The development and application of pseudoviruses: assessment of SARS-CoV-2 pseudoviruses.

Although most Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients can recover fully, the disease remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. In addition to the consequences of acute infection, a proportion of the population experiences long-term adverse effects associated with SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, it is still critical to comprehend the virus's characteristics and how it interacts with its host to develop effective drugs and vaccines against COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus, a replication-deficient recombinant glycoprotein chimeric viral particle, enables investigations of highly pathogenic viruses to be conducted without the constraint of high-level biosafety facilities, considerably advancing virology and being extensively employed in the study of SARS-CoV-2. This review summarizes three methods of establishing SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus and current knowledge in vaccine development, neutralizing antibody research, and antiviral drug screening, as well as recent progress in virus entry mechanism and susceptible cell screening. We also discuss the potential advantages and disadvantages.

A comprehensive assessment of insecticide resistance mutations in source and immigrant populations of the diamondback moth Plutella xylostella (L.).

BACKGROUND: The diamondback moth (DBM) Plutella xylostella has developed resistance to almost all insecticides used to control it. Populations of DBM in temperate regions mainly migrate from annual breeding areas. However, the distribution pattern of insecticide resistance of DBM within the context of long-distance migration remains unclear. RESULTS: In this study, we examined the frequency of 14 resistance mutations for 52 populations of DBM collected in 2010, 2011, 2017 and 2018 across China using a high-throughput KASP genotyping method. Mutations L1041F and T929I conferring pyrethroid resistance, and mutations G4946E and E1338D conferring chlorantraniliprole resistance were near fixation in most populations, whereas resistant alleles of F1020S, M918I, A309V and F1845Y were uncommon or absent in most populations. Resistance allele frequencies were relatively stable among different years, although the frequency of two mutations decreased. Principal component analysis based on resistant allele frequencies separated a southern population as an outlier, whereas the immigrants clustered with other populations, congruent with the migration pattern of northern immigrants coming from the Sichuan area of southwestern China. Most resistant mutations deviated from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium due to a lower than expected frequency of heterozygotes. The deviation index of heterozygosity for resistant alleles was significantly higher than the index obtained from single nucleotide polymorphisms across the genome. These findings suggest heterogeneous selection pressures on resistant mutations. CONCLUSION: Our results provide a picture of resistant mutation patterns in DBM shaped by insecticide usage and migration of this pest, and highlight the widespread distribution of resistance alleles in DBM. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Malnutrition and infection lead to poor prognosis and heavy financial burden of patients with chronic heart failure.

Background: Chronic heart failure (CHF) is a major public health concern, as it is associated with poor prognosis and heavy financial burden. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in medications for CHF in China, but few studies pay attention to the effects of nutrition and infection. Methods and results: This was a retrospective study collected patients with CHF admitted to the Department of Cardiology of Qilu Hospital of Shandong University from January 2017 to May 2018. Patients were classified according to the prognosis and the financial burden. Through comparison and regression analysis, we found that the factor associated with worse prognosis were decreased heart rate, albumin and prealbumin; ß-blockers and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonism (MRA) were the factor improved the prognosis of patients with CHF; the factor overburdening financial condition were infection, decreased prealbumin, high Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), usage of recombinant human brain natriuretic peptide (rhBNP) and Levosimendan; aspirin and Sacubitril/Valsartan were the factor releasing financial burden of patients with CHF. Then, we grouped by Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score, which enabled evaluation of the patient's protein reserve and immune defenses. Patients in the malnutrition group had higher infection ratios, longer hospital stays, and greater hospital expenses than the normal group. The improvement ratios of therapeutic outcomes in the moderate or severe malnutrition group were lower than in the normal and mild malnutrition group. Conclusion: Malnutrition and infection caused poor prognosis and increased financial burden of patients with CHF. The high CONUT score indicated the CHF patient's unfavorable prognosis and heavy financial burden.

