Estimating the Long-Term Epidemiological Trends and Seasonality of Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome in China.

Objective: We aim to examine the adequacy of an innovation state-space modeling framework (called TBATS) in forecasting the long-term epidemic seasonality and trends of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).

Methods: The HFRS morbidity data from January 1995 to December 2020 were taken, and subsequently, the data were split into six different training and testing segments (including 12, 24, 36, 60, 84, and 108 holdout monthly data) to investigate its predictive ability of the TBATS method, and its forecasting performance was compared with the seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA).

Results: The TBATS (0.

Evaluation of Multidrug Resistant Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification Assay for Detecting the Drug Resistance of .

Objective: To evaluate multidrug resistant loop-mediated isothermal amplification (MDR-LAMP) assay for the early diagnosis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and to compare the mutation patterns associated with the , , and genes at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Methods: MDR-LAMP assay was evaluated using 100 ( ) isolates obtained from the National Reference Laboratory for Tuberculosis in China. Phenotypic resistance to isoniazid and rifampicin and whole-genome sequencing served as reference standards.

Comparison of yield and relative costs of different screening algorithms for tuberculosis in active case-finding: a cross-section study.

Background: Part of tuberculosis (TB) patients were missed if symptomatic screening was based on the main TB likely symptoms. This study conducted to compare the yield and relative costs of different TB screening algorithms in active case-finding in the whole population in China.

Methods: The study population was screened based on the TB likely symptoms through a face-to-face interview in selected 27 communities from 10 counties of 10 provinces in China.

Time Series Analysis and Forecasting of the Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease Morbidity in China Using An Advanced Exponential Smoothing State Space TBATS Model.

Objective: The high morbidity, complex seasonality, and recurring risk of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) exert a major burden in China. Forecasting its epidemic trends is greatly instrumental in informing vaccine and targeted interventions. This study sets out to investigate the usefulness of an advanced exponential smoothing state space framework by combining Box-Cox transformations, Fourier representations with time-varying coefficients and autoregressive moving average (ARMA) error correction (TBATS) method to assess the temporal trends of HFMD in China.

Characteristics of rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis detection in China, 2015-2019.

Background: The very high burden of rifampicin resistance tuberculosis (RR-TB) and the very low detection of RR-TB cases are a major challenge that China has been facing. This study analyzed the characteristics of RR-TB detection in China after the change of RR-TB detection strategy since 2015, aiming to provide reference and evidence for the development of more precise national drug resistance tuberculosis prevention and control policy.

Methods: We extracted data related to rifampicin resistance screening from the national Tuberculosis Information Management System (TBIMS) from 2015 to 2019, and used descriptive research methods to analyze the screening rate of presumptive RR-TB, the number and duration of RR-TB patients detected and drug resistance testing methods in each year.

Forecasting the Tuberculosis Incidence Using a Novel Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition-Based Data-Driven Hybrid Model in Tibet, China.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to develop a novel data-driven hybrid model by fusing ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA), with nonlinear autoregressive artificial neural network (NARNN), called EEMD-ARIMA-NARNN model, to assess and forecast the epidemic patterns of TB in Tibet.

Methods: The TB incidence from January 2006 to December 2017 was obtained, and then the time series was partitioned into training subsamples (from January 2006 to December 2016) and testing subsamples (from January to December 2017). Among them, the training set was used to develop the EEMD-SARIMA-NARNN combined model, whereas the testing set was used to validate the forecasting performance of the model.

Operational research capacity building through the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT-IT) in China: implementation, outcomes and challenges.

Background: Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) introduced the Structured Operational Research Training Initiative (SORT IT) into China to build a special capacity and equip public health professionals with an effective tool to support developing countries in strengthening their operational research. The paper aims to investigate and analyze the implementation, outcomes and challenges of the first cycle of SORT IT in China.

Main Text: As a result of the successful implementation, SORT IT China, Cycle 1 has demonstrated fruitful outputs as exemplified by the 18-month follow-up to the post-training initiatives of the twelve participants, who all achieved the four milestones required by SORT IT.

Caspase-1 inhibits IFN-β production via cleavage of cGAS during M. bovis infection.

Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) infection triggers cytokine production via pattern recognition receptors. These cytokines include type I interferons (IFNs) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β).

Nontuberculous mycobacteria in China: incidence and antimicrobial resistance spectrum from a nationwide survey.

Background: Information on the prevalence and resistance spectrum of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in China is mainly based on regional or local data. To estimate the proportion of NTM cases in China, a national survey of NTM pulmonary disease was carried out based on acid-fast positive sputum samples collected in 2013.

Methods: Sputum samples collected from enrolled presumptive cases in 72 nationwide tuberculosis surveillance sites from the 31 provinces in the mainland of China were cultured using L-J medium at the National tuberculosis reference laboratory (NTRL).

Impacts of a comprehensive tuberculosis control model on the quality of clinical services and the financial burden of treatment for patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis in China: a mixed-methods evaluation.

