Schistosomiasis is prevalent in 78 countries and territories worldwide, while the eastern and western parts of sub-Sahara Africa bear the highest disease burden due to schistosomiasis. Recently, climate change, international trade and travel, urbanization and war have increased the risk of cross-boundary importation and transmission of schistosomiasis, and schistosomiasis has increasingly become a public health concern in non-endemic countries and territories. Biomphalaria straminea, the intermediate host of Schistosoma mansoni, has colonized in southern China and its habitats continue to move northward. In addition, cross-boundary imported cases of schistosomiasis have been reported occasionally in China. However, the real number of cases may be underestimated greatly due to insufficient diagnostic capacity and weak awareness of case reporting for overseas imported schistosomiasis in healthcare facilities. It is necessary to establish a multi-party collaborative mechanism, improve corresponding systems and technical specifications, reinforce surveillance and early warning, and border management, enhance technical reserves and capability building, and improve the awareness of schistosomiasis prevention and healthcare-seeking among entry-exit personnel, in order to effectively address the threat of cross-boundary imported schistosomiasis.

To understand the progress of, summarize the lessons learned from and analyze the challenges in the national schistosomiasis elimination program of China in 2024, this article presented the endemic situation of schistosomiasis and national schistosomiasis surveillance results in the People’s Republic of China in 2024. By the end of 2024, Shanghai Municipality, Zhejiang Province, Fujian Province, Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region continued to consolidate schistosomiasis elimination achievements, and 7 provinces of Jiangsu, Sichuan, Yunnan, Hubei, Hunan, Anhui and Jiangxi maintained the criteria of schistosomiasis transmission interruption. A total of 450 counties (cites, districts) were found to be endemic for schistosomiasis in China in 2024, including 26 061 endemic villages covering 73 630 500 residents at risk of infections. Among the 450 counties (cities, districts) endemic for schistosomiasis, 388 (86.22%) achieved the criteria of schistosomiasis elimination and 62 (13.78%) achieved the criteria of transmission interruption. In 2024, a total of 4 102 624 individuals received immunological tests for schistosomiasis in China, with 44 823 sero-positives identified (1.09% seroprevalence), and a total of 169 722 individuals received parasitological examinations, with 1 egg-positives detected. A total of 27 321 cases with advanced schistosomiasis were documented in China by the end of 2024. In 2024, a total of 575 686 bovines were raised in schistosomiasis-endemic villages of China, and 113 842 bovines received immunological tests, with 235 sero-positives detected (0.21% seroprevalence), while no egg-positives were identified among the 167 475 bovines receiving parasitological examinations. In 2024, snail survey was performed covering an area of 680 498.27 hm² in China, and 190 778.66 hm² snail habitats were identified, including 59.09 hm² emerging snail habitats and 704.23 hm² reemerging snail habitats. In 2024, a total of 19 665 schistosomiasis patients receiving chemotherapy with praziquantel in China, and expanded chemotherapy was given to humans at 571 722 person-times and to bovines at 306 740 herd-times. In addition, snail control with chemical treatment covered 117 111.37 hm² snail habitats across China in 2024, and the actual area of chemical treatment was 66 562.95 hm², while environmental improvements were performed in snail habitats covering an area of 1 374.26 hm². The national schistosomiasis surveillance results showed that the mean prevalence rates of Schistosoma japonicum infections were both 0 among humans and bovines in China in 2024, and no S. japonicum infection was detected in snails. These data demonstrated that the prevalence of schistosomiasis remained at a low level in China in 2024; however, the areas of snail habitats remained high and the number of fenced cattle showed a slight increase. To address these risks, it is imperative to maintain the integrated strategy with an emphasis on management of the source of S. japonicum infection and intensified snail control in high-risk areas, and to reinforce schistosomiasis surveillance and forecast and snail control in high-risk areas.

