Objective To establish the management information system of acute schistosomiasis in order to make the information management more efficient in Anhui Province.Methods The information of acute schistosomiasis cases in Anhui Province from 2001 to 2006 was collected,and Visual Foxpro 6.0 was used to develop the management information system for acute schistosomiasis in Anhui Province.Results The endemic status and distribution of acute schistosomiasis were able to be more rapidly analyzed.The system,with a friendly interface,was operated easily.The endemic situation of acute schistosomiasis was reflected in precise and timely.Conclusion The management information system of acute schistosomiasis could offer the scientific evidence for acute schistosomiasis control in Anhui Province.

Objective To understand the current distribution of infected snails in Anhui Province.Methods The data of snail survey were collected,the database was set up and the position of environments of infected snails were determined with GPS,the E-map was established with ArcGis 9.1 and the distribution of infected snail was analyzed.Results In 2007,331 environments with infected snails were found in Anhui Province,and 62.5% of them were found in the lake regions and 37.5% in the mountainous areas.The infected snail habitat areas were 682.6 hm2,85.5% of them were distributed in the lake regions and 14.5% in the mountainous areas.The river beach and the canal were the main environments with infected snails in the lake regions and mountainous areas,respectively;and 97.2% of the environments with infected snail were distributed in the infection-uncontrolled villages or villages which reached the criteria of infection control of schistosomiasis.Grassland was the main vegetation with infected snails,and the second was the reeds and trees.Conclusions The current endemic situation of the infection-uncontrolled villages or villages which reached the criteria of infection control of schistosomiasis is severe and should be emphasized for schistosomiasis prevention and control.The distribution of infected snail is connected with the river system.In the lake regions,the infected snails are distributed over the bottomlands of the Yangtze River and tributaries and islets and lakes;in the mountainous areas,the infected snails are distributed in the rivers banks and irrigated areas or special environments.

Objective To evaluate the effect on schistosomiasis control by implementing the synthetic measures with emphasis on infection source control.Methods Ten higher endemic villages in 10 counties were chosen to implement the measures of " replacing cattle with machines", "rearing domestic animals in pens", "safely treating night-soil or building methane-generating pits".In these villages, all cattle should be eliminated, other livestock be reared in pens, and all households be supplied with sanitary lavatories that could safely treat night-soil, or with methane-generating pits, and safe water. Results After 1 year of implementing the project, the number of cattle, sheep, pigs and dogs in 10 villages reduced by 92.7%,70.8%,14.3% and 20.2%, respectively, 76.0% of households had sanitary lavatories or methane-generating pits, 75.9% of households had safe water supply, all the remaining pigs were reared in pens, and the schistosome infection rate of residents reduced by 75.8%, the infection rate of cattle reduced by 79.8%, the density of infected snails reduced by 75.0% and the infection rate of snails reduced by 60.0%, respectively. Conclusion The synthetic measures with emphasis on infection source control are effective in schistosomiasis control.

Objective To analyze the changes of schistosomiasis endemic situation in Anhui Province from 2004 to 2014, so as to provide the evidence for formulating“The thirteenth five year”schistosomiasis control plan. Methods The information for schistosomiasis control and the data of the endemic surveillance of schistosomiasis were collected and analyzed for the chang?es of schistosomiasis endemic situation in Anhui Province from 2004 to 2014. Results The Oncomelania hupensis snail areas presented on a rising trend,and reached to the largest area with about 3.1 billon m2 in 2011. However,the snail areas decreased from 2012,and reduced by 10.55%in 2012 compared with the areas in 2011,and reduced to the lowest level in 2014 in recent 10 years. The density of living snails presented a fluctuation situation from 2004 to 2008,and on a decreasing trend from 2008, and the density of living snails was below 1 snail/0.1 m2 after 2011. The infection rate of snails remained stagnant state from 2004 to 2011,and decreased rapidly in 2012,and no schistosome infected snails were found in 2013 and 2014. The schistosome in?fection rate of residents decreased gradually,and the number of acute schistosomiasis was under 50 cases with scattered distribu?tion after 2006,and no acute cases occurred in 2013 and 2014. The infection rate of livestock was above 1%from 2004 to 2011, and reduced to 0.55%in 2012,and it was the first time that the infection rate of livestock was lower than that of residents in the same year in 2014. The progress for achieving the goal of schistosomiasis transmission control accelerated after 2011,and the number of counties that reached the standard of schistosomiasis transmission controlled from 2012 to 2014 was 4,9 and 14 and the number of townships was 33,76 and 32,respectively. Conclusion Schistosomiasis control has achieved remarkable effec?tiveness in Anhui Province,but there still exists hard work to consolidate the achievement and reach schistosomiasis transmis?sion interrupted.