[Application and effect of integrated control model of schistosomiasis interruption in mountainous and hilly endemic regions].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the integrated schistosomiasis control model in mountainous and hilly endemic regions, so as to provide insights into the development of the schistosomiasis elimination strategy. METHODS: Five hilly and mountainous areas endemic for schistosomiasis were selected as the integrated control demonstration areas in Sichuan Province from 2011 to 2015. According to the epidemic characteristics, economic levels and overall development planning of the demonstration areas, the goals, strategies and measures were developed, and the effectiveness of schistosomiasis control was evaluated following implementation of the integrated control. RESULTS: The support system of the integrated schistosomiasis control model was built in the integrated control demonstration areas in Sichuan Province from 2011 to 2015, and five ecological, industrialized and sustainable development models of integrated schistosomiasis control were developed, including integration of balancing rural and urban development, systematic ecological improvement, intensified ecological agriculture, scientific management and health education of schistosomiasis control and ecological ethnic circular economy. Since the implementation of the integrated schistosomiasis control model, the snail habitats were completely changed. Until 2015, 92.0% of all historical areas with snails were managed, the coverage of safe drinking water was 100.0%, and more than 95.0% of the livestock were fenced. The coverage of sanitary toilets increased by 93.0%, 96.8%, 78.8%, 87.1% and 82.0% from 2011 to 2015, respectively, and the farmers'mean yearly income increased by 32.7% in the demonstration areas. From 2011 to 2015, the seroprevalence of human Schistosoma japonicum infections reduced from 3.1% in 2011 to 1.6% in 2015 in the demonstration areas, and no egg-positives were identified. In addition, the number of fenced bovines reduced year by year, and no egg-positives were detected. The areas of snail habitats were 398.7, 108.2 hm2 and 52.9 hm2 in the demonstration areas from 2011 to 2013, with no infected snails found, and no snails were detected since 2014. The awareness of schistosomiasis control knowledge and percentage of correct behavior formation increased year by year among residents in the demonstration areas from 2011 to 2015. CONCLUSIONS: The five integrated schistosomiasis control models meet the needs of the current schistosomiasis control activities in mountainous and hilly endemic areas of Sichuan Province, and achieve the goals of controlling the sources of S. japonicum infections, economic development, social progress and improving the ecological environment, which provides new insights into schistosomiasis elimination in the country.

Systematic estimation of BMI: A novel insight into predicting overweight/obesity in undergraduates.

The prevalence of overweight-obesity has increased sharply among undergraduates worldwide. In 2016, approximately 52% of adults were overweight-obese. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the prevalence of overweight-obesity and explore in depth the connection between eating habits and overweight-obesity among Chinese undergraduates.The study population included 536 undergraduates recruited in Shijiazhuang, China, in 2017. They were administered questionnaires for assessing demographic and daily lifestyle characteristics, including sex, region, eating speed, number of meals per day, and sweetmeat habit. Anthropometric status was assessed by calculating the body mass index (BMI). The determinants of overweight-obesity were investigated by the Pearson χ test, Spearman rho test, multivariable linear regression, univariate/multivariate logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.The prevalence of undergraduate overweight-obesity was 13.6%. Sex [male vs female, odds ratio (OR): 1.903; 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.147-3.156], region (urban vs rural, OR: 1.953; 95% CI: 1.178-3.240), number of meals per day (3 vs 2, OR: 0.290; 95% CI: 0.137-0.612), and sweetmeat habit (every day vs never, OR: 4.167; 95% CI: 1.090-15.933) were significantly associated with overweight-obesity. Eating very fast was positively associated with overweight-obesity and showed the highest OR (vs very slow/slow, OR: 5.486; 95% CI: 1.622-18.553). However, the results of multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that only higher eating speed is a significant independent risk factor for overweight/obesity (OR: 17.392; 95% CI, 1.614-187.363; P = .019).Scoremeng = 1.402 × scoresex + 1.269 × scoreregion + 19.004 × scoreeatin speed + 2.546 × scorenumber of meals per day + 1.626 × scoresweetmeat habit and BMI = 0.253 × Scoremeng + 18.592. These 2 formulas can help estimate the weight status of undergraduates and predict whether they will be overweight or obese.

Urgent needs in fostering neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) laboratory capacity in WHO Western Pacific Region: results from the external quality assessment on NTDs diagnosis in 2012-2015.

