1. Meteorological influences on dengue transmission in Pakistan
Suleman ATIQUE ; Shabbir Syed ABDUL ; Ting-Wu CHUANG ; Chien-Yeh HSU ; Chien-Yeh HSU
Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine 2016;9(10):954-961
Objective To identify the influences of local and regional climate phenomena on dengue transmission in Lahore District of Pakistan, from 2006 to 2014. Methods Time-series models were applied to analyze associations between reported cases of dengue and climatic parameters. The coherence trend of regional climate phenomena (IOD and ENSO) was evaluated with wavelet analysis. Results The minimum temperature 4 months before the dengue outbreak played the most important role in the Lahore District (P = 0.03). A NINO 3.4 index 9 months before the outbreaks exhibited a significant negative effect on dengue transmission (P = 0.02). The IOD exhibited a synchronized pattern with dengue outbreak from 2010 to 2012. The ENSO effect (NINO 3.4 index) might have played a more important role after 2012. Conclusions This study provides preliminary results of climate influences on dengue transmission in the Lahore District of Pakistan. An increasing dengue transmission risk accompanied by frequent climate changes should be noted. Integrating the influences of climate variability into disease prevention strategies should be considered by public health authorities.
2.Clinical Characteristics, Genetic Features, and Long-Term Outcome of Wilson’s Disease in a Taiwanese Population: An 11-Year Follow-Up Study
Sung-Pin FAN ; Yih-Chih KUO ; Ni-Chung LEE ; Yin-Hsiu CHIEN ; Wuh-Liang HWU ; Yu-Hsuan HUANG ; Han-I LIN ; Tai-Chung TSENG ; Tung-Hung SU ; Shiou-Ru TZENG ; Chien-Ting HSU ; Huey-Ling CHEN ; Chin-Hsien LIN ; Yen-Hsuan NI
Journal of Movement Disorders 2023;16(2):168-179
Objective:
aaWilson’s disease (WD) is a rare genetic disorder of copper metabolism, and longitudinal follow-up studies are limited. We performed a retrospective analysis to determine the clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes in a large WD cohort.
Methods:
aaMedical records of WD patients diagnosed from 2006–2021 at National Taiwan University Hospital were retrospectively evaluated for clinical presentations, neuroimages, genetic information, and follow-up outcomes.
Results:
aaThe present study enrolled 123 WD patients (mean follow-up: 11.12 ± 7.41 years), including 74 patients (60.2%) with hepatic features and 49 patients (39.8%) with predominantly neuropsychiatric symptoms. Compared to the hepatic group, the neuropsychiatric group exhibited more Kayser-Fleischer rings (77.6% vs. 41.9%, p < 0.01), lower serum ceruloplasmin levels (4.9 ± 3.9 vs. 6.3 ± 3.9 mg/dL, p < 0.01), smaller total brain and subcortical gray matter volumes (p < 0.0001), and worse functional outcomes during follow-up (p = 0.0003). Among patients with available DNA samples (n = 59), the most common mutations were p.R778L (allelic frequency of 22.03%) followed by p.P992L (11.86%) and p.T935M (9.32%). Patients with at least one allele of p.R778L had a younger onset age (p = 0.04), lower ceruloplasmin levels (p < 0.01), lower serum copper levels (p = 0.03), higher percentage of the hepatic form (p = 0.03), and a better functional outcome during follow-up (p = 0.0012) compared to patients with other genetic variations.
Conclusion
aaThe distinct clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes of patients in our cohort support the ethnic differences regarding the mutational spectrum and clinical presentations in WD.