after NPIs were implemented in Argentina and South Africa, but started to decline in Bolivia, Chile, Madagascar and Paraguay before NPI implementation. Influenza burden and activity decreased in 2020 in the Southern hemisphere. The temporal decline in influenza activity varied between countries.

La leptospirosis al ser una enfermedad que se transmite a través de los animales se vuelve de gran interés epidemiológico por su implicancia en la salud pública, ya que estos pueden transmitir la bacteria a los seres humanos por la convivencia entre ellos, por lo cual está investigación tuvo como objetivo evaluar la epidemiología de la Leptospirosis en animales de compañía en Paraguay, año 2021 - 2022. Se accedió a una base de datos, otorgado por un laboratorio veterinario privado, con resultados laboratoriales positivos, negativos y serovares de leptospirosis en animales de la especie canina y felina de distintas procedencias correspondiente a los años 2021 y 2022, y se realizó una encuesta a 81 profesionales veterinarios que tuvieron casos clínicos de Leptospirosis. De un total de 6506 muestras de caninos y felinos, se obtuvieron una prevalencia del 80% en el año 2021 y 69,4% para el año 2022. Siendo más frecuente la presencia de anticuerpos anti leptospiras en caninos, entre el año 2021 (95,8%) y 2022 (89,5%), y de la especie felina se obtuvo 4,1% para el año 2021 y 10,4% en el año 2022. Así mismo, en el año 2021 se registró una alta prevalencia de seropositividad a Leptospirosis en el departamento Central (90,9%) y en el año 2022 correspondiendo nuevamente al departamento Central (92%). Mediante la encuesta, se obtuvo que de los métodos de diagnósticos mayormente utilizado es el de Elisa con un empleo del 35%, el 30,8% manifestaron usar más de una prueba como método de diagnóstico, 24,6% utilizaron la prueba de aglutinación microscópica (MAT), 4,9%% usaron PCR, y el 3,7% restante se valieron de la prueba de microscopía de fondo oscuro. En cuanto a los síntomas más frecuentes fueron los siguientes: fiebre (69,1%), palidez de las mucosas (53%), deshidratación (43,2%), anorexia (41,9%), orina rojiza - parduzca (40,7%), vómito (37%), ictericia (33,3%), diarrea (32%), síntomas neurológicos (25,9%), halitosis urémica (24,6%), dolor sublumbar/renal (23,4%), síntomas respiratorios (16%), congestión vascular episcleral (12,3%), somnolencia (8,6%), y epistaxis (6,1%). La Leptospirosis al ser una enfermedad zoonótica, de carácter reemergente y des- cuidada, cobra relevancia en la actualidad debido a los resultados obtenidos en esta investigación demuestran que es una enfermedad de elevada seropositividad en nuestro país.

Since varicella epidemics repeatedly occurred in Korea, it is essential to control varicella outbreaks preemptively in the targeted region. Therefore, we aimed to reveal spatiotemporal clusters of varicella and the regional risk factor of varicella incidence at the national level. All varicella cases (defined as ICD-10 codes, B01-B09) from 2013 to 2017 in Korea were extracted from National Health Insurance Service. Of the total, 566,978 cases were realigned spatially by 250 administrative districts of Korea and temporally by a week. Spatial autocorrelation was tested using the global Moran’s I statistics using Monte Carlo simulation. Kulldorff’s prospective space-time scan statistics were used to reveal space-time clusters of varicella. Possible risk factors were extracted from the Korean Statistical Information Service and Community Health Survey of Korea, including hand hygiene perceptions, alcohol and smoking status, the proportion of children under 15 years old, the number of households, and household income by regions. After selecting significant risk factors through non-spatial generalized linear models, a conditional autoregressive spatiotempoal model with Bayesian extension was applied to estimate the regional factors affecting varicella incidence. There was spatial autocorrelation using Global Moran’s I statistics (P< 0.01). When the maximum cluster size was limited to 10% of the population, 17 spatiotemporal clusters were detected in specific regions in Korea (figure 1). Low perception of hand hygiene, the high proportion of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking, high children proportion, low number of familial member, and low household income were associated with varicella spatiotemporal incidence (odds ratio: 0.97, 1.01, 2.31, 1.10, 0.99, 0.99, respectively; 95% credible intervals of all risk factors did not include 1). Figure 1. Space-time prospective clusters of varicella in Korea using varicella incidence from 2013 to 2017. Relative risks ratio of each cluster is described at the point. Varicella incidence shows spatiotemporal clustering patterns in specific regions. Since regional factors such as the perception rate of hand hygiene, child proportion, alcohol drinking, cigarette smoking, and low household income affect varicella’s spatiotemporal incidence, strategies for targeted control of high-risk regions are strongly recommended. All Authors: No reported disclosures