Compromised informed consent due to functional health literacy challenges in Chinese hospitals.

Background: Medical informed consent stands as an ethical and legal requisite preceding any medical intervention. Hospitalized patients face functional health literacy (FHL) challenges when dealing with informed consent forms (ICFs). The legitimacy of ICFs and informed consent procedures in China remains substantially undisclosed.

Diagnostic consistency between admission and discharge of pediatric cases in a tertiary teaching hospital in China.

Background: Patient-centered, high-quality health care relies on accurate and timely diagnosis. Diagnosis is a complex, error-prone process. Prevention of errors involves understanding the cause of errors.

Health literacy and risk of viral hepatitis among Chinese school children.

Introduction: Poor literacy is associated with hepatitis morbidity and mortality. Adolescents are especially at risk of hepatitis C. This study investigated viral hepatitis literacy, risk, and influencing factors among Chinese middle and high school students.

Linguistic barriers and healthcare in China: Chaoshan vs. Mandarin.

Background: China has 129 dialects with Mandarin as the standard and Chaoshan as the major dialect of the Chaoshan region in Guangdong. This study aimed to describe the dialect competence and usage, communication difficulty, impact of linguistic barriers, and subjective experience in healthcare.

Methods: Healthcare providers (n = 234) and healthcare consumers (n = 483) at two tertiary teaching hospitals in Shantou, Chaoshan region participated in an anonymous survey.

COVID-19 epidemic and Chinese medical students: perception, emotions, attitudes, and conformity during domicile quarantine.

Introduction: Students from Shantou University Medical College were subject to domicile quarantine during the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Methodology: We investigated their experience during March-April 2020 using a cross-sectional, self-administered, anonymous online survey.

Results: Out of 531 respondents, 75.

Online health information-seeking behaviors and skills of Chinese college students.

Background: Seeking online health information (OHI) has become a common practice globally. The information seekers could face health risks if they are not proficient in OHI literacy. The OHI-seeking behaviors and skills of Chinese college students, the largest proportion of college students in the world, are understudied.

Compromised Air Quality and Healthcare Safety from Smoking inside Hospitals in Shantou, China.

Achieving smoke-free healthcare facilities remains a great challenge in countries with a high smoking prevalence and weak regulation. Assessment of the impact of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and its constituent PM on the air quality in Chinese hospitals has not been reported. In this study, we conducted air quality surveys by measuring real-time PM concentrations with Dylos Air Quality Monitors in five tertiary hospitals in Shantou, China during summer (July-August 2016) and winter (November-February 2017).

Hand-foot-mouth disease and use of steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin, and traditional Chinese herbs in a tertiary hospital in Shantou, China.

Background: In contrast to the guidelines of World Health Organization (WHO) and United States-Centers for Disease Control and prevention (US-CDC), the Chinese national guidelines recommend the use of steroids, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), or traditional Chinese herbs (TCHs) in hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) management. Their use and therapeutic efficacies are, however, unclear. We aimed to describe their use in and the clinical outcomes of hospitalized HFMD cases.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Global Pharma Health Fund Minilab™ in Assessing Pharmacopoeial Quality of Antimicrobials.

Global Pharma Health Fund (GPHF) Minilab™, a semi-quantitative thin-layer chromatography (TLC)-based commercially available test kit, is widely used in drug quality surveillance globally, but its diagnostic accuracy is unclear. We investigated the diagnostic accuracy of Minilab system for antimicrobials, using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as reference standard. Following the Minilab protocols and the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China protocols, Minilab-TLC and HPLC were used to test five common antimicrobials (506 batches) for relative concentration of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Clostridium difficile-associated clinical burden from lack of diagnostic testing in a Chinese tertiary hospital.

Despite Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) being a common cause of diarrhoea in hospitals worldwide, diagnostic testing or management guidelines are not available in most hospitals in China. In this prospective two-year study, the incidence of CDI among 276 patients with watery diarrhoea was 23.1%.

Nasal carriage of common bacterial pathogens among healthy kindergarten children in Chaoshan region, southern China: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Nasal colonization with bacterial pathogens is associated with risk of invasive respiratory tract infections, but the related information for Chinese healthy children is scarce.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with healthy children from 6 kindergartens in the Chaoshan region, southern China during 2011-2012. Nasal swabs were examined for five common bacterial pathogens: Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Haemophilus parainfluenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis, and Staphylococcus aureus.

Self-medication practices with antibiotics among Chinese university students.

Objectives: Self-medication with antibiotics (SMA) is a serious global health problem. We sought to investigate SMA behaviors and risk factors among Chinese university students, and further explore the association between SMA practices and adverse drug events (ADEs).

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Viral aetiology of acute respiratory infections among children and associated meteorological factors in southern China.

Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) are common in children and mostly caused by viruses, but the significance of the detection of multiple viruses in ARIs is unclear. This study investigated 14 respiratory viruses in ARIs among children and associated meteorological factors in Shantou, southern China.