BACKGROUND: Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a heterogeneous group of mainly chronic, debilitating and often stigmatizing diseases that largely affects low-income and politically marginalized populations, causing a large burden of public health, social and economies in the NTDs endemic countries. NTDs are caused by infections with a range of pathogen, including bacteria, parasites, protozoa and viruses. The accurate diagnosis of NTDs is important for reducing morbidity, preventing mortality and for monitoring of control programs. External Quality Assessment (EQA), a component of laboratory quality assurance, aims to assess the performance of participating laboratories in detecting parasitic infections. The aim of this paper is to report the findings and put forward the recommendations on capacity build from the EQA results of participating NTDs laboratories in selected countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region from 2012 to 2015. METHODS: Reference or public health laboratories at national level working on NTDs in 6 countries participated in EQAs organized by the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases (NIPD) of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) based in Shanghai, China. Two representatives of each participating laboratory were invited to NIPD to detect NTDs' parasitic infections using the same prepared samples for serological tests (IHA and ELISA) and helminth eggs' morphological tests (Direct smear and Kato-Katz). All of the results were scored and analyzed by using SPSS statistics 19.0 software. RESULTS: The percentage of participants who had EQA score ≥ 60 during 2012-2015 for direct smear test were 80.00% (2012), 71.43% (2013), 100% (2014) and 75.00% (2015), whereas for Kato-Katz test were 80.00% (2012), 57.14% (2013), 100% (2014) and 37.50% (2015), respectively. The detection rate of helminth eggs varied in different species, with Ascaris lumbricoides being the highest at 94.07% in average. All laboratories did very well with ELISA tests as shown by the high scores in all four years except Lab A in the first and last EQA. For the positive or negative judgments of serum samples, the total coincidence rates of ELISA between 2012 and 2015 were 90.00%, 99.29%, 94.29% and 98.75%, respectively. While the total coincidence rates of IHA were respectively 100%, 95.00%, 90.00% and 97.50%. However, detecting low levels of serum antibody remained problematic for IHA when the titres of samples were taken into consideration. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrate that EQA scheme have been beneficial to the participating laboratories. The EQA programme identifies certain deficiencies which were needed to overcome and improved the laboratories' performance in helminthiasis diagnosis. However, further optimization of accuracy and uniformity in NTDs diagnosis remains a big challenge.

Co-endemicity of Pulmonary Tuberculosis and Intestinal Helminth Infection in the People's Republic of China.

Both pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and intestinal helminth infection (IHI) affect millions of individuals every year in China. However, the national-scale estimation of prevalence predictors and prevalence maps for these diseases, as well as co-endemic relative risk (RR) maps of both diseases' prevalence are not well developed. There are co-endemic, high prevalence areas of both diseases, whose delimitation is essential for devising effective control strategies. Bayesian geostatistical logistic regression models including socio-economic, climatic, geographical and environmental predictors were fitted separately for active PTB and IHI based on data from the national surveys for PTB and major human parasitic diseases that were completed in 2010 and 2004, respectively. Prevalence maps and co-endemic RR maps were constructed for both diseases by means of Bayesian Kriging model and Bayesian shared component model capable of appraising the fraction of variance of spatial RRs shared by both diseases, and those specific for each one, under an assumption that there are unobserved covariates common to both diseases. Our results indicate that gross domestic product (GDP) per capita had a negative association, while rural regions, the arid and polar zones and elevation had positive association with active PTB prevalence; for the IHI prevalence, GDP per capita and distance to water bodies had a negative association, the equatorial and warm zones and the normalized difference vegetation index had a positive association. Moderate to high prevalence of active PTB and low prevalence of IHI were predicted in western regions, low to moderate prevalence of active PTB and low prevalence of IHI were predicted in north-central regions and the southeast coastal regions, and moderate to high prevalence of active PTB and high prevalence of IHI were predicted in the south-western regions. Thus, co-endemic areas of active PTB and IHI were located in the south-western regions of China, which might be determined by socio-economic factors, such as GDP per capita.

