Articles

Prevalence of and risk factors for severe malaria caused by Plasmodium and dengue virus co-infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Co-infection with both Plasmodium and dengue virus (DENV) infectious species could have serious and fatal outcomes if left undiagnosed and without timely treatment. The present study aimed to determine the pooled...

Authors: Manas Kotepui, Kwuntida Uthaisar Kotepui, Giovanni De Jesus Milanez and Frederick Ramirez Masangkay

Strongyloides stercoralis prevalence and diagnostics in Vientiane, Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Despite the high prevalence of strongyloidiasis in the Laotian population, Laotian hospitals still lack diagnostic capacity to appropriately diagnose Strongyloides stercoralis infections. This cross-sectional hos...

Authors: Somaphone Chankongsin, Rahel Wampfler, Marie-Therese Ruf, Peter Odermatt, Hanspeter Marti, Beatrice Nickel, Valy Keoluangkhot and Andreas Neumayr

Reverse vaccinology assisted designing of multiepitope-based subunit vaccine against SARS-CoV-2

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) linked with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) cause severe illness and life-threatening pneumonia in humans. The current COVID-19 pandemic demands...

Authors: Muhammad Tahir ul Qamar, Farah Shahid, Sadia Aslam, Usman Ali Ashfaq, Sidra Aslam, Israr Fatima, Muhammad Mazhar Fareed, Ali Zohaib and Ling-Ling Chen

Containment of COVID-19 in Ethiopia and implications for tuberculosis care and research

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has emerged as a global health and economic security threat with staggering cumulative incidence worldwide. Given the severity of projections, hospitals across the globe...

Authors: Hussen Mohammed, Lemessa Oljira, Kedir Teji Roba, Getnet Yimer, Abebaw Fekadu and Tsegahun Manyazewal

The effect of control measures on COVID-19 transmission in Italy: Comparison with Guangdong province in China

COVID-19 has spread all around the world. Italy is one of the worst affected countries in Europe. Although there is a trend of relief, the epidemic situation hasn’t stabilized yet. This study aims to investiga...

Authors: Pei-Yu Liu, Sha He, Li-Bin Rong and San-Yi Tang

Further explanations for the eq. (3) in “Estimating the daily trend in the size of the COVID-19 infected population in Wuhan”

To avoid possible confusions to the readers, we provide further explanations for the eq. (3) in the research article “Estimating the daily trend in the size of the COVID-19 infected population in Wuhan” publis...

Authors: Qiu-Shi Lin, Tao-Jun Hu and Xiao-Hua Zhou

Performance of a real-time PCR approach for diagnosing Schistosoma haematobium infections of different intensity in urine samples from Zanzibar

Efforts to control and eliminate schistosomiasis have accelerated over the past decade. As parasite burden, associated morbidity and egg excretion decrease, diagnosis with standard parasitological methods beco...

Authors: Dominique Keller, Julian Rothen, Jean-Pierre Dangy, Corina Saner, Claudia Daubenberger, Fiona Allan, Shaali M. Ame, Said M. Ali, Fatma Kabole, Jan Hattendorf, David Rollinson, Ralf Seyfarth and Stefanie Knopp

Nitrite inhalants use, sexual behaviors and HIV/syphilis infection among men who have sex with men in Chongqing, China

Emerging evidence indicates nitrite inhalants have become increasingly prevalent among men who have sex with men (MSM). The present study aimed to describe the prevalence and correlates of nitrite inhalants us...

Authors: Jin Chen, Yu-Ling Huang, Huai-Liang Chen and Ji Xia

Fostering social innovation and building adaptive capacity for dengue control in Cambodia: a case study

The social-ecological systems theory, with its unique conception of resilience (social-ecological systems & resilience, SESR), provides an operational framework that currently best meets the need for integrati...

Authors: Pierre Echaubard, Chea Thy, Soun Sokha, Set Srun, Claudia Nieto-Sanchez, Koen Peters Grietens, Noel R. Juban, Jana Mier-Alpano, Sucelle Deacosta, Mojgan Sami, Leo Braack, Bernadette Ramirez and Jeffrey Hii

Leishmania infection and blood sources analysis in Phlebotomus chinensis (Diptera: Psychodidae) along extension region of the loess plateau, China

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) was one of the most important parasitic diseases in China, caused by Leishmania protozoans and transmitted by sand flies. Recently VL cases have reappeared in China, including the exte...

