Dataset Information

Epidemiologic features and environmental risk factors of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, Xinyang, China.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease discovered in rural areas of Central China in 2009, caused by a novel bunyavirus, SFTS virus (SFTSV). The disease usually presents as fever, thrombocytopenia, and leukocytopenia, with case-fatality rates ranging from 2.5% to 30%. Haemaphysalis longicornis was suspected to be the most likely vector of SFTSV. By the end of 2012, the disease had expanded to 13 provinces of China. SFTS patients have been reported in Japan and South Korea, and a disease similar to SFTS has been reported in the United States.

Methodology/principal findings

We characterized the epidemiologic features of 504 confirmed SFTS cases in Xinyang Region, the most severely SFTS-afflicted region in China from 2011 to 2012, and assessed the environmental risk factors. All cases occurred during March to November, with the epidemic peaking from May to July. The patients' ages ranged from 7 to 87 years (median 61 years), and the annual incidence increased with age (?2 test for trend, P<0.001). The female-to-male ratio of cases was 1.58, and 97.0% of the cases were farmers who resided in the southern and western parts of the region. The Poisson regression analysis revealed that the spatial variations of SFTS incidence were significantly associated with the shrub, forest, and rain-fed cropland areas.

Conclusions

The distribution of SFTS showed highly significant temporal and spatial heterogeneity in Xinyang Region, with the majority of SFTS cases being elderly farmers who resided in the southern and western parts of the region, mostly acquiring infection between May and July when H. longicornis is highly active. The shrub, rain-fed, and rain-fed cropland areas were associated with high risk for this disease.

SUBMITTER: Liu K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4014392 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Epidemiologic features and environmental risk factors of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, Xinyang, China.

Liu Kun K Cui Ning N Fang Li-Qun LQ Wang Bing-Jun BJ Lu Qing-Bin QB Peng Wei W Li Hao H Wang Li-Yuan LY Liang Song S Wang Hong-Yu HY Zhang Yao-Yun YY Zhuang Lu L Yang Hong H Gray Gregory C GC de Vlas Sake J SJ Liu Wei W Cao Wu-Chun WC

PLoS neglected tropical diseases 20140508 5

<h4>Background</h4>Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease discovered in rural areas of Central China in 2009, caused by a novel bunyavirus, SFTS virus (SFTSV). The disease usually presents as fever, thrombocytopenia, and leukocytopenia, with case-fatality rates ranging from 2.5% to 30%. Haemaphysalis longicornis was suspected to be the most likely vector of SFTSV. By the end of 2012, the disease had expanded to 13 provinces of China. SFTS patients ha ...[more]

PMID: 24810269

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Project description:BackgroundSevere fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS), one kind of tick-borne acute infectious disease, is caused by a novel bunyavirus. The relationship between meteorological factors and infectious diseases is a hot topic of current research. Liaoning Province has reported a high incidence of SFTS in recent years. However, the epidemiological characteristics of SFTS and its relationship with meteorological factors in the province remain largely unexplored.MethodsData on reported SFTS cases were collected from 2011 to 2019. Epidemiological characteristics of SFTS were analyzed. Spearman's correlation test and generalized linear models (GLM) were used to identify the relationship between meteorological factors and the number of SFTS cases.ResultsFrom 2011 to 2019, the incidence showed an overall upward trend in Liaoning Province, with the highest incidence in 2019 (0.35/100,000). The incidence was slightly higher in males (55.9%, 438/783), and there were more SFTS patients in the 60-69 age group (31.29%, 245/783). Dalian City and Dandong City had the largest number of cases of SFTS (87.99%, 689/783). The median duration from the date of illness onset to the date of diagnosis was 8 days [interquartile range (IQR): 4-13 days]. Spearman correlation analysis and GLM showed that the number of SFTS cases was positively correlated with monthly average rainfall (rs = 0.750, P < 0.001; β = 0.285, P < 0.001), monthly average relative humidity (rs = 0.683, P < 0.001; β = 0.096, P < 0.001), monthly average temperature (rs = 0.822, P < 0.001; β = 0.154, P < 0.001), and monthly average ground temperature (rs = 0.810, P < 0.001; β = 0.134, P < 0.001), while negatively correlated with monthly average air pressure (rs = -0.728, P < 0.001; β = -0.145, P < 0.001), and monthly average wind speed (rs = -0.272, P < 0.05; β = -1.048, P < 0.001). By comparing both correlation coefficients and regression coefficients between the number of SFTS cases (dependent variable) and meteorological factors (independent variables), no significant differences were observed when considering immediate cases and cases with lags of 1 to 5 weeks for dependent variables. Based on the forward and backward stepwise GLM regression, the monthly average air pressure, monthly average temperature, monthly average wind speed, and time sequence were selected as relevant influences on the number of SFTS cases.ConclusionThe annual incidence of SFTS increased year on year in Liaoning Province. Incidence of SFTS was affected by several meteorological factors, including monthly average air pressure, monthly average temperature, and monthly average wind speed.

Dataset Information

Epidemiologic features and environmental risk factors of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, Xinyang, China.

Background

Methodology/principal findings

Conclusions

Publications

Epidemiologic features and environmental risk factors of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, Xinyang, China.

Similar Datasets

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