Neurobehavioral Assessment of Rats Exposed to Yttrium Nitrate during Development.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of yttrium nitrate on neurobehavioral development in Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS: Dams were orally exposed to 0, 5, 15, or 45 mg/kg daily of yttrium nitrate from gestation day (GD) 6 to postnatal day (PND) 21. Body weight and food consumption were monitored weekly. Neurobehavior was assessed by developmental landmarks and reflexes, motor activity, hot plate, Rota-rod and cognitive tests. Additionally, brain weights were measured on PND 21 and 70. RESULTS: No significant difference was noted among all groups for maternal body weight and food consumption. All yttrium-exposed offspring showed an increase in body weight on PND 21; however, no significant difference in body weight for exposed pups versus controls was observed 2 weeks or more after the yttrium solution was discontinued. The groups given 5 mg/kg daily decreased significantly in the duration of female forelime grip strength and ambulation on PND 13. There was no significant difference between yttrium-exposed offspring and controls with respect to other behavioral ontogeny parameters and postnatal behavioral test results. CONCLUSION: Exposure of rats to yttrium nitrate in concentrations up to 45 mg/kg daily had no adverse effects on their neurobehavioral development.

Endocrine disruption of cadmium in rats using the OECD enhanced TG 407 test system.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the endocrine disrupting effects of cadmium (Cd) using OECD enhanced TG407 test guideline. METHODS: Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into six groups and accordingly administered with 0, 1, 2.5, 5, 10, 20 mg/kg•BW/day of Cd by gavage for 28 days. Body weight, food consumption, hematology, biochemistry, sex hormone levels, urinary ß2-microglobulin, organ weights and histopathology and estrous cycle were detected. RESULTS: Cd could significantly decrease animals' body weight (P<0.05). Serum luteinizing hormone (LH) at 10-20 mg/kg•BW groups and testosterone (T) at 2.5 and 10 mg/kg•BW groups decreased significantly (P<0.05). However, no statistically significant change was found in urinary ß2-microglobulin among Cd-treatment groups (P>0.05). Endpoints related to female reproduction including uterus weight and histopathological change at 10-20 mg/kg•BW groups showed significant increase (P<0.05). While among male rats in 2.5, 10, 20 mg/kg•BW groups, weight of prostate, thyroids, and seminal vesicle glands significantly decreased (P<0.05). Moreover, no histopathological change was observed in kidney. CONCLUSION: Results suggested that Cd can cause endocrine disrupting effects in SD rats. Comparing with possible renal toxicity of Cd, its toxicity on endocrine system was more sensitive.

Spatial variations of pulmonary tuberculosis prevalence co-impacted by socio-economic and geographic factors in People's Republic of China, 2010.

BACKGROUND: The report of the fifth national tuberculosis (TB) epidemiological survey in P. R. China, 2010, roughly showed that pulmonary TB (PTB) prevalence was higher in western China than in central and eastern China. However, accurately estimating the continuous spatial variations of PTB prevalence and clearly understanding factors impacting on spatial variations of PTB prevalence are important for allocating limited resources of national TB programme (NTP) in P. R. China. METHODS: Using ArcGIS Geostatistical Wizard (ESRI, Redlands, CA), an evaluation was performed to decide that which kriging and cokriging methods along with different combinations of types of detrending, semivariogram models, anisotropy and covariables (socio-economic and geographic factors) can accurately construct spatial distribution surface of PTB prevalence using statistic data sampled from the fifth national TB epidemiological survey in P. R. China, 2010, and then the evaluation results were used to explore factors of spatial variations. RESULTS: The global cokriging with socio-economic and geographic factors as covariables proved to be the best geostatistical methods for accurately estimating spatial distribution surface of PTB prevalence. The final continuous surfaces of PTB prevalence distribution demonstrated that PTB prevalence were lower in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and southeastern coast China, higher in western and southwestern China, and crossed between low and high in central China. CONCLUSIONS: The predicted continuous surface perspicuously illustrated the spatial variations of PTB prevalence that were co-impacted by socio-economic and geographic factors, which can be used to better allocate the always limited resources of NTP in P. R. China.

Water-related parasitic diseases in China.

Water-related parasitic diseases are directly dependent on water bodies for their spread or as a habitat for indispensable intermediate or final hosts. Along with socioeconomic development and improvement of sanitation, overall prevalence is declining in the China. However, the heterogeneity in economic development and the inequity of access to public services result in considerable burden due to parasitic diseases in certain areas and populations across the country. In this review, we demonstrated three aspects of ten major water-related parasitic diseases, i.e., the biology and pathogenicity, epidemiology and recent advances in research in China. General measures for diseases control and special control strategies are summarized.

[Rapid risk assessment on the import of American trypanosomiasis to China].

