Background: Brucellosis is a major public health issue in China, while its temporal and spatial distribution have not been studied in depth. This study aims to better understand the epidemiology of brucellosis in the mainland of China, by investigating the human, temporal and spatial distribution and clustering characteristics of the disease. Methods: Human brucellosis data from the mainland of China between 2012 and 2016 were obtained from the China Information System for Disease Control and Prevention. The spatial autocorrelation analysis of ArcGIS10.6 and the spatial-temporal scanning analysis of SaTScan software were used to identify potential changes in the spatial and temporal distribution of human brucellosis in the mainland of China during the study period. Results: A total of 244 348 human brucellosis cases were reported during the study period of 2012–2016. The average incidence of human brucellosis was higher in the 40–65 age group. The temporal clustering analysis showed that the high incidence of brucellosis occurred between March and July. The spatial clustering analysis showed that the location of brucellosis clustering in the mainland of China remained relatively fixed, mainly concentrated in most parts of northern China. The results of the spatial-temporal clustering analysis showed that Heilongjiang represents a primary clustering area, and the Tibet, Shanxi and Hubei provinces represent three secondary clustering areas. Conclusions: Human brucellosis remains a widespread challenge, particularly in northern China. The clustering analysis highlights potential high-risk human groups, time frames and areas, which may require special plans and resources to monitor and control the disease.

A mathematical model of the transmission dynamics of infectious disease is an important theoretical epidemiology method, which has been used to simulate the prevalence of hepatitis B and evaluate different immunization strategies. However, differences lie in the mathematical processes of modeling HBV transmission in published studies, not only in the model structure, but also in the estimation of certain parameters. This review reveals that the dynamics model of HBV transmission only simulates the spread of HBV in the population from the macroscopic point of view and highlights several main shortcomings in the model structure and parameter estimation. First, age-dependence is the most important characteristic in the transmission of HBV, but an age-structure model and related age-dependent parameters were not adopted in some of the compartmental models describing HBV transmission. In addition, the numerical estimation of the force of HBV infection did not give sufficient weight to the age and time factors and is not suitable using the incidence data. Lastly, the current mathematical models did not well reflect the details of the factors of HBV transmission, such as migration from high or intermediate HBV endemic areas to low endemic areas and the kind of HBV genotype. All of these shortcomings may lead to unreliable results. When the mathematical model closely reflects the fact of hepatitis B spread, the results of the model fit will provide valuable information for controlling the transmission of hepatitis B.

Background The effectiveness of infection prevention and control measures combating multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in healthcare settings remains controversial. Methods PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL were searched from inception to June 1, 2024. The interventions encompassed standard precautions (SP), contact precautions (CP), hand hygiene (HH), environmental cleaning (ENV), antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP), decolonization (DCL), and chlorhexidine baths (CHG). The primary outcome were the acquisition, infection, and colonization of MDROs. Secondary outcomes were all-cause mortality and MDROs-associated bacteraemia. Effect indicators were expressed as rate ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results The study included a total of 97 articles, comprising 19 RCTs and 78 non-RCTs. The results showed that the most effective combination interventions for the acquisition, infection, and colonization of MDROs compared to SP varied as follows: CP + CHG (RR, 0.38 [0.18, 0.79]), SP + CP + ENV (RR, 0.04 [0.02, 0.08]), and SP + CHG (RR, 0.28 [0.14, 0.56]). In subgroup analyses, CP + CHG (RR, 0.36 [0.20,0.64]) was the most effective intervention for the acquisition of MDROs in the ICU setting, whereas SP + CP + ASP (RR, 0.35 [0.14,0.92]) was the most effective hospital-wide. Across subgroups, SP + CP + ENV (RR, 0.04 to 0.09 [95% CI, 0.01 to 0.99]) was identified as the most effective intervention for MDROs infections. In the ICU setting, SP + CHG (RR, 0.28 [0.14,0.56]) demonstrated the highest effectiveness in reducing the colonization of MDROs, whereas SP + CP + ENV + CHG (RR, 0.15 [0.06,0.38]) was the most effective on a hospital-wide scale. SP + CP + DCL (RR, 0.28 [0.24, 0.32]) was associated with reduced CRE colonization. The results of this study were robust according to the sensitivity analysis. None of the analyses related to secondary outcomes were statistically significant. In terms of article quality assessment, 94.7% of the RCTs were medium to high risk, while 92.31% of the non-RCTs. The primary limitation of the RCTs were related to the randomization process, whereas the non-RCTs were primarily affected by confounding bias. Conclusions Effective interventions differ based on carriage status, intervention setting, and the resistant strain. Additionally, contact precautions is a crucial component of these combinations. Consequently, healthcare organizations can select appropriate interventions based on their unique resistance profiles to optimize precision and resource efficiency.

Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disorder associated with neurofibromin 1 (NF1) gene mutation, which generates an increased risk of variety of tumor types. The current study reports a case involving NF1, pheochromocytoma (PHEO) and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST). A 56-year-old man presented with abdominal pain and polypnea. Clinical investigation revealed multiple diffuse soft-tissue lesions throughout his body, and pigmented macules on the skin. Imaging analyses revealed thoracic scoliosis, multiple subcutaneous nodules in the abdomen and trunk, and a 7.0×7.7×8.9-cm oval-shaped, cystic mass in the left upper abdominal cavity. Immunohistochemical staining indicated that S-100 protein and synaptophysin were highly expressed in adrenal gland neoplasm, whilst CD117 and CD34 were highly expressed in small intestine tumors. The overall clinical and pathological finding suggested a diagnosis of NF1, giant PHEO and small intestinal stromal tumor. In addition, a literature review was conducted to identify the specific clinical features of patients with this condition. Only 11 similar cases have been reported worldwide. In the present study, paroxysmal hypertension occurred in the majority of patients, and GISTs tended to be located in the small intestine. In addition, the present study demonstrated that many of the patients had a poor prognosis. Therefore, the present study indicates that NF1-PHEO-GIST is a special type tumor with varied clinical symptoms, which may be associated with an increased risk for poor prognosis; however, more studies are required to confirm this.