Objective To evaluate the potential risk of schistosomiasis transmission in the area along the Yangtze River in Yangzhou City,so as to provide evidences for establishing a post?transmission surveillance system for schistosomiasis in marsh?land regions. Methods The water infectivity,floating boatmen and fishermen infection,reservoir host infection and wild feces contamination were investigated in five districts/counties along the Yangtze River in Yangzhou City,including Guangling,Hanji?ang,Jiangdu,Yizheng and Development Zone,and the transmission factors and risky characteristics were assessed after inter?ruption of schistosomiasis transmission in marshland regions. Results A total of 15 key water regions were identified in the area along the Yangtze River in Yangzhou City in 2015. A total of 1 500 sentinel mice were placed,after breeding,their overall sur?vival rate was 99.33%;1 490 were dissected,with no schistosome infection. Of the 5 576 floating boatmen and fishermen exam?ined,no schistosome infection was observed,and among the 3 566 domestic animals(including 171 cattle,1 895 sheep and 1 500 pigs),no infections were detected. During the period between January and March,2016,there were 3 200 mouse traps placed on 8 marshlands,and 62 wild mice were captured from 6 marshlands,with a capture rate of 1.94%,and no schistosome?infected wild mice were seen. In addition,there were 35 pieces of fresh wild feces captured from 7 marshlands,including 11 pieces of bovine feces(31.43%),17 pieces of sheep feces(48.57%),2 pieces of dog feces(5.71%)and 5 pieces of other feces (14.29%),and no infections were detected. Conclusions There is a low risk of schistosomiasis transmission in the area along the Yangtze River in Yangzhou City. However,the contamination of feces from bovine and sheep that are freely pastured on marshlands is a big threat to schistosomiasis control.

Objective To develop a machine simultaneously integrating mechanized environmental cleaning and automatic mollusciciding and to evaluate its effectiveness of field application,so as to provide a novel Oncomelania hupensis snail control technique in the large?scale marshlands. Methods The machine simultaneously integrating mechanized environmental clean?ing and automatic mollusciciding,which was suitable for use in complex marshland areas,was developed according to the mech?anization and automation principles,and was used for O. hupensis snail control in the marshland. The effect of the machine on environmental cleaning and plough was evaluated,and the distribution of living snails was observed at various soil layers follow? ing plough. The snail control effects of plough alone and plough followed by mollusciciding were compared. Results The ma?chine could simultaneously complete the procedures of getting vegetation down and cut vegetation into pieces,plough and snail control by spraying niclosamide. After plough,the constituent ratios of living snails were 36.31% ,25.60% ,22.62% and 15.48% in the soil layers at depths of 0-5,6-10,11-15 cm and 16-20 cm respectively,and 61.91% living snails were found in the 0-10 cm soil layers. Seven and fifteen days after the experiment,the mortality rates of snails were 9.38% and 8.29% in the plough alone group,and 63.04% and 80.70% in the plough + mollusciciding group respectively(c27 d = 42.74,c215 d =155.56,both P values < 0.01). Thirty days after the experiment,the densities of snails were 3.02 snails/0.1 m2 and 0.53 snails/0.1 m2 in the soil surface of the plough alone group and the plough + mollusciciding group,which decreased by 64.92% and 93.60% ,respectively,and the decrease rate of snail density was approximately 30% higher in the plough + mollusciciding group than that in the plough alone group. Conclusions The machine simultaneously integrating mechanized environmental cleaning and automatic mollusciciding achieves the integration of mechanical environmental cleaning and automatic niclosamide spraying in the complex marshland areas,which provides a novel technique of field snail control in the large?scale setting in Chi?na.

Objective:To analyze the policy tools designed for function orientation and development of China′s infectious disease hospitals, in order to provide references for formulating and optimizing the functional implementation and sustainable development policies of these hospitals.Methods:Consulting the website of Peking University Law and official websites on health, and using such keywords as " medical institutions, infectious diseases, hospitals for infectious diseases, public health emergencies, specialized hospitals", and searching the national policy texts on the functions and development of infectious disease hospitals issued from December 1991 to January 2023. By means of Rothwell and Zegveld′s policy tool classification method, Nvivo 11 Pro software was used to analyze the text content from the dimensions of demand-type, supply-type, and environmental-type policy tools.Results:A total of 41 policy texts were included and 204 codes were obtained through text analysis. Of all the tools, environmental and supply-oriented policy tools were used the most, being 104 (50.99%) and 95 (46.56%) respectively, while demand-oriented policy tools were used the least, only 5 (2.45%). Of all the environmental-oriented policy tools, " goal planning" was the most used, being 34 (16.67%), while " publicity and guidance" was less used, only 4 (1.96%). Among the supply-oriented policy tools, " clarifying the reporting and handling service functions of public health emergencies" was the most widely used, being 34 (16.67%), while " Informationization" and " infrastructure construction" was less used, being 8 (3.92%) and 6 (2.94%) respectively. Few of the demand-oriented policy tools were in use, as " government purchase" and " medical insurance support" were both 2 (0.98% each), and " social medical care" was only 1 (0.49%).Conclusions:The distribution of three types of policy tools for function and development of infectious disease hospitals is unbalanced, the use of environmental and supply-oriented policy tools is excessive and internal structure is unbalanced. The proportion of environmental-oriented policy tools needs to be adjusted, and the frequency of use of supporting tools such as relevant standards, norms, incentives, supervision and publicity should be increased. Supply-oriented policies need to be further optimized, especially in terms of personnel training, funding, information technology and infrastructure construction. Demand-oriented policy tools are seriously underused and need to be further developed.