BACKGROUND: It is crucial to understand the seasonal variation of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) for the detection and management of MetS. Previous studies have demonstrated the seasonal variations in MetS prevalence and its markers, but their methods are not robust. To clarify the concrete seasonal variations in the MetS prevalence and its markers, we utilized a powerful method called Seasonal Trend Decomposition Procedure based on LOESS (STL) and a big dataset of health checkups. METHODS: A total of 1,819,214 records of health checkups (759,839 records for men and 1,059,375 records for women) between April 2012 and December 2017 were included in this study. We examined the seasonal variations in the MetS prevalence and its markers using 5 years and 9 months health checkup data and STL analysis. MetS markers consisted of waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), fasting plasma glucose (FPG). RESULTS: We found that the MetS prevalence was high in winter and somewhat high in August. Among men, MetS prevalence was 2.64 ± 0.42 (mean ± SD) % higher in the highest month (January) than in the lowest month (June). Among women, MetS prevalence was 0.53 ± 0.24% higher in the highest month (January) than in the lowest month (June). Additionally, SBP, DBP, and HDL-C exhibited simple variations, being higher in winter and lower in summer, while WC, TG, and FPG displayed more complex variations. CONCLUSIONS This finding, complex seasonal variations of MetS prevalence, WC, TG, and FPG, could not be derived from previous studies using just the mean values in spring, summer, autumn and winter or the cosinor analysis. More attention should be paid to factors affecting seasonal variations of central obesity, dyslipidemia and insulin resistance.
Male ; Female ; Humans ; Metabolic Syndrome/epidemiology* ; Seasons ; Prevalence ; Climate ; Insulin Resistance ; Triglycerides

Influenza is an acute respiratory infectious disease that is caused by the influenza virus, which seriously affects human health. The influenza virus has frequent antigenic drifts that can facilitate escape from pre-existing population immunity and lead to the rapid spread and annual seasonal epidemics. Influenza outbreaks occur in crowded settings, such as schools, kindergartens, and nursing homes. Seasonal influenza epidemics can cause 3-5 million severe cases and 290 000-650 000 respiratory disease-related deaths worldwide every year. Pregnant women, infants, adults aged 60 years and older, and individuals with comorbidities or underlying medical conditions are at the highest risk of severe illness and death from influenza. China has experienced a influenza epidemic season dominated by A (H1N1) pdm09 subtype from mid-February to the end of April 2023, and the intensity was slightly higher than the epidemic year before the COVID-19. We may face the risk of interaction or co-circulation of respiratory infectious diseases such as COVID-19 and influenza during the coming season. Annual influenza vaccination is an effective way to prevent influenza, reduce influenza-related severe illness and death, and reduce the harm caused by influenza-related diseases and the use of medical resources. The currently approved influenza vaccines in China include trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3), quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV4), and trivalent live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV3). IIV3 and IIV4 are produced as a split virus vaccine and subunit vaccine; LAIV3 is a live, attenuated virus vaccine. The influenza vaccine is a non-immunization program vaccine, which means that residents are voluntarily vaccinated. China CDC has issued "Technical guidelines for seasonal influenza vaccination in China" every year from 2018 to 2022. Over the past year, new research evidence has been published at home and abroad, and new influenza vaccines have been approved for marketing in China. To better guide the prevention and control of influenza and vaccination in China, the National Immunization Advisory Committee (NIAC) Technical Working Group (TWG), Influenza Vaccination TWG updated and revised the 2022-2023 technical guidelines with the latest research progress into the "Technical guidelines for seasonal influenza vaccination in China (2023-2024)." The new version has updated five key areas: (1) new research evidence－especially research conducted in China-has been added, including new estimates of the burden of influenza disease, assessments of influenza vaccine effectiveness and safety, and analyses of the cost-effectiveness of influenza vaccination; (2) policies and measures for influenza prevention and control were issued by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China and National Disease Control and Prevention Administrationy over the past year; (3) influenza vaccines approved for marketing in China this year; (4) composition of trivalent and quadrivalent influenza vaccines for the 2023-2024 northern hemisphere influenza season; and (5) recommendations for influenza vaccination during the 2023-2024 influenza season. The 2023-2024 guidelines recommend that all people aged 6 months and above who have no contraindications should get the influenza vaccination. For adults aged ≥18 years, co-administration of inactivated SARS-CoV-2 and influenza vaccines in separate arms is acceptable regarding immunogenicity and reactogenicity. For people under 18 years of age, there should be at least 14 days between influenza vaccination and COVID-19 vaccination. The guidelines express no preference for influenza vaccine type or manufacturer-any approved, age-appropriate influenza vaccines can be used. Combining the influenza epidemic tendency and the prevention and control strategy of multiple diseases, the technical guidelines recommend priority vaccination of the following high-risk groups during the upcoming 2023-2024 influenza season to minimize harm from influenza: (1) healthcare workers, including clinical doctors and nurses, public health professionals, and quarantine professionals; (2) adults ≥60 years of age; (3) individuals with comorbidities; (4) people living in nursing homes or welfare homes and staff who take care of vulnerable, at-risk individuals; (5) pregnant women; (6) children 6-59 months of age; (7) family members and caregivers of infants under 6 months of age; and (8) people who work in nursery institutions, primary and secondary schools, and supervision places. Children 6 months to 8 years of age who receive inactivated influenza vaccine for the first time should receive two doses, with an inter-dose interval of 4 or more weeks. Children who previously received the influenza vaccine and anyone aged 9 years or older need only one dose. LAIV is recommended only for a single dose regardless of the previous influenza vaccination. Vaccination should begin as soon as influenza vaccines become available, and preferably should be completed before the onset of the local influenza season. Repeated influenza vaccination during a single influenza season is not recommended. Vaccination clinics should provide immunization services throughout the epidemic season. Pregnant women can receive inactivated influenza vaccine at any stage of pregnancy. These guidelines are intended for use by staff of CDCs, healthcare workers, maternity and child care institutions and immunization clinic staff members who work on influenza control and prevention. The guidelines will be updated periodically as new evidence becomes available.
Adult ; Infant ; Female ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Adolescent ; Infant, Newborn ; Influenza Vaccines ; Influenza, Human/drug therapy* ; Seasons ; COVID-19 Vaccines ; Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype ; Vaccination ; COVID-19 ; China/epidemiology* ; Vaccines, Attenuated