Authors: Han-Ming Chen, Hui-Ying Chen, Feng Tao, Jing-Peng Gao, Kai-Li Li, Hua Shi, Heng Peng and Ya-Jun Ma

Human development, social vulnerability and COVID-19 in Brazil: a study of the social determinants of health

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was confirmed in Brazil in February 2020. Since then, the disease has spread throughout the country, reaching the poorest areas. This study analyzes the relationship between...

Authors: Carlos Dornels Freire de Souza, Michael Ferreira Machado and Rodrigo Feliciano do Carmo

Analysis and predication of tuberculosis registration rates in Henan Province, China: an exponential smoothing model study

The World Health Organization End TB Strategy meant that compared with 2015 baseline, the reduction in pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) incidence should be 20 and 50% in 2020 and 2025, respectively. The case numbe...

Authors: Yan-Qiu Zhang, Xin-Xu Li, Wei-Bin Li, Jian-Guo Jiang, Guo-Long Zhang, Yan Zhuang, Ji-Ying Xu, Jie Shi and Ding-Yong Sun

Evaluation of inpatients Clostridium difficile prevalence and risk factors in Cameroon

Clostridium difficile, rarely found in hospitals, is a bacterium responsible for post-antibiotic diarrhea and Pseudomembranous Colitis (CPM). C. difficile selective pressure represents potential public health pro...

Authors: Ingrid Cécile Djuikoue, Ernest Tambo, Gildas Tazemda, Omer Njajou, Denise Makoudjou, Vanessa Sokeng, Morelle Wandji, Charlène Tomi, Aubain Nanfack, Audrey Dayomo, Suzie Lacmago, Falubert Tassadjo, Raissa Talla Sipowo, Caroline Kakam, Aicha Bibiane Djoko, Clement Nguedia Assob…

An outbreak of intestinal schistosomiasis, alongside increasing urogenital schistosomiasis prevalence, in primary school children on the shoreline of Lake Malawi, Mangochi District, Malawi

Intestinal schistosomiasis was not considered endemic in Lake Malawi until November 2017 when populations of Biomphalaria pfeifferi were first reported; in May 2018, emergence of intestinal schistosomiasis was co...

Authors: Sekeleghe A. Kayuni, Angus M. O’Ferrall, Hamish Baxter, Josie Hesketh, Bright Mainga, David Lally Jr, Mohammad H. Al-Harbi, E. James LaCourse, Lazarus Juziwelo, Janelisa Musaya, Peter Makaula and J. Russell Stothard

Funding social innovation for health with research funds for development

Why and when is it appropriate and relevant to use research funds for social innovation to support both conventional scholarly researchers and non-researchers working in collaboration?

Authors: Hannah Akuffo and Teresa Soop

Epidemiology of tuberculosis in Sabah, Malaysia, 2012–2018

Tuberculosis (TB) is of high public health importance in Malaysia. Sabah State, located on the island of Borneo, has previously reported a particularly high burden of disease and faces unique contextual challe...

Authors: Michelle May D. Goroh, Giri Shan Rajahram, Richard Avoi, Christel H. A. Van Den Boogaard, Timothy William, Anna P. Ralph and Christopher Lowbridge

Differential diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 from community-acquired-pneumonia by computed tomography scan and follow-up

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently the most serious infectious disease in the world. An accurate diagnosis of this disease in the clinic is very important. This study aims to improve the differen...

Authors: Kai-Cai Liu, Ping Xu, Wei-Fu Lv, Lei Chen, Xiao-Hui Qiu, Jin-Long Yao, Jin-Feng Gu, Bo Hu and Wei Wei

A five-compartment model of age-specific transmissibility of SARS-CoV-2

The novel coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, also called 2019-nCoV) causes different morbidity risks to individuals in different age groups. This study attempts to quanti...

Authors: Ze-Yu Zhao, Yuan-Zhao Zhu, Jing-Wen Xu, Shi-Xiong Hu, Qing-Qing Hu, Zhao Lei, Jia Rui, Xing-Chun Liu, Yao Wang, Meng Yang, Li Luo, Shan-Shan Yu, Jia Li, Ruo-Yun Liu, Fang Xie, Ying-Ying Su…

Risk estimation and prediction of the transmission of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in the mainland of China excluding Hubei province

In December 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease (later named as COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan, China and, later on, detected in other parts of China. Our aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of the ev...