Methods: Paired nasal/throat-flocked swabs collected from 1,074 children with ARIs, who visited outpatient walk-in clinics in a tertiary hospital between December 2010 and November 2011, were examined for fourteen respiratory viruses--influenza viruses (FluA, FluB), respiratory syncytial viruses (RSV A and B), human coronaviruses (hCoV: 229E, OC43, HKU1, NL63), human metapneumoviruses (hMPV A and B), parainfluenza viruses (PIV1-4), human rhinoviruses (HRV A, B, C), enteroviruses (EV), adenoviruses (ADV), human bocavirus (hBoV), and human parechoviruses (hPeV)--by multiplex real-time PCR.

Healthcare-associated infections and Shanghai clinicians: a multicenter cross-sectional study.

Literature about healthcare-associated infection (HCAI) in China is scarce. A cross-sectional anonymous survey was conducted on 647 clinicians (199 physicians and 448 nurses) from six Shanghai hospitals (grades A-C) to investigate their cognizance, knowledge, attitude, self-reported practice, and risks regarding HCAI with emphasis on precautions. The mean overall score of HCAI knowledge was 40.

Limited knowledge and practice of Chinese medical students regarding health-care associated infections.

Introduction: Health-care associated infections (HCAIs) occur worldwide and affect both patients and health-care workers (HCWs), including medical students. This study aimed to investigate HCAI risks associated with clinical medical students attending Shantou University Medical College (SUMC) and the effectiveness of their learning resources.

Methodology: Four cohorts (n = 272) of medical students participated in a questionnaire-based survey was done on (year 5 in the 5-year program and years 5 to 7 in the 7-year program) undergoing internship training in 14 teaching hospitals in Guangdong, China.

Prior knowledge, older age, and higher allowance are risk factors for self-medication with antibiotics among university students in southern China.

Background: Self-medication with antibiotics (SMA) has been reported among university students in many countries, but little research has been done on this issue in China. The objective of this study was to evaluate knowledge and behaviors of university students and risk factors concerning SMA.

Methodology/principal Findings: Using a novel questionnaire-based data collection instrument, an anonymous online survey was conducted with the students of Shantou University (STU), a university comprising 8 schools/colleges in eastern Guangdong, China.

Epidemiological characteristics of Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium from healthy pigs in Japan.

We characterized 53 Salmonella enterica ser. Typhimurium strains recovered from healthy pigs during 1998-1999 (n=12) and 2004-2005 (n=41) as to their carriage of DT104 spacer region, class 1 and 2 integrons, virulence genes (spvC, rck, and pefA), and XbaI- and BlnI-Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) profiles. No DT104 strain was detected in 1998-1999, whereas 65.

Identification of first exfoliative toxin in Staphylococcus pseudintermedius.

Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus hyicus, and Staphylococcus chromogenes are known to cause skin infections in human or animals by producing exfoliative toxins (ETs). Staphylococcus pseudintermedius can also cause canine pyoderma, but no exfoliative toxins or similar toxins have been reported. PCR with degenerate primers targeted to the conserved regions in ETA, ETB, and ETD from S.

Antimicrobial susceptibilities of exfoliative toxigenic and non-toxigenic Staphylococcus hyicus strains in Japan.

Staphylococcus hyicus isolates (n=207), including 150 exfolitative toxigenic and 57 non-toxigenic strains, were examined for their susceptibility to 13 antimicrobial agents by using the dehydrated 96-well MIC panel system. The frequency of their resistance to penicillin and ampicillin was 76.8% (159/207), followed by erythromycin (56%, 116/207), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (28.

A 25-bp ancient spliceosomal intron in the TvRab1a gene of Trichomonas vaginalis.

Spliceosomal introns play a key role in eukaryotic genome evolution and protein diversity. A large Rab GTPase family has been identified in a unicellular eukaryote Trichomonas vaginalis. However, the characteristics of introns in Rab genes of T.

Nationwide molecular surveillance of exfoliative toxigenic Staphylococcus hyicus on pig farms across Japan.

We investigated the carriage of Staphylococcus hyicus and their exfoliative toxin genes (exhA, exhB, exhC, exhD, and shetb) among 424 pigs from 38 Japanese pig farms by PCR and characterized the isolates by 16S-23S intergenic spacer region polymorphism analysis. S. hyicus (n=207) were isolated from 17.

High occurrence of multi-antimicrobial resistance in Staphylococcus intermedius isolates from healthy and diseased dogs and domesticated pigeons.

Staphylococcus intermedius isolates (n=106), including 44 dog isolates and 62 pigeon isolates, were examined for their susceptibility to ampicillin, cephalexin, erythromycin, gentamicin, kanamycin, lincomycin, norfloxacin, oxacillin, tetracycline, and vancomycin by standard disk-diffusion test. The frequencies of resistance to ampicillin, kanamycin, and tetracycline were significantly higher in dog isolates than pigeon isolates (95.5% vs.