Objective To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 prevention and control measures on the disease burden of upper respiratory infections(URIs)in China.Methods Age-standardized incidence rate,mortality rate,and di-sability-adjusted life-year rate in Global Burden of Disease(GBD)2021 database were used to describe the disease burden and compared before and after the outbreak of COVID-19.The disease burden in 2022-2024 was predicted by the autoregressive integrated moving average model in R 4.4.0 software.Results The disease burden of URIs in China showed a fluctuating downward trend from 1990 to 2021.Age-standardized incidence rate,mortality rate,and disability-adjusted life-year rate showed a downward trend from 2018 to 2019.The age-standardized incidence rate decreased from 137 869.97/100 000(95％UI:121 058.04/100 000-158 137.76/100 000)in 2019 to 137 060.04/100 000(95％UI:120 167.04/100 000-156 888.93/100 000)in 2020.The age-standardized mortality rate were 0.15/100 000(95％UI:0.09/100 000-0.40/100 000)and 0.15/100 000(95％UI:0.09/100 000-0.38/100 000,respectively.The age-standardized disability-adjusted life-year rate decreased from 51.76/100 000(95％UI:32.16/100 000-77.43/100 000)to 51.44/100 000(95％UI:32.19/100 000-76.90/100 000.In 2021,the above-mentioned indicators were higher than those in 2020,but still lower than those in 2019.The au-toregressive integrated moving average model predicted that over the next three years,the age-standardized incidence rate and disability-adjusted life-year rate might show an upward trend,and the age-standardized mortality rate was likely to decline.Conclusion The disease burden of URIs in China shows a downward trend,and declines signifi-cantly after the outbreak of COVID-19.After COVID-19 being categorized as a class B infectious disease managed with class B measures,the age-standardized incidence rate increases,which reflects the effectiveness of the COVID-19 prevention and control measures on reducing the disease burden of URIs.

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of infection in recipients after heart trans-plantation,and provide references for the prevention and control of postoperative infections.Methods Clinical data of 259 heart transplant recipients in a hospital from April 2018 to December 2023 were collected for epidemiological analysis.Results Among 259 heart transplant patients,55 developed 68 episodes of infection during the first hospi-talization after surgery,the incidence of infection was 21.24％,and the case incidence of infection was 26.25％.The main infection sites were lower respiratory tract(n=30,44.12％),blood system(n=21,30.88％),and uri-nary system(n=8,11.76％).Sixty-eight episodes of infections occurred primarily within 10 days after surgery(n=37,54.41％),fo-llowed by within 11-20 days(n=14,20.59％).A total of 74 pathogens were detected from the infected site,mainly Gram-negative bacteria(n=37,50.00％),followed by fungi(n=19,25.68％),Gram-posi-tive bacteria(n=12,16.22％),viruses(n=6,8.11％).The multidrug-resistant rates of Klebsiella pneumoniae,Acinetobacter baumannii,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and Enterococcus spp.were relatively high(57.1％-100％).During the period from discharge to one year after surgery,31 patients developed 39 episodes of infection,mainly lower respiratory tract infection(n=29,74.36％).Conclusion Heart transplant recipients have a high incidence of postoperative infection,with lower respiratory tract being the main infection site and with a high resistance rate of pathogen.The critical period for infection prevention and control is within 10 days after surgery.