Objective To study the compliance of forbidden depasturing livestock on the marshland with Oncomelania snails in schistosomiasis endemic areas. Methods According to 3 levels of human infection rates as > 10% ,5%-10% and <5% , 2 204 residents selected randomly from the schistosomiasis endemic villages were sampled with the stratified cluster sampling method in Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces, and investigated by questionnaire. The contents of the questionnaire included the recognition and implementation of forbidden depasturing livestock on marshland with Oncomelania snails and breeding livestock in bam. Results A total of 78.4% residents agreed forbidden depasturing livestock on marshland with snails, but 3. 7% residents disagreed it. A total of 83. 9% residents considered the relationship between breeding livestock in bam and schistosomiasis control, but 3. 1% residents thought that it was no relationship. The main reasons of depasturing livestock on marshland with Oncomelania snails were the high cost of breeding livestock in bam (36. 2% ) , unaccustomed (26.4% ) and no room for breeding livestock in bam (25.4% ). Conclusion Forbidden depasturing livestock on the marshland with Oncomelania snails should be strengthened according to the local economic, nature environment, agriculture, residents'culture degree and agriculture habit.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes of water level and the distribution of snails in Anhui province before and after runs of the Three Gorges Reservoir Project, and to determine the relationship between the two factors and schistosomiasis transmission.

METHODSThe hydrologic data of Datong hydrologic station and the data of snail status and schistosomiasis morbidity in Anhui Province were collected. The data from 1991 to 2002 and 2003 to 2012 were considered as before and after the impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir Project. Based on the prevalence of schistosomiasis, the cases of people and cattle were speculated, and the average infection rate of people and cattle were calculated. The t-test was used to compare the difference of snail area and the density of living snails before and after the impoundment of the Three Gorges Project. The pearson method was used to analyze the relationship between water level and snail area. The spearman method was used to analyze the relationship between the water level and the distribution of snails.

RESULTSFrom 1991 to 2012, the range of the highest water level, the lowest water level, the difference between the highest and lowest water level, the mean in the abundant water seasons, the mean in the dry water seasons, and the difference between the abundant water seasons and the dry water seasons was 11.40-16.30, 3.68-5.20, 6.70-12.12, 9.92-14.40, 4.77-7.64 and 4.13-8.93 m, respectively. The snail areas was (28 613 ± 362) hm² and (29 477 ± 918) hm² (t = -3.00, P = 0.007), the density of living snails was 1.51 (1.15-2.43) and 0.43 (0.29-1.10) snails/0.11 m² (H = 4.28, P < 0.001) before and after the impoundment of the Three Gorges Project, respectively. The average infection rate of people and cattle was 1.68% (99 482/5 935 147) and 4.62% (13 923/3 011 33), and the average number of acute schistosomiasis cases was 328, before the impoundment of the Three Gorges Project; 0.60% (39 747/6 649 380), 1.65% (1 291/783 224) and 71 after the impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir Project, respectively. The snail areas had negative correlation with the highest water level, the difference between the highest and lowest water level, the mean in the abundant water seasons (r value was -0.514, -0.509 and -0.477; P value was 0.014, 0.015 and 0.025, respectively). The infection rate of people had positive correlation with the highest water level, the difference between the highest and lowest water level, the mean in the abundant water seasons (r value was 0.532, 0.587 and 0.446; P value was 0.011, 0.004 and 0.038, respectively). The infection rate of cattle had positive correlation with the highest water level, the difference between the highest and lowest water level (r value was 0.507 and 0.553; P value was 0.016 and 0.008, respectively). The number of acute schistosomiasis cases had positive correlation with the highest water level, the difference between the highest and lowest water level (r value was 0.481 and 0.486; P value was 0.023 and 0.022, respectively).

CONCLUSIONFollowing the runs of the Three Gorges Reservoir Project, the change of water level in the section of Anhui Province affected the distribution of snails and the infection of people and cattle to some extent. The snail areas showed an upward trend, and the density of living snails, the infection rate of people and cattle showed a downward trend. The runs of Three Gorges Reservoir Project has certain role to reduce flood and helpful for schistosomiasis control.

Animals ; Cattle ; China ; Floods ; Humans ; Lakes ; Prevalence ; Rain ; Schistosomiasis ; Seasons ; Snails

Metastasis and resistance are main causes to affect the outcome of the current anticancer therapies. Heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) as an ATP-dependent molecular chaperone takes important role in the tumor metastasis and resistance. Targeting Hsp90 and downregulating its expression show promising in inhibiting tumor metastasis and resistance. In this study, a redox-responsive dual-drug nanocarrier was constructed for the effective delivery of a commonly used chemotherapeutic drug PTX, and a COA-modified 4-arm PEG polymer (4PSC) was synthesized. COA, an active component in oleanolic acid that exerts strong antitumor activity by downregulating Hsp90 expression, was used as a structural and functional element to endow 4PSC with redox responsiveness and Hsp90 inhibitory activity. Our results showed that 4PSC/PTX nanomicelles efficiently delivered PTX and COA to tumor locations without inducing systemic toxicity. By blocking the Hsp90 signaling pathway, 4PSC significantly enhanced the antitumor effect of PTX, inhibiting tumor proliferation and invasiveness as well as chemotherapy-induced resistance in vitro. Remarkable results were further confirmed in vivo with two preclinical tumor models. These findings demonstrate that the COA-modified 4PSC drug delivery nanosystem provides a potential platform for enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapies.