Dynamic pharyngeal carriage of Neisseria species in healthy population.

Considering the significant role of commensal Neisseria carried in the pharynx on the variation of N.meningitidis and the acquisition of its resistance genes, understanding the true Neisseria population colonizing the human pharynx is of great significance. In this study, we carried out a five-month continuous survey of oropharyngeal carriage in a certain healthy population to reveal the long-term carriage status of different Neisseria species.

Environmental surveillance in Jinan city of East China (2014-2022) reveals improved air quality but remained health risks attributable to PM2.5-bound metal contaminants.

PM2.5-bound metal contaminants are associated with multiple chronic diseases in human. At global level, the contamination status has not been well controlled yet.

Metagenomic surveillance in Jinan, China, reveals serum microbiome and biochemistry features in fever of unknown origin (FUO) patients.

Here we aim to build up a metagenomics-centered surveillance on the infectious microbiome showing in the fever of unknown origin (FUO) patients. We collected venous blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, tissue block, sputum, bone marrow biopsy, and purulent liquid samples from 123 patients. Metagenomic sequencing (mNGS) for both DNA and RNA sequences was performed to profile the total pathogenic microbiome in the samples.

Mapping the distributions of blood-sucking mites and mite-borne agents in China: a modeling study.

Background: Emerging mite-borne pathogens and associated disease burdens in recent decades are raising serious public health concerns, yet their distributions and ecology remain under-investigated. We aim to describe the geographical distributions of blood-sucking mites and mite-borne agents and to assess their ecological niches in China.

Methods: We mapped 549 species of blood-sucking mites belonging to 100 genera at the county level and eight mite-associated agents detected from 36 species of blood-sucking mites in China during 1978-2020.

First Detection of Mukawa Virus in and in China.

Mukawa virus (MKWV), a novel tick-borne virus (TBV) of the genus of family , has been firstly reported in in Japan. In this study, we made an epidemiological investigation in China to obtain the geographic distribution and genetic features of this virus outside Japan. We screened 1,815 adult ticks (665 , 336 , 599 , 170 , 45 ) and 805 wild small mammals collected from eight provinces.

Variability in transmission risk of SARS-CoV-2 in close contact settings: A contact tracing study in Shandong Province, China.

Background: Understanding the relative transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2 virus across different contact settings and the possibility of superspreading events is important for prioritizing disease control. Such assessment requires proper consideration of individual level exposure history, which is made possible by contact tracing.

Methods: The case-ascertained study in Shandong, China including 97 laboratory-confirmed index cases and 3158 close contacts.

The effect of influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 virus infection on cytokine production and gene expression in BV2 microglial cells.

Acute influenza infection has been reported to be associated with neurological symptoms such as influenza-associated encephalopathy (IAE). Although the pathophysiology of this condition remain unclear, neuroinflammation and associated alterations in the central nervous system (CNS) are usually induced. Microglia (MGs), CNS-resident macrophages, are generally the first cells to be activated in response to brain infection or damage.

Sex Differences in Case Fatality Rate of Patients With Severe Fever With Thrombocytopenia Syndrome.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a tick-borne disease with high mortality. However, detailed analysis is lacking to explore the complex effect of sex with age or comorbidities. A retrospective cohort study was performed among 2,938 SFTS patients entered during 2011-2020 in Xinyang, China.

A CRISPR-Cas12a-based specific enhancer for more sensitive detection of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Background: Real-time reverse transcription-PCR (rRT-PCR) has been the most effective and widely implemented diagnostic technology since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, fuzzy rRT-PCR readouts with high Ct values are frequently encountered, resulting in uncertainty in diagnosis.

Methods: A Specific Enhancer for PCR-amplified Nucleic Acid (SENA) was developed based on the Cas12a trans-cleavage activity, which is specifically triggered by the rRT-PCR amplicons of the SARS-CoV-2 Orf1ab (O) and N fragments.

The prevalence of non-GII.4 norovirus genotypes in acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in Jinan, China.

Noroviruses (NoVs) are the leading cause of acute viral gastroenteritis outbreaks. From June 2015 to March 2017, fifteen outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) were reported to the Jinan Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China. To identify the circulating NoV genotypes associated with outbreaks in Jinan, China, 414 specimens from the 15 outbreaks were collected and analyzed for the causative viruses, and phylogenetic analysis was performed on the NoV-positive strains.

Contamination of Cronobacter spp. in Chinese Retail Spices.

Crononbacter spp. is an opportunistic foodborne pathogen that causes infections in neonates, infants, and immunocompromised adults. Although the contamination of spices with Cronobacter has been previously reported in some countries, there have been no studies on Cronobacter contamination in China.

Complete Genome Sequence of a Novel Recombinant GII.P16-GII.1 Norovirus Associated with a Gastroenteritis Outbreak in Shandong Province, China, in 2017.

We report here the complete genome sequence of a novel recombinant GII.P16-GII.1 norovirus identified from eight fecal samples collected during an acute gastroenteritis outbreak in Jinan, Shandong Province, China, in 2017.

Etiology of Multiple Non-EV71 and Non-CVA16 Enteroviruses Associated with Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Jinan, China, 2009-June 2013.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is an infectious disease caused by human enterovirus 71 (EV71), coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) and other enteroviruses. It is of interest that other enteroviruses associated with HFMD in Jinan have been rarely reported. The aim of the present study is to detect and characterize the circulating serotypes of non-EV71 and non-CVA16 enteroviruses associated with HFMD in Jinan city, Shandong province, China.

[Pathogenic spectrum of enteroviruses associated with hand, foot and mouth disease by a GeXP™-based multiplex reverse transcription-PCR assay in Jinan, China, 2009-2012].

We investigated the pathogenic spectrum of enteroviruses associated with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Jinan, China. A total of 274 specimens with a clinical diagnosis of HFMD in Jinan from 2009 to June 2012 were used. A GenomeLab™ (GeXP)-based multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was employed to simultaneously detect 15 serotypes of human enteroviruses: human enterovirus (EV)71; coxsackievirus A (CVA)16, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10; CVB1, 3 and 5; echovirus (Echo) 6, 7, 11, 13 and 19.

Evaluation and implementation of a membrane filter method for Cronobacter detection in drinking water.

A membrane filter (MF) method was evaluated for its suitability for qualitative and quantitative analyses of Cronobacter spp. in drinking water by pure strains of Cronobacter and non-Cronobacter, and samples spiked with chlorinated Cronobacter sakazakii ATCC 29544. The applicability was verified by the tests: for pure strains, the sensitivity and the specificity were both 100%; for spiked samples, the MF method recovered 82.

Pichia fabianii blood infection in a premature infant in China: case report.

Background: Invasive fungal infections caused by uncommon fungi have increased in recent years. Hospitalized low-birth-weight infants are at high risk for neonatal fungal infections. Pichia fabianii is a rare pathogen causing blood infection, which has reportedly caused only 4 cases of fungemia and 1 case of endocarditis worldwide.

[Effect of occupational combined exposure of chromium and iron on erythrocyte metabolism].

Objective: To investigate the effect of combined occupational exposure of chromium and iron on erythrocyte metabolism, and the possible mechanism.

Methods: A total of 115 chromate production workers were selected in a chemical factory of Jinan as exposure group, Dec, 2008, and 60 healthy residents from a community which was far away from the factory were enrolled as control group. Environmental concentrations of chromium and iron were collected by filter membrane sampling and determined.

Development and evaluation of a reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for rapid detection of a new SFTS bunyavirus.

The etiological agent of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a bunyavirus that was first identified in China in 2009. We have developed and validated a one-step, single-tube, reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for detection of SFTS bunyavirus (SFTSV). This assay demonstrated high specificity and sensitivity, with a detection limit of 10(1) TCID(50) ml(-1).

Effects of chronic chromate exposure on human serum prostate specific antigen: a cross sectional study.

The detrimental effect of chronic chromium (Cr) exposure on the prostate has never been studied. Here, we report the prostate specific antigen (PSA) changes in occupational chromate exposed workers. In this study, eighty six male occupational chromate exposed workers and forty five age-matched controls were recruited.

Vitamin B12 and folate deficiency and elevated plasma total homocysteine in workers with chronic exposure to chromate.

Objectives: Chronic occupational exposure to chromium can result in a broad range of adverse effects including multiple organ damage, genotoxicity and carcinogenesis. However, the metabolic consequences of chromium exposure have not been fully investigated. This study was designed to examine vitamin B12, folate and homocysteine metabolic changes in workers chronically exposed to chromate.

[The effect of inhalable titanium dioxide on the oxidative stress among occupational population].

Objective: To investigate the inhalable titanium dioxide exposure level and make an assessment of its oxidative effect on occupational exposed population.

Methods: A total of 7 workers occupationally exposing to inhalable titanium dioxide were recruited into the study. The basic information and occupational history were collected by interview, while their blood sample (10 ml for each subject) were collected before and after the investigation, respectively.

Renal impairment caused by chronic occupational chromate exposure.

Purpose: To determine the nephritic toxicity of chromate after chronic occupational exposure.

Methods: The environmental contamination was assessed by measuring the chromium (Cr) in 8-h airborne sampler. The integrated level of Cr was determined by Cr concentrations in the whole blood (WB-Cr) and the urine (U-Cr).

[The effects of occupational soluble chromate exposure on immunological function of T-cell].

Objective: To investigate the early changes of some immunological function of T-cell in chromate workers.

Methods: A total of 115 workers exposed to different levels of soluble chromate were enrolled in exposed group; while 90 non-exposure workers who lived far away from the chromate plant were enrolled as control. The air concentration of soluble chromate was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry.

[Levels of transition on maternal transferred measles antibody in infants in 3 cities in China].

Objective: To understand the epidemiological characteristics of age distribution of measles and related policies on measles vaccines (live; MV) in infants through analyzing the antibody levels of comparison in maternal-infant pairs. Transition of immunity in infants was also studied to provide theoretic basis for measles immunization strategy and to reduce the incidence of month-old infants.

Methods: In cities of Ningbo, Harbin, and Jinan from Zhejiang, Heilongjiang and Shandong provinces, data was collected from 2004 to 2007 and analyzed regarding the epidemic situation of measles.