In recent years, research on the quality and safety detection of bear bile powder has mainly involved three aspects. First, the identification of active components and substitutes. Quantitative analysis of bile acids and other components is performed using HPLC, HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry, and other techniques, combined with near-infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and polymerase chain reaction to identify adulteration. Isotope fingerprint analysis and glycosylation modification detection are used to distinguish natural products from biosynthetic substitutes, revealing significant differences in δ13C values and the proportion of specific glycosylation modifications between natural bear bile powder and synthetic products. Second, the detection of veterinary drug residues, mainly based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, which can screen over 100 types of residues, but targeted purification strategies are needed to address interference from the bile acid matrix. Thirdly, heavy metal detection, mainly using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and atomic absorption spectrometry, has revealed that contamination is associated with the breeding environment, with significant regional differences. Related detection technologies are gradually evolving from single-target analysis to multi-modal and intelligent approaches. Existing research faces issues, such as matrix effect interference, lack of international standards, and ethical controversies. It is suggested that future efforts should focus on the interdisciplinary application of detection technologies, develop rapid detection methods such as non-invasive monitoring and microfluidic chips, promote the standardization and equivalence evaluation of synthetic alternatives, and establish a full-chain quality control system integrating spatially resolved mass spectrometry imaging, artificial intelligence, and big data.

To understand the progress of national schistosomiasis elimination program of China in 2023 and summarize the lessons and experiences, data on the endemic status of schistosomiasis and national schistosomiasis surveillance results in the People’s Republic of China were collected and analyzed at a national level. By the end of 2023, Shanghai Municipality, Zhejiang Province, Fujian Province, Guangdong Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region continued to consolidate the achievements of schistosomiasis elimination, and Sichuan and Jiangsu provinces maintained the criteria of transmission interruption, while Yunnan and Hubei provinces were identified to achieve the criteria of transmission interruption in 2020, and Anhui, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces achieved the criteria of transmission interruption in 2023. A total of 451 counties (cites, districts) were found to be endemic for schistosomiasis in China in 2023, including 26 250 endemic villages covering 73 034 500 residents at risk of infections. Among the 451 endemic counties (cities, districts), 78.49% (354/451) achieved the criteria of schistosomiasis elimination and 21.51% (97/451) achieved the criteria of transmission interruption, respectively. In 2023, a total of 4 216 643 individuals received immunological tests, with 47 794 sero-positives identified, and a total of 184 216 individuals received parasitological examinations, with 4 egg-positives detected. A total of 27 768 cases with advanced schistosomiasis were documented in China by the end of 2023. In 2023, 539 548 bovines were raised in schistosomiasis-endemic areas of China, and 125 440 bovines received immunological tests, with 124 sero-positives detected, while no egg-positives were identified among the 133 508 bovines receiving parasitological examinations. In 2023, snail survey was performed at an area of 641 339.53 hm² and 184 819.77 hm² snail habitats were identified, including 51.53 hm² emerging snail habitats and 642.25 hm² reemerging snail habitats. In 2023, there were 20 198 schistosomiasis patients receiving praziquantel chemotherapy, and 598 183 person-time individuals and 283 954 herdtime bovines were given expanded chemotherapy. In 2023, snail control with chemical treatment was performed in 116 347.95 hm² snail habitats, and the actual area of chemical treatment was 65 690.89 hm², while environmental improvements were performed in snail habitats covering an area of 1 334.62 hm². The national schistosomiasis surveillance results showed that the mean prevalence of Schistosoma japonicum infections were both zero among humans and bovines in 2023, and no S. japonicum infection was detected in snails. These data demonstrated that transmission interruption of schistosomiasis had been achieved across all endemic provinces in China in 2023, and the endemic status of schistosomiasis tended to be stable, while advanced cases were predominant among all schistosomiasis cases. However, the areas of snail habitats remained high and cattle re-raising was very common in some regions. Intensified schistosomiasis surveillance and forecast and snail control in high-risk areas are needed.

