Epidemiological Trend of Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fevers in Zhejiang Province, China from 1953 to 2014

Outbreak of Paratyphoid Fever Caused by Contaminated Street-Vended Food at Qingyang Town, China, 2016

In 2016, an outbreak of paratyphoid fever occurred in 40 cases at Qingyang town, in China. A case-control study was carried out to determine the source of this outbreak. Case-control study was conducted to identify the risk factors of this outbreak. The cases were identified as patients with isolation of S. Paratyphi, controls were confirmed cases' healthy classmates, colleagues or neighbors and matched by age (±5 y) and gender. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was performed to source tracking. Totally, 40 cases were reported: 24 cases were students, and 20 (20/24) of them were Qingyang High School students. For the case-control study, consuming Chinese egg pancakes was detected as a risk factor (OR_1:1 = 5.000; 95% CI: 1.710-14.640), and hand-washing before meals was protective behavior compared with seldom hand-washing (OR_1:1 = 23.256; 95% CI: 2.451-200.000). S. Paratyphi was cultured from a well water sample used for washing contents of the pancakes. Isolates from well water and paratyphoid cases showed the same PFGE patterns. Contaminated well water and Chinese egg pancakes were likely source and vehicle of this outbreak. Health education, especially handwashing, and food safety supervision should be promoted particularly in schools.

Association between sanitary toilet coverage rate and intestinal infectious disease in Jiangsu Province, China

Intestinal infectious disease is one of the most common diseases in China and is prevalent worldwide. The Chinese government launched a toilet improvement campaign to improve sanitation and reduce the incidence of diseases. This study determined the association between sanitary toilet use and intestinal infectious disease incidence in Jiangsu Province, China during 2011–2019. This study adopted an ecological retrospective research design. All secondary data were obtained through government websites and government information disclosure channels. Multiple linear regression was employed to analyze the association between the incidence of intestinal infectious diseases and sanitary toilet coverage rate and other potential predictors. Data suggested that the aggregate annual incidence of Type A and B intestinal infectious diseases showed a downward trend, the aggregate annual incidence of other infectious diarrhea continued to increase, and hand–foot–mouth disease occurred every other year with the highest annual incidence rate. The incidence was higher in coastal cities. Multiple regression results indicated that the usage of three types of sanitary toilets, compliance rate of water quality, and average ambient temperature have an impact on intestinal infectious diseases. The aggregate annual incidence of Type A and B intestinal infectious disease was negatively correlated with the cumulative use of sanitary toilets (β = − 0.036) and surface water quality (β =  − 0.135; p < 0.05). Increase in sanitary toilet use and water quality control can reduce the number of new cases, which will be beneficial for the population in the province. Moreover, the toilet improvement interventions should continue to maintain high-quality construction.

Typhoid and paratyphoid fever: a clinical seminar

Rationale for review: Enteric fever (EF) caused by Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhi (Salmonella Typhi) and S. Paratyphi (Salmonella Paratyphi) remains an important cause of infectious morbidity and mortality in many low-income countries and, therefore, still poses a major infectious risk for travellers to endemic countries. Main findings: Although the global burden of EF has decreased over the past two decades, prevalence of EF remains high in Asia and Africa, with the highest prevalence reported from the Indian subcontinent. These statistics are mirrored by data on travel-related EF. Widespread and increasing antimicrobial resistance has narrowed treatment options for travel-related EF. Ceftriaxone- and azithromycin-based therapies are commonly used, even with the emergence of extremely drug-resistant typhoid in Pakistan. Preventive measures among locals and travellers include provision of safe food and water and vaccination. Food and water precautions offer limited protection, and the efficacy of Salmonella Typhi vaccines is only moderate signifying the need for travellers to be extra cautious. Recommendations: Improvement in the diagnosis of typhoid with high degree of clinical suspicion, better diagnostic assays, early and accurate detection of resistance, therapy with appropriate drugs, improvements in hygiene and sanitation with provision of safe drinking water in endemic areas and vaccination among travellers as well as in the endemic population are keys to controlling typhoid. While typhoid vaccines are recommended for travellers to high-risk areas, moderate efficacy and inability to protect against Salmonella Paratyphi are limitations to bear in mind. Improved Salmonella Typhi vaccines and vaccines against Salmonella Paratyphi A are required.

Time series analysis of cumulative incidences of typhoid and paratyphoid fevers in China using both Grey and SARIMA models

Typhoid and paratyphoid fevers are common enteric diseases causing disability and death in China. Incidence data of typhoid and paratyphoid between 2004 and 2016 in China were analyzed descriptively to explore the epidemiological features such as age-specific and geographical distribution. Cumulative incidence of both fevers displayed significant decrease nationally, displaying a drop of 73.9% for typhoid and 86.6% for paratyphoid in 2016 compared to 2004. Cumulative incidence fell in all age subgroups and the 0–4 years-old children were the most susceptible ones in recent years. A cluster of three southwestern provinces (Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi) were the top high-incidence regions. Grey model GM (1,1) and seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model were employed to extract the long-term trends of the diseases. Annual cumulative incidence for typhoid and paratyphoid were formulated by GM (1,1) as x^(t)=−14.98(e−0.10(t−2004)−e−0.10(t−2005)) and x^(t)=−4.96(e−0.19(t−2004)−e−0.19(t−2005)) respectively. SARIMA (0,1,7) × (1,0,1)₁₂ was selected among a collection of constructed models for high R² and low errors. The predictive models for both fevers forecasted cumulative incidence to continue the slightly downward trend and maintain the cyclical seasonality in near future years. Such data-driven insights are informative and actionable for the prevention and control of typhoid and paratyphoid fevers as serious infectious diseases.

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Infectious Diseases

Epidemiological research on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases is a broad field of study with renewed validity in the face of social changes and new threats [...].