To explore the situation of 8 common respiratory pathogens in children with acute respiratory infection (ARI) from 2021 to 2022.The retrospective study selected 8 710 ARI patients from September 2021 to August 2022 in the Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Gansu Province as the study object, patients aged 0 to 17 years old, including 5 048 male children and 3 662 female children. Indirect immunofluorescence was used to detect 8 common respiratory pathogens, including influenza virus A (FluA), influenza virus B (FluB), parainfluenza virus (PIV), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), adenovirus (ADV), Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP), Chlamydia pneumoniae (CP), and Coxsackie virus group B (CoxB) IgM antibodies. χ² test was used to analyze the results. The results showed that 1 497 of 8 710 children with ARI were positive, with a positive rate of 17.19%. The detection rate of MP among 8 common respiratory pathogens was 11.34%, accounting for 66.0%, followed by FluB, CoxB, PIV, RSV, ADV, FluA and CP, accounting for 13.83%, 9.55%, 6.01%, 2.61%, 1.47%, 0.40% and 0.13%, respectively. Respiratory tract viruses (FluA, FluB, RSV, ADV, PIV, CoxB) accounted for 33.86%.There were significant differences in the detection rates of PIV, ADV and MP among children of different genders (χ²=6.814, 5.154 and 17.784, P<0.05). The detection rate of school-age children (6-17 years old) was the highest, accounting for 33.27% (184/553). The detection rates of 8 common respiratory pathogens in patients with ARI were higher in spring and winter and lower in summer and autumn. To sum up, from 2021 to 2022, MP and FluB infection were dominant in ARI patients in our hospital. The peak period of 8 common respiratory pathogens was in spring and winter. The physical examination rate of 8 common respiratory pathogens in ARI patients aged 6-17 years old was the highest.
Child ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Child, Preschool ; Adolescent ; Retrospective Studies ; Respiratory Tract Infections/epidemiology* ; Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Human ; Seasons ; Mycoplasma pneumoniae ; Adenoviridae ; Influenza B virus