Objective To investigate the correlation between serum long non-coding RNA FGD5-AS1(ln-cRNA FGD5-AS1),microRNA-103a-3p(miR-103a-3p)and puerperal infection(PI)in patients with gesta-tional diabetes mellitus(GDM)in late pregnancy.Methods A total of 168 late pregnancy GDM patients who were hospitalized and delivered in the hospital from January 2022 to June 2023 were retrospectively selected as the experimental group,and the patients were separated into an infected group(96 cases)and an uninfected group(72 cases)based on whether they had PI.At the same time,120 late pregnant women who underwent prenatal examination in the hospital and had normal gestational blood glucose were selected as the control group.Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(qRT-PCR)was applied to detect the expression levels of ln-cRNA FGD5-AS1 and miR-103a-3p.Multivariate Logistic regression was applied to analyze the influencing factors of PI in late pregnancy GDM patients.StarBase website was applied to analyze the relationship between lncRNA FGD5-AS1 and miR-103a-3p.Pearson was applied to analyze the correlation between lncRNA FGD5-AS1 and miR-103a-3p.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was applied to evaluate the value of ln-cRNA FGD5-AS1 and miR-103a-3p in predicting the occurrence of PI.Results There was a statistically sig-nificant difference in the expression levels of serum lncRNA FGD5-AS1 and miR-103a-3p between the experi-mental group and the control group(P＜0.05),the expression level of serum lncRNA FGD5-AS1 in the infec-ted group was obviously higher than that in the uninfected group(P＜0.05),but the expression level of ser-um miR-103a-3p in the infected group was obviously lower than that in the uninfected group(P＜0.05).The expression level of lncRNA FGD5-AS1 was an independent risk factor for PI in late-pregnancy GDM patients(P＜0.05),and the expression level of miR-103a-3p was an independent protective factor for PI in late-preg-nancy GDM patients(P＜0.05).There was a negative correlation between lncRNA FGD5-AS1 and miR-103a-3p expression level(r=-0.409,P＜0.001).The efficacy of the combined detection of lncRNA FGD5-AS1 and miR-103a-3p for predicting PI in late pregnancy GDM patients was superior to that of serum lncRNA FGD5-AS1 and miR-103a-3p alone(P＜0.05).Conclusion LncRNA FGD5-AS1 is an independent risk factor for PI in late pregnancy GDM patients,while miR-103a-3p is an independent protective factor for PI in late pregnancy GDM patients.The combined detection has higher value for predicting PI in late pregnancy GDM patients.

Objective To evaluate the molluscicidal effect of spraying different formulations of niclosamide ethanolamine salt with drones against Oncomelania hupensis in ditches. Methods A semi-dry and semi-wet ditch with O. hupensis snails was selected in the second branch field of Jiangbei Farm, Jiangling County, Hubei Province in May 2023, and divided into 4 experimental areas, named groups A1, A2, B1 and B2. Environmental cleaning was performed in groups A1 and B2, and was not conducted in groups A2 or B2. Then, 50% wettable powder of niclosamide ethanolamine salt was sprayed with drones at an effective dose of 2 g/m² in groups A1 and A2, and 5% niclosamide ethanolamine salt granule was sprayed with drones at an effective dose of 2 g/m² in groups B1 and B2. O. hupensis snails were surveyed using the systematic sampling method 1, 3, 5, 7, 14 days after spraying, and the natural mortality and corrected mortality of O. hupensis snails were calculated. Results The occurrence of frames with living snails, mean density of living snails and natural mortality of snails were 97.50% (117/120), 6.30 snails/0.1 m² and 1.18% (9/765) in the test ditch before spraying, respectively. There were significant differences in the mortality of snails among four groups 1, 3, 5, 7 and 14 days after spraying niclosamide formulations with drones (χ² = 17.230, 51.707, 65.184, 204.050 and 34.435, all P values < 0.01). The overall mortality rates of snails were 94.51% (1 051/1 112), 79.44% (908/1 143), 96.54% (977/1 012) and 88.55% (1 021/1 153) in groups A1, A2, B1 and B2 (χ² = 207.773, P < 0.05), respectively. In addition, there was no significant difference in the overall snail mortality between groups A1 and B1 (P > 0.05), and the snail mortality in groups A1 and B1 were both statistically different from that in groups A2 and B2 (all P values < 0.05). Conclusion Both 50% wettlable powder of niclosamide ethanolamine salt and 5% niclosamide ethanolamine salt granule sprayed with drones are active against O. hupensis snails in ditches, and environmental cleaning may improve the molluscicidal effect.