American trypanosomiasis, as one of the "neglected tropical diseases", is a zoonosis induced by Trypanosoma cruzi. It is endemic in 18 countries in the Central and South America, especially in rural areas. A rapid risk assessment was carried out to analyze the potential threat of imported cases to China, which would provide information to policy makers in health authorities.

[Immunotoxicologic assessment of genetically modified drought-resistant wheat T349 with GmDREB1].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the immunotoxicologic effects of genetically modified drought resistant wheat T349 with GmDREB1 gene. METHODS: A total of 250 female BALB/c mice (6-8 week-old, weight 18-22 g) were divided into five large groups (50 mice for each large group) by body weight randomly. In each large group, the mice were divided into five groups (10 mice for each group) by body weight randomly, which were set as negative control group, common wheat group, parental wheat group, genetically modified wheat group and cyclophosphamide positive control group, respectively. Mice in negative control and positive control group were fed with feedstuff AIN-93G, mice in common wheat group, non-genetically modified parental wheat group and genetically modified wheat group were fed with feedstuffs added corresponding wheat (proportion up to 76%) for 30 days, then body weight, organ coefficient of spleen and thymus, peripheral blood lymphocytes phenotyping, serum cytokine, serum immunoglobulin, antibody plaque-forming cell (PFC), serum 50% hemolytic value (HC50), mitogen-induced splenocyte proliferation, delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction and phagocytic activities of phagocytes were detected respectively. RESULTS: After 30 days raise, among negative control group, common wheat group, non-genetically modified parental wheat group, genetically modified wheat group and cyclophosphamide positive control group, mice body weight were (21.0±0.3), (20.4±0.7), (21.1±1.0), (21.1±1.0), (19.4±1.0) g, respectively (F=7.47, P<0.01); organ coefficient of spleen were (0.407±0.047)%, (0.390±0.028)%, (0.402±0.042)%, (0.421±0.041)%, (0.304±0.048)%, respectively (F=12.41, P<0.01); organ coefficient of thymus were (0.234±0.032)%, (0.246±0.028)%, (0.249±0.040)%, (0.234±0.034)%, (0.185±0.039)%, respectively (F=5.58, P<0.01); the percentage of T cell in peripheral blood were (70.43±4.44)%, (68.33±5.37)%, (73.04±2.68)%, (74.42±2.86)%, (90.42±1.66)%, respectively (F=57.51, P<0.01); the percentage of B cell were (13.89±3.19)%, (15.34±4.84)%, (13.06±4.22)%, (12.93±2.36)%, (3.01±0.96)%, respectively (F=12.79, P<0.01); the percentage of Th cell were (55.87±3.80)%, (55.24±4.60)%, (57.92±3.70)%, (59.57±2.54)%, (77.37±2.31)%, respectively (F=68.58, P<0.01);the Th/Ts ratio were 4.16±0.29, 4.73±0.96, 4.19±0.78, 4.52±0.40, 6.34±0.73, respectively (F=17.57, P<0.01);the serum IgG were (1046.38±210.67), (1065.49±297.22), (1517.73±299.52), (1576.67±241.92), (1155.88±167.05) µg/ml, respectively (F=10.53, P<0.01); the serum IgM were (333.83±18.97), (327.73±27.72), (367.47±27.18), (363.42±46.14), (278.71±24.42) µg/ml, respectively (F=12.11, P<0.01); the serum IgA were (51.69±10.10), (42.40 ± 8.35), (32.11±4.22), (37.12±4.90), (41.45±8.89) µg/ml, respectively (F=8.25, P<0.01); the PFC were (29.2±14.6), (28.0±20.0), (34.8±30.9), (33.2±25.1), (4.8±5.3) per 10(6) splenocyte, respectively (F=3.33, P<0.05); the HC50 were 82.3±6.5, 79.7±4.6, 75.8±4.1, 74.9±3.6, 70.8±2.1, respectively (F=9.99, P<0.01);the LPS-induced splenocyte proliferation were 0.21±0.10, 0.21±0.14, 0.26±0.12, 0.25±0.14, 0.07±0.06, respectively (F=4.18, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The genetically modified drought-resistant wheat T349 was substantially equivalent to parental wheat in the effects on immune organs and immunologic functions of mice, and it didn't show immunotoxicity.

Tools to support policy decisions related to treatment strategies and surveillance of Schistosomiasis japonica towards elimination.