The study was aimed to analyze the seasonal pollen allergen spectrum of patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) in Nanchang city, and to provide evidence for improving the clinical diagnosis, treatment, prevention and epidemiology of seasonal AR. A retrospective analysis was conducted on the results of skin prick test (SPT) among 1 752 patients with AR in outpatient at Department of Otolaryngology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from September 2020 to August 2021 (a total of 1 069 males and 683 females, age ranged from 2 to 84 years old). SPSS 22.0 software was used to analyze the positive rates of main allergens and their differences in gender, age, and month of visit. Differences among groups were compared by student t test, Wilcox rank sum test, or χ² test. The results showed that among 1 752 SPT-positive patients, the number of simple seasonal AR and the number of perennial combined seasonal AR were 102 (5.82%) and 281 (16.04%), respectively. There was no significant difference between male and female patients in positive seasonal pollen allergens (χ²=2.181, P>0.05), but the positive rate of indoor seasonal pollen allergens in males was higher than that in females (χ²=7.901, P<0.05). The seasonal pollen allergens ranking top 5 of the positive rates were willow (6.62%, 116/1 752), humulus scandens (5.71%, 100/1 752), rape (5.54%, 97/1 752), grey pigweed (4.62%, 81/1 752) and birch (3.60%, 63/1 752). The positive rates of indoor and seasonal pollen allergens increased first and then decreased in different age groups, and the highest positive rates of seasonal pollen allergens were in the age group of 31-40 years old, with statistical significance compared with other groups (χ²=61.269, P<0.05). The seasonal allergen positive rate showed two peaks in time: March to May and September to November. The positive rate of pollen in spring was 60.27% (132/219), which was significantly higher than that in autumn (39.73%,87/219) (χ²=9.247, P<0.05). The positive rate of pollen combination in spring and autumn was 68.29% (112/164), which was significantly higher than that in spring and autumn alone (18.9%,31/164) and (12.8%, 21/164) (χ²=14.731, P<0.05). In summary, pollen allergy in Nanchang City cannot be ignored, accounting for more than 20% of the total number of AR. The incidence of seasonal AR in Nanchang City showed two peaks (March to May and September to November). The common allergens for seasonal AR in Nanchang City were willow, humulus scandens, rape, grey chenopods and birch.
Humans ; Female ; Male ; Adult ; Child, Preschool ; Child ; Adolescent ; Young Adult ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons ; Rhinitis, Allergic ; Pollen ; Hospitals ; Allergens

Objective: To investigate the operation of children's vaccination clinics in Shandong Province, simulate the efficiency of vaccination capacity utilization, and explore the feasibility of carrying out adult vaccination in children's vaccination clinics. Methods: Using the extreme hypothesis method to determine the maximum vaccination capacity of children's vaccination clinics. Based on on-site surveys, population, and vaccination rate data, simulation parameters were determined, and the simulation method was used to simulate the utilization efficiency of vaccination capacity in different scenarios of children's vaccination clinics. Results: There were 2 654 children's vaccination clinics by the end of 2021 in Shandong province. There was (6.93±4.02) staff per vaccination clinic, with an average opening day of (4.16±2.19) days per week. In the scenario of only vaccinating children, the utilization efficiency of vaccination capacity during the non-influenza vaccination season was only 30.74% and 14.07% in urban and rural vaccination clinics, respectively. During the influenza vaccination season, the utilization efficiency of the vaccination capacity of urban vaccination clinics reached 49.26% when the child influenza vaccination rate reached 20%. In the scenario of simultaneous vaccination of children and adults, the utilization efficiency of vaccination capacity during the non-influenza vaccination season was 41.48% and 18.52% in urban and rural vaccination clinics, respectively. During the influenza vaccination season, the utilization efficiency of vaccination capacity in urban vaccination clinics reached 51.47% when the influenza vaccination rate of the entire population reached 3%. The utilization efficiency of vaccination capacity in rural vaccination clinics reached 52.44% when the influenza vaccination rate of the entire population reached 20%. Conclusion: The accessibility of children's vaccination is good in Shandong province, and the utilization efficiency of vaccination capacity can meet the current vaccination needs of children and adults. The vaccination capacity in urban areas needs to be strengthened to meet the growing vaccination needs of children and adults in the future.
Adult ; Child ; Humans ; Feasibility Studies ; Influenza, Human ; Seasons ; Vaccination