Objective To investigate the current status of construction and monitoring of healthcare-associated in-fection(HAI)system in maternal and child health care institutions in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region,and provide reference for improving the quality of HAI management.Methods After discussed by members of expert group of HAI Prevention and Control Professional Committee of Guangxi Maternal and Child Health Care Associa-tion,the"Questionnaire on the construction and monitoring of HAI system in maternal and child health care institu-tions in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region"was designed.The questionnaires were distributed to all maternal and child health care institutions in the region via"Questionnaire Star",and a WeChat group was established to ad-dress any questions in questionnaires.Results A total of 104 maternal and child health care institutions were in-cluded in the study,including 6 primary,74 secondary,and 24 tertiary level institutions.All maternal and child health care institutions have established HAI management departments,95.19％(n=99)of institutions held HAI management committee meeting at least once every six months.Among 201 HAI management professionals,most were female(90.55％),with nursing specialty(72.64％),with a bachelor's degree(66.17％),and aged 31-50 years old(73.13％).Only 30.77％of the maternal and child health care institutions had HAI monitoring system.Seventy institutions(67.30％)have carried out the special action of improving the pathogen detection rate before antimicrobial therapy for hospitalized patients,out of which 55(78.57％)were led by the HAI management depart-ment.Ninety-seven(92.27％)maternal and child health care institutions conducted surgery-related monitoring,with 50.96％of institutions relying on manual monitoring;only 30.77％of institutions have carried out the special action of"Strengthening perioperative infection prevention and control to ensure surgical quality and safety".Conclusion HAI management system in maternal and child health care institutions in Guangxi has been basically es-tablished and can carry out monitoring work,but personnel compostion is limited and talent reserve is insufficient.The information construction of HAI monitoring is underdeveloped,with a lagged implement of special action.Ad-ministrative support is needed to enhance infection prevention and control at the grassroots level.All levels of ma-ternal and child health care institutions should communicate and exchange work experience.Hospitals should in-crease their support for the construction of HAI information technology,improve level of HAI monitoring as well as prevention and control capabilities.

Objective To understand the current status of the job competency of full-time healthcare-associated in-fection(HAI)management professionals in all levels and types of medical institutions across China,and provide in-formation and basis for professional training,competency improvement,and career planning.Methods The strati-fied sampling method was adopted to select HAI management professionals from medical institutions in 31 provin-cial-level administrative regions across the country as the research subjects.The designed content of questionnaire involved four parts,including the surveyed personnel's basic information,daily job competency assessment,satis-faction level towards the job,as well as opinions and suggestions on the management of full-time HAI management professionals.The assessment on daily job competency was divided into 13 dimensions,ranging from very incompe-tent to very competent in 5 levels.The scores of HAI management professionals with different professional back-grounds were compared and analyzed.Results A total of 8 709 valid questionnaires were collected,with 3 475 and 3 697 surveyed personnel from tertiary and secondary medical institutions,respectively,and 1 537 from primary or unclassified medical institutions.The overall average score for the competency assessment of full-time HAI manage-ment professionals was(4.17±0.80)points.The scores of professionals with different professional backgrounds,from high to low,were as follows:nursing([4.12±0.81]points),clinical medicine([4.07±0.86]points),pre-ventive medicine([3.93±0.92]points),laboratory medicine([3.88±0.93]points),pharmacy([3.86±0.94]points),and health management([3.85±0.95]points).For the core competency of HAI management professio-nals,such as monitoring and analyzing HAI cases,identifying and investigating HAI outbreaks,the assessment scores for professionals with medical backgrounds were the highest(both P＜0.05).For the basic work of HAI prevention and control,such as checking and guiding the implementation of rules and regulations,guiding occupa-tional protection,management and communication,and implementing HAI management training,professionals with a nursing background had the highest assessment scores(all P＜0.05).Full-time HAI management professionals were relatively satisfied with their training,while those with a background in preventive medicine had lower satisfac-tion with their training,career development,and job benefits(all P＜0.05).Conclusion There are significant differences in the competency of HAI management professionals with different professional backgrounds.It is nece-ssary to optimize division of labor and leverage the strengths,providing ideas and models for promoting the construction of a specialized and professional HAI management team.

Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics and prognosis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis(PaeP).Methods Peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis(PDAP)patients who were followed up in the nephrology outpatient department of a hospital from January 2019 to December 2020 were analyzed retrospectively.According to bacterial culture results,patients were divided into the PaeP group and non-PaeP group.Clinical characteristics of PaeP patients and antimicrobial susceptibility testing results of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were analyzed,clinical manifestations,laboratory test results,and prognosis of two groups of patients were compared.Results A total of 124 peritoneal dialysis patients were included in analysis,164 cases of peritoni-tis occurred,16 cases were in the PaeP group and 148 in the non-PaeP group.11 patients developed 16 episodes of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection,accounting for 8.9％of PDAP patients.Among them,4 patients had peritoneal dialysis catheter exit-site infection,with 5 recurrence cases,1 case cured,1 case died,and 9 cases were extubated.Among the extubated patients,1 withdrew dialysis,3 were recovered to peritoneal dialysis after hemodialysis,5 changed to permanently hemodialysis,with a technical failure rate of 54.5％.Compared with the non-PaeP group,patients in the PaeP group had a shorter dialysis time(13.83±4.92 vs 38.53±35.77 months).During the infection period,C-reactive protein levels were higher(96.61±6.17 vs 45.87±44.65 mg/L),while albumin levels were lower(25.62±4.42 vs 29.46±8.25 g/L).At the onset of infection,the proportion of polymorphonuclear cells in perito-neal dialysis fluid was relatively higher.On the 5th day of treatment,the negative conversion rate of white blood cell count in peritoneal dialysis fluid was relatively low.Differences were all statistically significant(all P＜0.05).The cure rate of patients in the PaeP group was lower than that in the non-PaeP group,the technical failure rate was higher than that in the non-PaeP group,both with statistically significant differences(both P＜0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in the mortality between two groups of patients(P＞0.05).Conclusion PaeP patients have severe clinical manifestations,poor clinical treatment prognosis,high recurrence and extubation rates.For patients with repeated episodes,resetting and replacing the tunnel after extubation is an effective means to re-duce technical failures.

Objective To analyze the epidemiological distribution characteristics and influencing factors of treat-ment outcome of pulmonary tuberculosis(PTB)patients complicated with diabetes mellitus(DM)in Bijie City from 2017 to 2022,and provide reference for formulating prevention and control measures of PTB-DM.Methods The registered management cases of PTB patients combined with DM from the tuberculosis surveillance report informa-tion management system in Bijie City in 2017-2022 were collected.Changing trends in annual registration rates and successful treatment rates were analyzed with Joint-point regression models.Different characteristics between pa-tients with PTB-DM and PTB alone were conducted comparative analysis;the influencing factors of treatment out-come were analyzed by x2 test and binary logistic regression analysis.Results A total of 679 PTB-DM patients were registered in Bijie City from 2017 to 2022,accounting for 1.53％of total PTB patients,the annual registration rate increased from 1.11/100 000 in 2017 to 3.08/100 000 in 2022,with an increasing trend in the annual percentage change(APC=26.67％,95％CI:5.36％-52.29％,t=3.564,P=0.024).In the analysis on characteristics,the proportion of PTB-DM male patients,age ≥45 years and farmers,the ratio of direct consultation to transfer treat-ment,the pathogenicity positive rate,the proportion re-treatment,and rate of delay in consultation were all higher than those of PTB alone;successful treatment rate and proportion of floating population were all lower than PTB alone,difference were all statistically significant(all P＜0.05).The successful treatment rate of PTB-DM patients in Bijie City from 2017 to 2022 was 87.80％.Age,occupation,pathogenicity diagnosis results were influencing fac-tors for treatment outcome in patients with PTB-DM,with farmers(OR=3.68,95％CI:1.22-11.09),with pathogenicity positivity(OR=2.84,95％CI:1.24-6.50),and without pathogenic detection result+tuberculous pleurisy(OR=11.35,95％CI:2.16-59.74)being risk factors for successful treatment.Conclusion Although the proportion of PTB-DM in the total PTB patients in Bijie City from 2017 to 2022 was not high,it showed an up-ward trend;it is necessary to attach great importance to male,re-treated,farmer,and pathogenicity positivity co-morbid patients in Bijie City,and strengthen the two-way screening of PTB-DM in high-risk populations.

