Assessment of Factors Associated With Anti-Tubercular Treatment Compliance in Children: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective. This study aims to investigate compliance and the influencing factors related to pediatric tuberculosis patients who are undergoing treatment with anti-tuberculosis drugs in the Sichuan Province of China. Methods. A questionnaire survey was conducted between March 2019 and March 2021. The survey was distributed to caregivers of children aged 0 to 14 who had been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis. These children had been receiving oral anti-tuberculosis drug treatment for more than 1 month. The survey was administered at the pediatric infection departments of West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, and The First People's Hospital of Ganzi Prefecture. Results. The study revealed a notable lack of medication adherence among the pediatric patients. Through multiple linear regression analysis, it was determined that several factors played a role in influencing medication adherence among children with tuberculosis. These factors include the educational level of the parents, the frequency of daily anti-tuberculosis drug prescriptions, and the parents' comprehension of the disease. All of these factors showed statistically significant influence on medication adherence among pediatric tuberculosis patients (all P < .05). Conclusion. In order to enhance adherence among pediatric patients undergoing anti-tuberculosis treatment, it is imperative to focus on reinforcing health education, particularly for parents with lower educational attainment and limited understanding of the disease.

Prevalence of Latent Tuberculosis Infection Among Healthy Young Children and Adolescents and a Two-step Approach for the Diagnosis of Tuberculosis Infection in Chengdu, China.

BACKGROUND: China has a high burden of tuberculosis and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of LTBI among healthy young children and adolescents and test a 2-step approach to explore the threshold for the diagnosis of tuberculosis infection in Chengdu, China. METHODS: Healthy preschool children and school-going children in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, were screened for LTBI using the tuberculin skin test (TST). Preschool children with TST ≥ 5 mm also underwent interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) to explore the threshold of this 2-step approach. RESULTS: In total, 5667 healthy young children and adolescents completed TST test between July 2020 and January 2021 and were included in the present analysis. The age of the participants ranged from 2.4 to 18 years (median 7.25 ± 4.514 years), of which 2093 (36.9%) were younger than 5 years. The overall prevalence of LTBI was 6.37% and 6.64% in children younger than 5 years old. Fourteen of the 341 preschool children with TST ≥5 mm were interferon-γ release assay positive, of which 4 showed a TST result of 5-10 mm, and 6 preschool children received preventive treatment for LTBI. CONCLUSIONS: Healthy young children and adolescents should also be considered as important target populations for LTBI screening. TST can be recommended for first-line screening as part of a 2-step approach for LTBI screening using a positive threshold of 5 mm.

Occurrence, fate and risk assessment of parabens and their chlorinated derivatives in an advanced wastewater treatment plant.

In the present study, parabens, p-hydroxybenzoic acid (PHBA) and chlorinated derivatives, were simultaneously determined in wastewater and sludge samples along the whole process in an advanced wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). Nine target compounds were detected in this WWTP, and methylparaben and PHBA were the dominant compounds in these samples. It is noteworthy that octylparaben with longer chain was firstly detected in this work. Mass balance results showed that 91.8% of the initial parabens mass loading was lost mainly due to degradation, while the contribution of sorption and output of primary and excess sludge was much less (7.5%), indicating that biodegradation played a significant role in the removal of parabens during the conventional treatment process. Specifically, parabens were mainly degraded in the anaerobic tank, and PHBA could be effectively removed at high rates after the advanced treatment. However, both biodegradation and adsorption accounted for minor contribution to the removal of chlorinated parabens during conventional treatment process, and they were only scantly removed by conventional treatment (33.9-40.7%) and partially removed by advanced treatment (59.2-82.8%). Risk assessment indicated that parabens and their chlorinated derivatives in second and tertiary effluent are not likely to produce biological effects on aquatic ecosystems.