Authors: Hui Wan, Jing-An Cui and Guo-Jing Yang

China’s practice to prevent and control COVID-19 in the context of large population movement

The emerging infectious disease, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), poses a serious threat in China and worldwide. Challenged by this se...

Authors: Tie-Long Xu, Mei-Ying Ao, Xu Zhou, Wei-Feng Zhu, He-Yun Nie, Jian-He Fang, Xin Sun, Bin Zheng and Xiao-Fan Chen

Cross-reaction of POC-CCA urine test for detection of Schistosoma mekongi in Lao PDR: a cross-sectional study

The point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (POC-CCA) test is increasingly used as a rapid diagnostic method for Schistosoma mansoni infection. The test has good sensitivity, although false positive results ha...

Authors: Anousin Homsana, Peter Odermatt, Phonesavanh Southisavath, Aya Yajima and Somphou Sayasone

Psychological impact of COVID-19 on medical care workers in China

Medical care workers experienced unprecedented levels of workload and pressure since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Little is known about its exact impact on medical care workers and rela...

Authors: Ming-Yu Si, Xiao-You Su, Yu Jiang, Wen-Jun Wang, Xiao-Fen Gu, Li Ma, Jing Li, Shao-Kai Zhang, Ze-Fang Ren, Ran Ren, Yuan-Li Liu and You-Lin Qiao

Coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic in impoverished area: Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture as an example

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) had spread worldwide. Although the world has intensively focused on the epidemic center during this period of time, it is imperative to emphasize that more a...

Authors: Ru-Jun Liao, Chun-Nong Ji-Ke, Tao Zhang, Qiang Liao, Ling Li, Tian-Yu Zhu and Shao-Yong Bian

Temporal trends in areas at risk for concomitant tuberculosis in a hyperendemic municipality in the Amazon region of Brazil

Although preventable and curable, tuberculosis (TB) still occurs in poor or developing countries, mainly in metropolitan regions of larger cities. The disease is a serious public health problem, and is directl...

Authors: Alexandre Tadashi Inomata Bruce, Thais Zamboni Berra, Felipe Lima dos Santos, Yan Mathias Alves, Ludmilla Leidianne Limirio Souza, Antônio Carlos Vieira Ramos, Luiz Henrique Arroyo, Juliane de Almeida Crispim, Ione Carvalho Pinto, Pedro Fredemir Palha, Aline Aparecida Monroe, Mellina Yamamura, Regina Célia Fiorati, Ana Carolina Scarpel Moncaio, Dulce Maria de Oliveira Gomes and Ricardo Alexandre Arcêncio

Fatal case of newborn Lassa fever virus infection mimicking late onset neonatal sepsis: a case report from northern Nigeria

Lassa fever is a zoonotic viral infection endemic to the West Africa countries. It is highly fatal during pregnancy and as such reports of neonatal onset Lassa fever infections are rare in scientific literatur...

Authors: Taofik Oluwaseun Ogunkunle, Surajudeen Oyeleke Bello, Chinwe Immaculata Anderson, Rashida Musa, Rasaq Olaosebikan and Abdulazeez Imam

Massive migration promotes the early spread of COVID-19 in China: a study based on a scale-free network

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic met coincidentally with massive migration before Lunar New Year in China in early 2020. This study is to investigate the relationship between the massive migrat...

Authors: Wen-Yu Song, Pan Zang, Zhong-Xing Ding, Xin-Yu Fang, Li-Guo Zhu, Ya Zhu, Chang-Jun Bao, Feng Chen, Ming Wu and Zhi-Hang Peng

Abnormal immunity of non-survivors with COVID-19: predictors for mortality

The number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases has rapidly increased all over the world. Specific information about immunity in non-survivors with COVID-19 is scarce. This study aimed to analyse the c...

Authors: Yang Zhao, Han-Xiang Nie, Ke Hu, Xiao-Jun Wu, Yun-Ting Zhang, Meng-Mei Wang, Tao Wang, Zhi-Shui Zheng, Xiao-Chen Li and Shao-Lin Zeng

Different approaches to characterize artificial breeding sites of Aedes aegypti using generalized linear mixed models

As no globally accepted dengue vaccines or specific antiviral therapies are currently available, controlling breeding sites of Aedes aegypti is a target to prevent dengue outbreaks. The present study aimed to cha...