Objective To evaluate the molluscicidal effect of spraying 5% niclosamide ethanolamine salt granules with drones against of Oncomelania hupensis snails in snail habitats in marshland areas. Methods From September to October, 2022, marshlands were sampled from Dantu District, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province as study areas, and assigned into four groups, of approximately 3 000 m² per group. In Group A, environmental cleaning was performed, followed by spraying 5% niclosamide ethanolamine salt granules with knapsack sprayers at a dose of 40 g/m², and in Group B, 5% niclosamide ethanolamine salt granules were sprayed with knapsack sprayers at a dose of 40 g/m² without environmental cleaning, while in Group C, environmental cleaning was conducted, followed by spraying 5% niclosamide ethanolamine salt granules with drones at a dose of 40 g/m², and in Group D, 5% niclosamide ethanolamine salt granules were sprayed with drones at a dose of 40 g/m² without environmental cleaning. Then, the study areas in each group were equally divided into six blocks, with Block 1 for baseline surveys and blocks 2 to 6 for snail surveys 1, 3, 5, 7, 14 days following chemical treatment. The mortality of snails and the reduction of the density of living snails were calculated. Results A total of 132 frames were surveyed during the period from September to October 2022, and the occurrence of frames with living snails and means density of living snails were 61.36% (81/132) and 1.58 snails/0.1 m², respectively. The overall mortality rates of snails were 43.02% (77/179), 38.69% (77/199), 47.78% (86/180) and 31.02% (58/187) 14 days following chemical treatment in groups A, B, C and D, respectively (χ² = 11.646, P < 0.05), and there were differences detected in the snail mortality between group A and D, and between groups C and D (both P_adjusted values < 0.05). The adjusted mortality rates of snails were 37.42%, 36.07%, 38.85% and 40.40% in groups A, B, C and D 14 days post-treatment, and the density of living snails decreased by 48.10%, 63.29%, 67.09% and 69.62% 14 days post-treatment relative to pre-treatment, respectively. Conclusions Chemical treatment with drones is feasible for O. hupensis snail control in marshland areas; however, the molluscicidal effect of spraying 5% niclosamide ethanolamine salt granules with drones is comparable to spraying chemicals manually in marshland areas regardless of environmental cleaning.

Objective:To explore the potential correlation between cumulative pulse pressure (cumPP) level and metabolic syndrome (MetS), and to provide insights for MetS management.Methods:A total of 3 968 subjects who underwent health checkup were selected to form a research cohort, and the data were categorized into three groups based on the tertiles of cumPP levels. Cox proportional hazards regression model was employed to analyze the association between different cumPP levels and the incidence of new-onset MetS. Results:The risk of MetS increased with the increased tiers of the cumPP levels (2.5%, 4.3%, and 4.6%, Ptrend<0.001) during the median follow-up period of 2.16 years. Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that cumPP was positively correlated with waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and fasting plasma glucose (all P<0.05). The Cox proportional hazards regression adjusted model showed that the risk of MetS in Q2 and Q3 was higher than that in Q1 in the total population, and the same results were observed in males (all P<0.05), while there was no statistical significance in females. Model 3 of the total population adjusted for a variety of confounding factors displayed a higher risk of MetS in Q3 compared with that in Q1[1.654 (95% CI 1.272-2.151) ]. When stratified by sex, and the risk of MetS in Q3 was 1.665 times higher than that in Q1 (95% CI 1.245-2.227), while there was no statistically significant risk in female. According to the visual nomogram of independent risk factors screened by multivariate analysis based on Cox proportional hazards regression model, the incidence of MetS at 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years was 0.18%, 3.97% and 7.39%, respectively. In addition, the dose-response curve was plotted according to cumPP, suggesting that the risk of MetS gradually increased with the increase of cumPP in the total population. Subgroup analyses based on baseline systolic blood pressure levels showed that higher cumPP levels were associated with a higher risk of developing MetS, regardless of whether systolic blood pressure was abnormal. Conclusions:Elevated cumPP levels is significantly related to the incidence of new-onset MetS. Maintaining pulse pressure within an appropriate range over long term is crucial for the management of MetS.