OBJECTIVE: To understand the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of human ocular thelaziasis patients in China. METHODS: Case reports regarding human ocular thelaziasis cases in China were retrieved in international and national electronic databases, including CNKI, VIP, CBM, Traditional Chinese Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System, Wanfang Database, PubMed and Web of Science from 2011 to 2022. Patients' gender, age, clinical symptoms, treatment, recurrence, site of infections, time of onset, affected eye, affected sites, number of infected Thelazia callipaeda, sex of T. callipaeda and source of infections were extracted for descriptive analyses. RESULTS: A total of 85 eligible publications were included, covering 101 cases of human ocular thelaziasis, including 57 males (56.44%) and 44 females (43.56%) and aged from 3 months to 85 years. The main clinical manifestations included foreign body sensation (56 case-times, 22.49%), eye itching (38 case-times, 15.26%), abnormal or increased secretions (36 case-times, 14.46%), tears (28 case-times, 11.24%) and eye redness (28 case-times, 11.24%), and conjunctival congestion (50 case-times, 41.67%) was the most common clinical sign. The most common main treatment (99/101, 98.02%) was removal of parasites from eyes using ophthalmic forceps, followed by administration with ofloxacin and pranoprofen. In publications presenting thelaziasis recurrence, there were 90 cases without recurrence (97.83%) and 2 cases with recurrence (2.17%). Of all cases, 51.96% were reported in four provinces of Hubei, Shandong, Sichuan, Hebei and Henan, and ocular thelaziasis predominantly occurred in summer (42.19%) and autumn (42.19%). In addition, 56.45% (35/62) had a contact with dogs. CONCLUSIONS The human thelaziasis cases mainly occur in the continental monsoon and subtropical monsoon climate areas such as the Yellow River and the Yangtze River basin, and people of all ages and genders have the disease, with complex clinical symptoms and signs. Personal hygiene is required during the contact with dogs, cats and other animals, and individual protection is required during outdoor activities to prevent thelaziasis.
Animals ; Dogs ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Bibliometrics ; China/epidemiology* ; Seasons ; Spirurida Infections/epidemiology* ; Thelazioidea ; Eye Diseases/parasitology*

Objective: To study the effect of diurnal temperature range on the number of elderly inpatients with ischemic stroke in Hunan Province. Method: Demographic and disease data, meteorological data, air quality data, population, economic and health resource data of elderly inpatients with ischemic stroke were collected in 122 districts/counties of Hunan Province from January to December 2019. The relationships between the diurnal temperature range and the number of elderly inpatients with ischemic stroke were analyzed by using the distributed lag non-linear model, including the cumulative lag effect of the diurnal temperature range in different seasons, extremely high diurnal temperature range and extremely low diurnal temperature range. Results: In 2019, 152 875 person-times were admitted to the hospital for ischemic stroke in the elderly in Hunan Province. There was a non-linear relationship between the diurnal temperature range and the number of elderly patients with ischemic stroke, with different lag periods. In spring and winter, with the decrease in diurnal temperature range, the risk of admission of elderly patients with ischemic stroke increased (P_trend<0.001, P_trend=0.002);in summer, with the increase in diurnal temperature range, the risk of admission of elderly patients with ischemic stroke increased (P_trend=0.024);in autumn, the change in the diurnal temperature range would not cause a change in admission risk (P_trend=0.089). Except that the lag effect of the extremely low diurnal temperature range in autumn was not obvious, the lag effect occurred in other seasons under extremely low and extremely high diurnal temperature ranges. Conclusion: The high diurnal temperature range in summer and the low diurnal temperature range in spring and winter will increase the risk of admission of elderly patients with ischemic stroke, and the risk of admission of elderly patients with ischemic stroke will lag under the extremely low and extremely high diurnal temperature ranges in the above three seasons.
Humans ; Aged ; Temperature ; Ischemic Stroke ; Inpatients ; Cold Temperature ; Hot Temperature ; Seasons ; China/epidemiology*