BACKGROUND: Appropriate diagnostics to monitor disease trends and assess the effectiveness and impact of interventions are essential for guiding treatment strategies at different thresholds of schistosomiasis transmission and for certifying elimination. Field validation of these assays is urgently needed before they can be adopted to support policy decisions of the national programme for control and elimination of schistosomiasis in P.R. China. We compared the efficacy and utility of different immunoassays in guiding control strategies and monitoring the endemic status of S. japonicum infections towards elimination. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in seven villages with different transmission intensities settings to assess the performance and utility of three immunoassays, e.g., an indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA_JX), an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA_SZ), and a dot immunogold filtration assay (DIGFA_SH). 6,248 individuals aged 6-65 years old who gave consent and supplied their stool and blood samples were included for data analysis. Results showed that ELISA_SZ performed significantly higher sensitivity (95.45%, 95%CI: 92.94-97.97%) than IHA_JX (87.59%, 95%CI: 83.51-91.49%) and DIGFA_SH (79.55%, 95%CI: 74.68-84.41%), especially in subgroups with very low infection intensity. The specificity of ELISA_SZ, IHA_JX, DIGFA_SH in 6-9 year olds with occasional exposure was nearly 90%. DIGFA_SH performed the highest screening efficacy for patients among three assays with overall positive predicative value of 13.07% (95%CI: 11.42-14.72%). We found a positive correlation of antibody positive rate of IHA_JX with results of stool examination in age strata (r = 0.70, P<0.001). Seropositivity of IHA_JX in children aged 6-9 years old showed an excellent correlation with prevalence of schistosome infection in the seven communities (r = 0.77, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Studies suggest that ELISA_SZ could be used to guide selective chemotherapy in moderate or low endemic regions. IHA_JX could be used to as a surveillance tool and for certifying elimination of schistosomiasis through monitoring children as a sentinel population.

Assessment on dietary melamine exposure from tainted infant formula.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the dietary melamine exposure in Chinese infants and young children from the consumption of melamine adulterated Sanlu infant formula. METHODS: Four age groups of infants and young children (3, 6, 12, and 24 months) were chosen as the assessed subjects and the maximum amount of infant formula consumption was estimated based on the recommended usage level in the package insert of Sanlu infant formula and other brands. Melamine was analyzed in 111 Sanlu infant formula samples collected from the markets in Beijing and Gansu province using the LC-MS-MS with a limit of quantification of 0.05 mg/kg. Four levels of melamine concentration were chosen to estimate the dietary intakes, including the mean, median, 90th percentile, and maximum. RESULTS: The infants of 3 months had the highest intake of melamine, and with the increase of the age (month), the intake decreased. Based on the median melamine concentration (1,000 mg/kg) as an example, the melamine intakes for the infants of 3, 6, 12, and 24 months were 23.4, 21.4, 15.0, and 8.6 mg/kg bw/d, respectively. CONCLUSION: Dietary melamine intakes from tainted Sanlu infant formula significantly exceeded the TDI level (0.2 mg/kg bw/d) recommended by the WHO Expert Meeting in 2008. However, the present assessment has some limitations including the poor representative samples, the varied melamine concentrations in the adulterated Sanlu infant formula, and other brand infant formula possibly consumed by these infants.

The National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention: a new administrative structure for schistosomiasis control.

Since more than 5 decades, the overall responsibility for the national programme on schistosomiasis control in China resides at the government level, i.e. Ministry of Health. Day-to-day activities are carried out by independent provincial parasitic institutes situated in the endemic areas. Along with the general economic development and the steady progress in the medical sciences, successful developments in control and research of the parasitic diseases in the country were achieved. This necessitated a corresponding reorganization of the administrative structures which has taken place at several levels. In January 2002, the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention was reorganized and the Institute of Parasitic Diseases in Shanghai became part of this new organization under the name of the National Institute of Parasitic Diseases to better reflect its new role. By assigning all administrative tasks regarding research and control of parasitic diseases under the umbrella of one administrative central laboratory, the new task force for epidemiological surveys and direction of parasitic control programmes is well suited to respond to the daunting challenges of the future. The new institution has only existed for a few years but has already become a well-functioning force with a broad contact net of national and international experts on research and control of parasitic diseases.