Objective To analyze the direct economic burden caused by surgical site infection(SSI)in orthopedics and joint surgery,and provide evidence-based support for intervention measures.Methods 3 348 hospitalized pa-tients in the department of orthopedics and joint surgery of a hospital from July 2021 to July 2023 were selected.They were divided into an infection group and a control group based on whether they had SSI.The propensity score matching(PSM)method was adopted to match the two groups of patients in a 1∶1 ratio.The length of hospital stay and various hospitalization expenses between patients with different types of SSI and control group were compared.Results Among 3 348 hospitalized patients,259 had SSI,with an incidence of 7.74％.Superficial incisional wound infection had the highest number of patients(n=177,68.34％),followed by deep incisional wound infection(n=65,25.10％),organ/space infection had the lowest number of patients(n=17,6.56％).After PSM matching,257 pairs were successfully matched,with a matching rate of 99.23％.Infection group extended length of hospital stay by 18 days compared with the control group(P＜0.001).The total hospitalization expenses and individual hos-pitalization expenses of infection group were all higher than those of the control group(all P＜0.001).Among the various expenses,difference in drug expense was the largest,with an increase of 5 067.83 Yuan in Western medi-cine(P＜0.001)and 957.30 Yuan in antimicrobial agents(P＜0.001).Patients with different types of SSI all had longer hospital stay compared with the control group.Patients with deep incisional wound infection,superficial inci-sional wound infection,and organ/space infection had an extended hospital stay of 26,18,and 13 days,respectively(all P＜0.05).The total hospitalization expenses,Western medicine expenses,and antimicrobial agent expenses of patients with different types of SSI were all higher than those of the control group(all P＜0.05).Conclusion The occurrence of postoperative SSI in patients in the department of orthopedics and joint surgery can prolong the length of hospital stay,resulting in huge economic losses for the patient and the hospital.Effective control of healthcare-associated infection is of great significance for optimizing medical resources,improving medical quality,and ensuring patient safety.

Pannexin 1(PANX1)interacts with purinergic receptors through regulating immune responses,relea-sing adenosine triphosphate(ATP),and the NLRP3/caspase-1/interleukin(IL)-1β signaling pathway,then influ-ences the activation of immune cells and promotes the production of reactive oxygen species(ROS),thus causing in-flammation and tissue damage which exacerbates infection.This research group has synthesized new polypeptides named QE20 and EE20,which can specifically inhibit the opening of PANX1 channels under inflammatory stimula-tion,offering advantages such as reducing cellular ATP release,inhibiting inflammatory factor secretion,and pre-venting hepatocyte pyroptosis,et al.This review summarizes the roles and mechanisms of PANX1 in various infec-tious diseases,and predicts the feasibility of PANX1 as a potential therapeutic target in the future.

Healthcare-associated infections(HAIs)remain a significant challenge to patient safety worldwide.Over the past decade,contaminated inanimate surfaces have been recognized as a major source of infections in sus-ceptible patients and a primary pathway for healthcare workers'hand contamination.The critical role of healthcare environmental hygiene in infection prevention and control(IPC)has been re-evaluated and is now considered one of the important non-pharmacological interventions(NPIs)for patient safety and HAI prevention in healthcare facili-ties.Improving the environmental hygiene of healthcare facilities can not only significantly reduce the incidence of HAIs and the colonization rates of pathogens in patients,but also demonstrate substantial cost-effectiveness.These perspectives have gained widespread consensus within the industry.This article aims to explore the historical evolu-tion of environmental hygiene in healthcare facilities,the substantial progress achieved,and the key directions for future development,providing references for research and practice in related fields.

Objective To compare and analyze the germicidal efficacy of continuous ultraviolet and pulsed ultravio-let(UV)lasers on pathogenic microorganisms.Methods Spore slides of Escherichia coli and Bacillus atrophaeus were irradiated using a 254 nm ultraviolet mercury lamp and UV laser.The carrier quantitative germicidal test was conducted to determine the disinfection efficacy at different irradiation doses.Results When the irradiation dose of the ultraviolet mercury lamp was 245.52 mJ/cm2,the logarithmic killing values of Escherichia coli and Bacillus atro-phaeus spores were 5.00 and 2.92,respectively,and the mean logarithmic killing doses were 49.10 and 84.08 mJ/cm2,respectively;When the UV laser irradiation doses were 208.39 and 206.80 mJ/cm2,the logarithmic killing values for the two microorganisms were 6.29 and 3.32,respectively,and the mean logarithmic killing doses were 33.13 and 62.29 mJ/cm2,respectively.Conclusion Compared with continuous UV radiation,pulsed UV laser has stron-ger penetration ability,better killing efficacy on pathogenic microorganisms at the same radiation dose,and can con-duct targeted disinfection and sterilization on the surface of objects directionally.