Self-reported Infection Status, Knowledge and Associated Factors of Monkeypox Among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Jiaxing, China.

BACKGROUND: As of September 2023, more than 1,000 cases of monkeypox (mpox) have been reported in China. Based on the available evidence, men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk for mpox infection. This study aimed to analyses the self-reported infection status, knowledge, attitude and influencing factors of monkeypox among MSM in Jiaxing City, China. METHODS: A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted in September 2023 to gather data on participants' socio-demographic profiles, mpox-related knowledge, sexual behavior characteristics, and other potentially related information to mpox knowledge. Multivariate regression modeling was employed to analyze the factors influencing the level of mpox-related knowledge. RESULTS: A total of 562 MSM were recruited; 4.3% self-reported being HIV-positive, 83.3% of respondents had heard of mpox, and 2.3% of them reported having suspected symptoms. 89.7% of respondents were willing to be vaccinated against mpox, but only 24.8% had a high level of knowledge about mpox. The main factors influencing knowledge of mpox were education level, household registration, homosexual anal intercourse in the past 6 months, and taking the HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge of mpox among MSM living in the Jiaxing area needs to be enhanced, but willingness to get vaccinated is high. Educational level, household location, sexual behavior and PrEP use have important effects on knowledge of mpox. Individuals exhibiting symptoms indicative of suspected mpox had a diminutive consultation frequency, and it is imperative to augment screening efforts for mpox symptoms within specific demographic groups to prevent the underreporting of mpox cases.

Analysis on time delay of tuberculosis among adolescents and young adults in Eastern China.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is recognized as a significant global public health concern. Still, there remains a dearth of comprehensive evaluation regarding the specific indicators and their influencing factors of delay for adolescents and young adults. Methods: All notified pulmonary TB (PTB) patients in Jiaxing City were collected between 2005 and 2022 from China's TB Information Management System. Logistic regression models were conducted to ascertain the factors that influenced patient and health system delays for PTB cases, respectively. Furthermore, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on local delays has been explored. Results: From January 1, 2005 to December 31, 2022, a total of 5,282 PTB cases were notified in Jiaxing City, including 1,678 adolescents and 3,604 young adults. For patient delay, female (AOR: 1.18, 95%CI: 1.05-1.32), PTB complicated with extra-pulmonary TB (AOR: 1.70, 95% CI: 1.28-2.26), passive case finding (AOR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.07-1.98) and retreatment (AOR: 1.52, 95% CI: 1.11-2.09) showed a higher risk of delay. For health system delay, minorities (AOR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.53-0.90) and non-students (AOR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.71-0.98) experienced a lower delay. Referral (AOR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.29-1.65) had a higher health system delay compared with clinical consultation. Furthermore, county hospitals (AOR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.32-1.65) and etiological positive results (AOR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.30-1.63) were associated with comparatively high odds of patient delay. Contrarily, county hospitals (AOR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.78-1.00) and etiological positive results (AOR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.59-0.74) experienced a lower health system delay. Besides, the median of patient delay, health system delay, and total delay during the COVID-19 pandemic were significantly lower than that before. Conclusion: In general, there has been a noteworthy decline in the notification rate of PTB among adolescents and young adults in Jiaxing City while the declining trend was not obvious in patient delay, health system delay, and total delay, respectively. It also found factors such as gender, case-finding method, and the hospital level might influence the times of seeking health care and diagnosis in health agencies. These findings will provide valuable insights for refining preventive and treatment strategies for TB among adolescents and young adults.