Background: The China National Health Commission-Gates TB Project Phase III implemented a comprehensive TB control model including multiple interventions to address the burden of drug-resistant TB (DRTB). This study aims to evaluate the quality of DRTB clinical services and assess the financial burden of DRTB patients during the intervention period.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in the three project provinces: Zhejiang, Jilin and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Policy changes and the screening, diagnosis and treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis patients from 2015 to 2018 in Zhejiang Province, China: a retrospective cohort study.

Objectives: To examine changes in the screening, diagnosis, treatment and management of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DRTB) patients, and investigate the impacts of DRTB-related policies on patients of different demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Design: A retrospective cohort study using registry data, plus a survey on DRTB-related policies.

Setting: All prefecture-level Centres for Disease Control in Zhejiang Province, China.

Implementing a new tuberculosis surveillance system in Zhejiang, Jilin and Ningxia: improvements, challenges and implications for China's National Health Information System.

Background: China is still faced with the public health challenge of tuberculosis (TB), and a robust surveillance system is critical for developing evidence-based TB control policies. The Tuberculosis Information Management System (TBIMS), an independent system launched in 2005, has encountered several challenges in meeting the current needs of TB control. The Chinese government also planned to establish the National Health Information System (NHIS) aggregating data in different areas.

Multi-source financing for tuberculosis treatment in China: key issues and challenges.

Background: The End Tuberculosis (TB) Strategy of the World Health Organization highlights the need for patient-centered care and social protection measures that alleviate the financial hardships faced by many TB patients. In China, TB treatments are paid for by earmarked government funds, social health insurance, medical assistance for the poor, and out-of-pocket payments from patients. As part of Phase III of the China-Gates TB project, this paper introduces multi-source financing of TB treatment in the three provinces of China and analyzes the challenges of moving towards universal coverage and its implications of multi-sectoral engagement for TB care.

Changes in newly notified cases and control of tuberculosis in China: time-series analysis of surveillance data.

Background: China has made progress in tuberculosis control, but this disease remains a burden in many regions of China. We performed time-series analysis to examine changes in the rates of newly notified and newly smear-positive cases of tuberculosis in different regions of China from 1997 to 2018 and assessed the effect of the current control program.

Methods: National and provincial notification data on tuberculosis from 1997 to 2018, which covers 31 provinces in the mainland of China, were extracted from the Chinese public health science data center.

Refining MDR-TB treatment regimens for ultra short therapy (TB-TRUST): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) are unsatisfied to treat, pressing more effective and innovative treatment regimens. New efficient regimens for MDR-TB have obtained high treatment success rates. However, those regimens without drug susceptibility testing (DST) are also likely to contribute to the emergence of resistance.

Gap to End-TB targets in eastern China: A joinpoint analysis from population-based notification data in Zhejiang Province, China, 2005-2018.

Background: Zhejiang is a southeastern province of China with middle level notification rates of tuberculosis in China, but more than 27,000 pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) cases are still reported annually in this province. We aimed to analyze the time trends of PTB cases and bacteriologically confirmed cases notification rates at the province and city levels of Zhejiang during 2005-2018.

Methods: Data from the web-based TB Information Management System of Zhejiang Province were used to calculate annual notification rates per 100,000 population of PTB cases and bacteriologically confirmed cases for Zhejiang Province and its 11 cities.

Childhood TB in China: notification, characteristics and risk factors for outcomes, 2010-2017.

China National Tuberculosis Programme, 2010-2017. To describe the epidemiology of childhood (age < 15 years) TB, including treatment outcomes and risk factors for unfavourable outcomes and death. We used a cross-sectional design for the descriptive component and a cohort design for treatment outcomes and their risk factors (assessed using log binomial regression).

[Study on spatial clustering characteristics of tuberculosis in China, 2013-2018].

To explore the tuberculosis (TB) clustering areas and changing tendency in China from 2013 to 2018, so as to provide evidence for improving the control and prevention programs on TB. Spatial distribution of TB in China from 2013 to 2018 was studied using data from TB information management system of Chinese disease prevention and control information system. The SaTScan 9.

Do electronic medication monitors improve tuberculosis treatment outcomes? Programmatic experience from China.

Background: In China, an indigenously developed electronic medication monitor (EMM) was used. EMM recorded each time the device was opened (no real time data), offering an indirect measure of tuberculosis treatment adherence. Previous study in China showed that the EMM uptake was satisfactory, missing adherence data were common in the information management system (25%) and shift to directly observed therapy (DOT) based on poor adherence documented by EMMs were seldom.

The impact of COVID-19 and the restoration of tuberculosis services in the Western Pacific Region.

https://bit.ly/3bHDQx0

Mycobacterial PPE13 activates inflammasome by interacting with the NATCH and LRR domains of NLRP3.

Pathogenic mycobacteria, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Mycobacterium bovis, and Mycobacterium marinum, can trigger NLRP3 inflammasome activation leading to maturation and secretion of interleukin 1β (IL-1β). However, the mycobacterial factors involved in the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome are not fully understood. Here, we identified that the PPE family protein PPE13 was responsible for the induction of IL-1β secretion in a NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent manner.