Global prevalence and risk factors associated with Toxoplasma gondii infection in wild birds: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to identify the global prevalence and factors associated with Toxoplasma gondii infection in wild birds. Six bibliographic databases (Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP Chinese Journal Database, Wanfang Data, PubMed, Web of science and ScienceDirect) were searched from inception to February 2023. The search yielded 1220 records of which 659 articles underwent full-text evaluation, which identified 49 eligible articles and 16,030 wild bird samples that were included in the meta-analysis. The estimated pooled global prevalence of T. gondii infection in wild birds was 16.6%. Out of the variables tested, publication year after 2020 and climate type were significantly associated with T. gondii infection (P<0.01). Our data indicate that the prevalence of T. gondii in wild birds can be influenced by epidemiological variables. Further research is needed to identify the biological, environmental, anthropogenic, and geographical risk factors which impact the ecology and prevalence of T. gondii in wild birds.

The Prevalence of Rodents Orientia tsutsugamushi in China During Two Decades: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Orientia tsutsugamushi is a zoonotic intracellular pathogen that requires parasitism in eukaryotic cells to reproduce. In recent years, tsutsugamushi disease reported in many places nationwide has crossed the Yangtze River, continuously, spreading to the North China. Now this phenomenon has aroused people's attention. Materials and Methods: In this study, meta-analysis was used to analyze the infection of rodents (vectors) in China, to clarify the transmission rule of O. tsutsugamushi. Results: This study included literature from six databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, Wanfang, CNKI, and VIP). A total of 55 articles were included in the study from 610 retrieved articles. The total infection rate of O. tsutsugamushi in rodents was 5.5% (1206/20,620, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.0553-0.0617). The prevalence of O. tsutsugamushi in rodents before 2013 (7.73%, 95% CI: 4.11-12.37) was higher than after 2013 (2.11%, 95% CI: 0.64-4.41). O. tsutsugamushi spread among a variety of rodents, among which Rattus losea (13.3%, 95% CI: 4.33-26.26), Rattus tanezumi (5.69%, 95% CI: 1.37-12.72), and Apodemus agrarius (5.32%, 95% CI: 2.26-9.58) infection rate was higher. Kawasaki (8.32%, 95% CI: 1.42-20.17), Karp (7.36%, 95% CI: 2.62-14.22), Kato (2.54%, 95% CI: 0.08-8.28), and Gilliam (2.13%, 95% CI: 0.42-5.09) were the main prevalent genotypes in China. The prevalence of O. tsutsugamushi in rodents was seasonal, increasing gradually in summer (2.39%, 95% CI: 0.46-5.77), peaking in autumn (4.59%, 95% CI: 1.15-10.16), and then declining. The positive rate of immunofluorescence assay (25.07%, 95% CI: 8.44-46.88) was the highest among the detection methods, and it was statistically significant (p < 0.05). Based on the subgroup of geographical factors and climatic factors, the probability of O. tsutsugamushi infection in rodents was the highest when the temperature >19℃ (8.20%, 95% CI: 1.22-20.52), the altitude <100 millimeters (7.23%, 95% CI: 3.45-12.26), the precipitation >700 millimeters (12.22%, 95% CI: 6.45-19.50), and the humidity 60-70% (7.80%, 95% CI: 4.17-12.44). Conclusions: Studies have shown that rodents carrying O. tsutsugamushi are common. People should prevent and control rodents in life and monitor rodents carrying O. tsutsugamushi for a long time.

The risk of cancer in patients with connective tissue diseases but without dermatomyositis or polymyositis: A multicenter cohort study conducted over 15 years in China.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relative risk of cancer in Chinese patients with connective tissue diseases (CTD) associated with and without dermatomyositis or polymyositis. METHODS: A retrospective, multicenter cohort study investigated 32,380 CTD patients (2334 diagnosed with dermatomyositis or polymyositis) without a history of malignancies treated from January 1, 1997, to December 31, 2011. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) of cancers determined the incidence of malignancies during follow-up. The data was compared with the cancer morbidity of the general population from the Chinese Cancer Registry Annual Report of National Central Cancer Registry. RESULT: A total of 113 patients (348.98 per 100,000) developed cancer during follow-up, 75 (249.62 per 100,000) were patients with CTD without dermatomyositis or polymyositis. The risk of cancer among patients with CTD was increased (SIR=1.45, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.22-1.71), and this risk increased with age (<40 years: SIR=1.00 [95%CI 0.45-2.21]; 41-60 years: SIR=1.53 [95%CI 1.17-2.00]; and >60 years SIR=2.34 (95%CI 0.93-2.77]) and the time of follow-up (<1year: SIR=1.22 [95%CI 0.88-1.70]; 1-5 years: SIR=1.14 [95%CI 0.79-1.65]; and 6-10 years SIR=1.70 [95%CI 1.34-2.85]), but was similar between genders (male SIR=1.60 [95%CI 1.10-2.31] and female SIR=1.25 [95%CI 1.01-1.55]). The cancer risk among CTD patients without dermatomyositis or polymyositis was not affected (SIR=0.93, 95%CI 0.75-1.16), regardless of gender, age, or follow-up. CONCLUSION: The cancer risk for patients with CTD without dermatomyositis or polymyositis was not increased or decreased, but it was increased when patients with dermatomyositis or polymyositis were included.