Delay in identification of pulmonary tuberculosis among children and adolescents in Jiaxing City from 2013 to 2022 / 预防医学

Objective@#To investigate the delay in identification of pulmonary tuberculosis and influencing factors among children and adolescents in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province from 2013 to 2022, so as to provide the reference for targeted prevention and control measures.@*Methods@#The information of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Jiaxing City from 2013 to 2022 were captured from the Tuberculosis Information Management System of Chinese Disease Control and Prevention Information System, including demographics, diagnosis, treatment and etiological results. The delay in identification of pulmonary tuberculosis was analyzed among children and adolescents, and the factors affecting the delay in identification of pulmonary tuberculosis were identified using a multivariable logistic regression model.@*Results@#A total of 2 407 pulmonary tuberculosis cases were reported among children and adolescents in Jiaxing City from 2013 to 2022, including 1 522 males (63.23%). The median age was 21.00 (interquartile range, 4.00) years. There were 410 students (17.03%), and 1 856 cases with non-local household registration (77.11%). There were 596 cases with delay in identification of tuberculosis (24.76%), 895 cases with delay in healthcare-seeking (37.18%) and 128 cases with delay in definitive diagnosis (5.32%). Multivariable logistic regression analysis that children and adolescents who occurred symptoms in the first quarter (OR=1.684, 95%CI: 1.261-2.249), were diagnosed first in county-level medical institutions (OR=3.800, 95%CI: 2.898-4.983) and had positive results of etiological testing (OR=1.534, 95%CI: 1.255-1.874) were more likely to delay in identification of pulmonary tuberculosis.@*Conclusions@#The delay in identification of pulmonary tuberculosis is associated with the time of symptom onset, the level of medical institution making first diagnosis, and the results of etiological testing. It is suggested to reinforce the publicity of pulmonary tuberculosis prevention and control, expand the coverage of screening programs and improve the diagnosis capability of medical institutions.

Awareness of hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge among clinicians in Jiaxing City / 预防医学

Objective@#To investigate the hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge among clinicians in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, so as to provide the evidence for intensified training and improved diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C among clinicians.@*Methods@#In November, 2021, clinicians were sampled using a stratified random sampling method from a city-level and a county (district)-level hepatitis C designated hospital in Jiaxing City. A questionnaire survey was performed using the Questionnaire for Hepatitis C Prevention and Control Knowledge among Clinicians, and the awareness of basic knowledge, professional knowledge and related knowledge about hepatitis C prevention and control among clinicians were descriptively analyzed. @*Results@# A total of 186 questionnaires were allocated and 179 valid questionnaires were recovered, with an effective recovery rate was 96.24%. The respondents included 107 men (59.78%) and 72 women (40.22%) and had a mean age of (37.06±9.46) years. There were 107 respondents with a bachelor degree (59.78%), 56 with junior professional titles (31.28%), and 170 from non-infectious disease departments (94.97%). The awareness of basic hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge was 96.09%, and the awareness of “Transfusion of blood containing hepatitis C virus may acquire hepatitis C” was high (98.88%), and the awareness of “Hepatitis C can be cured” was low (77.09%). The awareness of professional hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge was 3.91% to 100.00%, and the awareness of “Pathogens of hepatitis C” (100.00%) and “Recommended screening populations for hepatitis C” (86.59%) was high, while the awareness of “There are two categories of hepatitis C cases: clinically diagnosed cases and confirmed cases” (3.91%) and “Clinical diagnosis of hepatitis C: positive anti-HCV antibody + any one of abnormal liver function or epidemiological history or clinical symptoms” (3.91%) was low. The awareness rates of “The state has included antiviral agents against hepatitis C into medical insurance” was and “Antiviral agents against hepatitis C are reimbursed in outpatient and inpatient departments of our hospital” were 81.56% and 59.78%, respectively. There were 69 clinicians participating hepatitis C-related training within one year (38.55%), and the awareness of clinicians that had participated in hepatitis C-related training had a higher awareness rate of basic hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge than those without participation (100.00% vs. 93.64%, P<0.05).@*Conclusion@#The awareness of basic hepatitis C prevention and control knowledge is high among clinicians in Jiaxing City; however, the training on diagnosis and classification criteria of hepatitis C and related medical insurance policy require to be improved.