Authors: Nicolás Flaibani, Adriana A. Pérez, Ignacio M. Barbero and Nora E. Burroni

Prevalence of severe Plasmodium knowlesi infection and risk factors related to severe complications compared with non-severe P. knowlesi and severe P. falciparum malaria: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Plasmodium knowlesi is a potential cause of severe and fatal malaria, but comprehensive studies of its pooled prevalence and risk factors are lacking. This study aimed to explore the prevalence and risk factors r...

Authors: Manas Kotepui, Kwuntida Uthaisar Kotepui, Giovanni D. Milanez and Frederick R. Masangkay

Imported Mansonella perstans infection in Spain

Mansonella perstans infection can be considered one of the most neglected tropical infectious diseases. Very few studies have reported on the clinical picture caused by infection with this nematode. Therefore, ou...

Authors: Sabino Puente, Mar Lago, Mercedes Subirats, Ismael Sanz-Esteban, Marta Arsuaga, Belén Vicente, Montserrat Alonso-Sardon, Moncef Belhassen-Garcia and Antonio Muro

The role of isolation rooms, facemasks and intensified hand hygiene in the prevention of nosocomial COVID-19 transmission in a pulmonary clinical setting

From December 25, 2019 to January 31, 2020, 33 cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were identified in the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine of Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan Univers...

Authors: Gu-Qin Zhang, Hua-Qin Pan, Xing-Xing Hu, Shao-Jun He, Yi-Fei Chen, Chao-Jie Wei, Lan Ni, Li-Ping Zhang, Zhen-Shun Cheng and Jiong Yang

Impact of continuous low water stage on the breeding environment of Oncomelania hupensis: a case study of Poyang Lake area in China

Oncomelania hupensis is the only intermediate host of Schistosoma japonicum and plays a decisive role in its transmission. The variation of water level greatly affects the reproduction and growth of snails. There...

Authors: Fei Hu, Qi-Yue Li, Xiao-Feng Dai, Zhao-Jun Li, Shang-Biao Lv, Chun-Fang Lu, Yi-Feng Li, Min Yuan, Yue-Ming Liu, Ying Liu and Dan-Dan Lin

Climate change induced vulnerability and adaption for dengue incidence in Colombo and Kandy districts: the detailed investigation in Sri Lanka

Assessing the vulnerability of an infectious disease such as dengue among endemic population is an important requirement to design proactive programmes in order to improve resilience capacity of vulnerable com...

Authors: Lahiru Udayanga, Nayana Gunathilaka, M. C. M. Iqbal and W. Abeyewickreme

Human brucellosis: recent advances and future challenges

Authors: David O’Callaghan

Saliva as a diagnostic specimen for detection of SARS-CoV-2 in suspected patients: a scoping review

From the begging months of 2020 a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, also called 2019-nCoV) caused a devastating global outbreak. At present, the diagnosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (...

Authors: Omid Fakheran, Mandana Dehghannejad and Abbasali Khademi

Biological, clinical and epidemiological features of COVID-19, SARS and MERS and AutoDock simulation of ACE2

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a public catastrophe and global concern. The main symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, cough, myalgia, fatigue and lower respiratory tract infection si...

Authors: Xue-Yan Zhang, Hao-Jie Huang, Dong-Lin Zhuang, Moussa Ide Nasser, Ming-Hua Yang, Ping Zhu and Ming-Yi Zhao

Social innovation for health: engaging communities to address infectious diseases

Universal health coverage emphasises the value of the community-based delivery of health services to ensure that underserved populations have access to care. In areas where infectious diseases are endemic, the...

Authors: Phyllis Dako-Gyeke, Uche V. Amazigo, Beatrice Halpaap and Lenore Manderson

Treatment quality and outcome for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis patients in four regions of China: a cohort study

China incurs an extremely low treatment coverage of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). This study aimed to understand the experience of MDR-TB patients on quality of health care, and the clinical impac...

Authors: Xu-Bin Zheng, Vinod K. Diwan, Qi Zhao, Yi Hu, Judith Bruchfeld, Wei-Li Jiang, Sven Hoffner and Biao Xu

Estimation of exponential growth rate and basic reproduction number of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Africa

Since the first case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Africa was detected on February 14, 2020, the cumulative confirmations reached 15 207 including 831 deaths by April 13, 2020. Africa has been desc...