Objective: To analyze the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of seasonal A(H3N2) influenza [influenza A(H3N2)] in China and to provide a reference for scientific prevention and control. Methods: The influenza A(H3N2) surveillance data in 2014-2019 was derived from China Influenza Surveillance Information System. A line chart described the epidemic trend analyzed and plotted. Spatial autocorrelation analysis was conducted using ArcGIS 10.7, and spatiotemporal scanning analysis was conducted using SaTScan 10.1. Results: A total of 2 603 209 influenza-like case sample specimens were detected from March 31, 2014, to March 31, 2019, and the influenza A(H3N2) positive rate was 5.96%(155 259/2 603 209). The positive rate of influenza A(H3N2) was statistically significant in the north and southern provinces in each surveillance year (all P<0.05). The high incidence seasons of influenza A (H3N2) were in winter in northern provinces and summer or winter in southern provinces. Influenza A (H3N2) clustered in 31 provinces in 2014-2015 and 2016-2017. High-high clusters were distributed in eight provinces, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Shanxi, Henan, Shaanxi, and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in 2014-2015, and high-high clusters were distributed in five provinces including Shanxi, Shandong, Henan, Anhui, and Shanghai in 2016-2017. Spatiotemporal scanning analysis from 2014 to 2019 showed that Shandong and its surrounding twelve provinces clustered from November 2016 to February 2017 (RR=3.59, LLR=9 875.74, P<0.001). Conclusion: Influenza A (H3N2) has high incidence seasons with northern provinces in winter and southern provinces in summer or winter and obvious spatial and temporal clustering characteristics in China from 2014-2019.
Humans ; Influenza, Human/epidemiology* ; China/epidemiology* ; Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype ; Seasons ; Cluster Analysis

From 2015 to 2019, the annual average incidence rate of scarlet fever was 7.80/100 000 in Yantai City, which showed an increasing trend since 2017 (χ²_trend=233.59, P<0.001). The peak period of this disease was from April to July and November to January of the next year. The ratio of male to female was 1.49∶1, with a higher prevalence among cases aged 3 to 9 years (2 357/2 552, 92.36%). Children in kindergartens, primary and middle school students, and scattered children were the high risk population, with the incidence rate of 159.86/100 000, 25.57/100 000 and 26.77/100 000, respectively. The global spatial auto-correlation analysis showed that the global Moran's I index of the reported incidence rate of scarlet fever in Yantai from 2015 to 2019 was 0.28, 0.29, 0.44, 0.48, and 0.22, respectively (all P values<0.05), suggesting that the incidence rate of scarlet fever in Yantai from 2015 to 2019 was spatial clustering. The local spatial auto-correlation analysis showed that the "high-high" clustering areas were mainly located in Laizhou City, Zhifu District, Haiyang City, Fushan District and Kaifa District, while the "low-high" clustering areas were mainly located in Haiyang City and Fushan District.
Child ; Humans ; Male ; Female ; Scarlet Fever/epidemiology* ; Spatial Analysis ; Cities/epidemiology* ; Seasons ; Risk Factors ; Incidence ; Cluster Analysis ; China/epidemiology*

Objective: To explore the feasibility of moving epidemic method (MEM) in the assessment of seasonal influenza (influenza) activity intensity from the perspective of urban agglomeration, assess influenza activity intensity in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2019 to 2021 and evaluate the reliability of surveillance data and the effectiveness of the MEM model application. Methods: The weekly reported incidence rate (IR) of influenza and the percentage of influenza-like illness (ILI%) from 2011-2021 in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region were collected to establish MEM models respectively. The model fitting effect and the reliability of the two data were evaluated for the purpose of establishing an optimal model to assess the influenza activity intensity in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region from 2019-2021. A cross-validation procedure was used to evaluate the performance of the models by calculating the Youden's index, sensitivity and specificity. Results: The MEM model fitted with weekly ILI% had a higher Youden's index compared with the model fitted with weekly IR at both Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region level and provincial level. The MEM model based on ILI% showed that the epidemic threshold in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region during 2019-2020 was 4.42%, the post-epidemic threshold was 4.66%, with medium, high and very high intensity thresholds as 5.38%, 7.22% and 7.84%, respectively. The influenza season during 2019-2020 had 10 weeks (week 50 of 2019 to week 7 of 2020). The influenza season started in week 50 of 2019, and the intensity fluctuated above and below medium epidemic level for six consecutive weeks. The high intensity was observed in week 4 of 2020, the threshold of very high intensity was excessed in week 5, and the intensity gradually declined and became lower than the threshold at the end of the influenza season in week 8. The epidemic threshold was 4.29% and the post-epidemic threshold was 4.35% during 2020-2021. Influenza activity level never excessed the epidemic threshold throughout the year, and no epidemic period emerged. Conclusions: The MEM model could be applied in the assessment of influenza activity intensity in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and the use of ILI% to assess influenza activity intensity in this region was more reliable than IR data. Influenza activity intensity in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was higher during 2019-2020 but significantly lower in 2020-2021.
Humans ; Beijing/epidemiology* ; Influenza, Human/epidemiology* ; Seasons ; Reproducibility of Results ; Epidemics ; China/epidemiology*