Objective:To investigate clinical, immunoserological, and therapeutic characteristics of patients with linear IgA bullous dermatosis (LABD) .Methods:Clinical data were collected from patients with LABD in Hospital of Dermatology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences from 2016 to 2023, and their clinical, immunoserological, and therapeutic characteristics were retrospectively analyzed.Results:Twenty-six patients were included, comprising 12 males and 14 females, with a median age ( Q1, Q3) of 32 (11, 48) years. Among the 26 patients, 12 (46.2%) presented with annular erythema and blisters, while 14 (53.8%) with atypical lesions (erythema and blisters not in an annular arrangement). Direct immunofluorescence assay yielded positive results in 14 out of 19 patients (73.7%). Indirect immunofluorescence on salt-split skin showed IgA with or without IgG deposited in the epidermis of the salt-split skin in 53.8% (14/26) of the patients. The positive rate of IgA antibody detected by Western blot analysis was 88.5% (23/26). Western blot analysis with epidermal extracts as substrates showed that 18 patients (69.2%) had serum IgA recognizing the linear IgA bullous dermatosis autoantigen LAD-1 with a relative molecular weight of 120 000, of whom 4 (15.4%) also had IgA recognizing BP180; in 1 case (3.8%), the serum IgA could recognize a protein with a relative molecular weight of about 170 000 in the epidermal extracts; another 1 (3.8%) had IgA recognizing BP230 and a protein with a relative molecular weight of 140 000 in the epidermal extracts at the same time; additionally, the serum IgA recognizing type Ⅶ collagen with a relative molecular weight of 290 000 in the dermal extracts was detected in 1 case (3.8%). Among 23 patients receiving dapsone treatment, 21 well responded, 1 showed poor response, and 1 was intolerant; in addition, the latter two patients could not achieve complete remission by tofacitinib. Minocycline, colchicine, and sulfasalazine were effective in another 3 patients. Conclusions:In this study, LABD mainly occurred in middle-age individuals, and LAD-1 was determined to be a major autoantigen. Western blot analysis showed an increased positive rate of IgA antibody compared with immunofluorescence assay, and could be an important means of differential diagnosis. Although the LABD patients responded well to dapsone, it is still necessary to explore other safe and effective medications.

To report the first case of cutaneous chronic active Epstein-Barr virus disease manifesting as persistent erythema multiforme in China. The 12-year-old female patient presented with recurrent erythema and blisters all over the body, accompanied by oral erosions for more than 5 months. Skin examination showed dark erythema scattered on the right upper eyelid and cheeks, as well as erosions and blisters arising in the dark erythema on the lower jaw; broad bean- to pigeon egg-sized blisters with clear fluids arising in erythema were scattered on the back, buttocks, and limbs, and some manifested as atypical targetoid lesions; there was a mung bean-sized erosion on the mucosa of the lower lip and the right buccal region each; the patient also presented with moon face and multiple striae atrophicae on the lower limbs. Histopathological examination of the skin lesions on the lower limb revealed basket-weave hyperkeratosis, epidermal necrosis, liquefaction degeneration of basal cells with subepidermal blister formation, and perivascular lymphocytic infiltration in the superficial dermis; direct immunofluorescence assay showed negative staining for IgG, IgM, IgA, and complement C3 among epidermal cells and at the basement membrane zone; enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed negative staining for serum antibodies against desmoglein 1/3 (Dsg1/3), BP180, and type Ⅶ collagen; immunohistochemical examination demonstrated partial positive staining for CD3, CD4, CD5, CD8, CD56, granzyme B, and Epstein-Barr virus-encoded RNA, positive staining for Ki67 (> 70%), but negative staining for CD20. The Epstein-Barr virus DNA level was measured to be 1.97 × 10 6 IU/ml in whole blood samples and 2.65 × 10 7 IU/ml in blister fluid samples. No mutation sites with functional significance were identified by whole-exome sequencing. Based on these findings, a diagnosis of cutaneous chronic active Epstein-Barr virus disease manifesting as persistent erythema multiforme was made. The patient was treated with methylprednisolone at a dose of 40 mg/d, intravenous drips of ganciclovir at 200 mg twice daily, etc., and discharged after improvement.