Authors: Salihu S. Musa, Shi Zhao, Maggie H. Wang, Abdurrazaq G. Habib, Umar T. Mustapha and Daihai He

Inference and prediction of malaria transmission dynamics using time series data

Disease surveillance systems are essential for effective disease intervention and control by monitoring disease prevalence as time series. To evaluate the severity of an epidemic, statistical methods are widel...

Authors: Benyun Shi, Shan Lin, Qi Tan, Jie Cao, Xiaohong Zhou, Shang Xia, Xiao-Nong Zhou and Jiming Liu

Basic reproduction number and predicted trends of coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic in the mainland of China

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused a serious epidemic around the world, but it has been effectively controlled in the mainland of China. The Chinese government limited the migration of people almos...

Authors: Yong Li, Lian-Wen Wang, Zhi-Hang Peng and Hong-Bing Shen

Personalizing symptom monitoring and contact tracing efforts through a COVID-19 web-app

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has sparked attention in many countries, especially those that have experienced a steep spike in the number of identified cases. The continued spread of the cor...

Authors: Kevin Yi-Lwern Yap and Qihuang Xie

Soluble IL-2Rα correlates with imbalances of Th1/Th2 and Tc1/Tc2 cells in patients with acute brucellosis

Previous studies showed that soluble IL-2Rα is an important marker of cellular immune activation and might be a marker of treatment efficacy for children with brucellosis. However, data regarding adult patient...

Authors: Hua-Li Sun, Cheng-Jie Ma, Xiu-Fang Du, Si-Yuan Yang, Xiao Lv, Hong Zhao, Ling-Hang Wang, Yun-Xia Tang, Xing-Wang Li and Rong-Meng Jiang

High multiple mutations of Plasmodium falciparum-resistant genotypes to sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine in Lagos, Nigeria

Plasmodium falciparum-resistance to sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) has been largely reported among pregnant women. However, the profile of resistance markers to SP dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) and dihydroptero...

Authors: Hong Quan, Uche Igbasi, Wellington Oyibo, Sunday Omilabu, Shen-Bo Chen, Hai-Mo Shen, Chukwuma Okolie, Jun-Hu Chen and Xiao-Nong Zhou

Universities as catalysts of social innovation in health systems in low-and middle-income countries: a multi-country case study

Social innovation (SI) in health holds potential to contribute to health systems strengthening and universal health coverage (UHC). The role of universities in SI has been well described in the context of high...

Authors: Lindi van Niekerk, Don Pascal Mathanga, Noel Juban, Diana Maria Castro-Arroyave and Dina Balabanova

How Shenzhen, China avoided widespread community transmission: a potential model for successful prevention and control of COVID-19

Shenzhen is a city of 22 million people in south China that serves as a financial and trade center for East Asia. The city has extensive ties to Hubei Province, the first reported epicenter of the coronavirus ...

Authors: Huachun Zou, Yuelong Shu and Tiejian Feng

Bioinformatics analysis of epitope-based vaccine design against the novel SARS-CoV-2

An outbreak of infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 recently has brought a great challenge to public health. Rapid identification of immune epitopes would be an efficient way to screen the candidates for vaccine dev...

Authors: Hong-Zhi Chen, Ling-Li Tang, Xin-Ling Yu, Jie Zhou, Yun-Feng Chang and Xiang Wu

Transmissibility of COVID-19 in 11 major cities in China and its association with temperature and humidity in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chengdu

The new coronavirus disease COVID-19 began in December 2019 and has spread rapidly by human-to-human transmission. This study evaluated the transmissibility of the infectious disease and analyzed its associati...

Authors: Xiao-Jing Guo, Hui Zhang and Yi-Ping Zeng

Strategies supporting the prevention and control of neglected tropical diseases during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic

Emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases represent a public health challenge of international concern. They include a large group of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), many of which are of zoonotic nature. ...

Authors: John P. Ehrenberg, Xiao-Nong Zhou, Gilberto Fontes, Eliana M. M. Rocha, Marcel Tanner and Jürg Utzinger

Evaluating the implementation of rapid diagnostic tests in a malaria elimination setting

It was recommended that malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) should be available in all epidemiological situations. But evidence was limited on the implementation of RDTs and its effectiveness in malaria elim...

Authors: Di Liang, Jia-Jie Jin, Wei-Ming Wang, Yuan-Yuan Cao, Guo-Ding Zhu, Hua-Yun Zhou, Jun Cao and Jia-Yan Huang