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We used molecular methods to identify Rickettsia raoultii infections in 2 persons in China. These persons had localized rashes around sites of tick bites. R. raoultii DNA was detected in 4% of Dermacentor silvarum ticks collected in the same area of China and in 1 feeding tick detached from 1 patient.

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Healthcare accessibility has become an issue of social equity. An accurate estimation of existing healthcare accessibility is vital to plan and allocate health resources. Healthcare capacity, population demand, and geographic impedance are three essential factors to measure spatial accessibility. Additionally, geographic impedance is usually represented with a function of travel time. In this paper, the three-step floating catchment area (3SFCA) method is improved from the perspectives of the temporal dimension and population demand. Specifically, the travel time from the population location to the service site is precisely calculated by introducing real-time traffic conditions instead of utilizing empirical speed in previous studies. Additionally, with the utilization of real-time traffic, a dynamic result of healthcare accessibility is derived during different time periods. In addition, since the medical needs of the elderly are higher than that of the young, a demand weight index of demand is introduced to adjust the population demand. A case study of healthcare accessibility in Wuhan shows that the proposed method is effective to measure healthcare accessibility during different time periods. The spatial accessibility disparities of communities and crowdedness of hospitals are identified as an important reference for the balance between the supply and demand of medical resources.

Background and ObjectiveChina has a high burden of cervical cancer (CC) and wide disparities in CC burden exist among different socio-economic regions. In order to reduce these disparities, China’s government launched the National Cervical Cancer Screening Program in Rural Areas (NCCSPRA) in 2009. Understanding the factors associated with underutilization of CC screening among target populations is important to improve the screening participation rate, and a high participation rate is key to achieving the goals of a screening program. However, data on the knowledge of CC among target populations in program areas is lacking in China. This study will investigate the knowledge of CC prevention and control among women in specific project counties to develop a better understanding of factors that might influence CC screening participation in order to improve the implementation of the NCCSPRA.Materials and MethodsA cross-sectional survey was conducted and face-to-face interview questionnaires were completed by 308 women who received CC screening services in 6 project counties of NCCSPRA across different socio-economic regions of China. ANOVA and Chi-square tests were used to compare the knowledge rates and scores across the different subgroups. Logistic regression was conducted to examine factors associated with knowledge level.ResultsThe overall CC knowledge rate of the target population was only 19.5%. Regional socio-economic level, advice from doctors, age, and educational status were strong predictors of knowledge level of CC screening. Significantly lower knowledge rates and scores were identified in older women (55–64 years old), less educated women (with primary school or illiterate), women in less developed regions and women who did not receive any advice about screening results from doctors.ConclusionThe knowledge of CC screening among women in the project counties of NCCSPRA was found to be very poor. Given the importance of knowledge in encouraging women to participate in screening is key to reducing CC burden in rural women in China, it is urgent that a targeted health promotion intervention is developed and implemented in project counties, especially targeting older women, women with less education and women in less developed regions, and focus on improving their CC knowledge and encouraging them to communicate with health care providers. The health promotion intervention targeting health care providers is also important to improve their knowledge of CC and provide best advice to women.

Background Randomized controlled trials have shown a higher sensitivity and longer negative predictive value of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) testing than cytology for cervical cancer screening; however, little is known about the effectiveness of HPV testing in middle-income countries. Understanding the characteristics of HPV testing may increase the priority of HPV testing in health policies. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of HPV testing in the national cervical cancer screening programme in China. Methods We performed a nationwide, population-based study using individual data from the national cervical cancer screening programme in rural China between 2015 and 2017. The analyses included 1,160,981 women aged 35–64 years who underwent cytology alone or high-risk HPV testing with cytology or genotyping triage. The main outcome was cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2 or worse (CIN2+). We used multivariate logistic regressions and performed sensitivity analyses with propensity score matching to compare the screening positive, colposcopy referral, detection rate, and positive predictive value (PPV). Results The screening positive rates for HPV testing and cytology were 10.1% and 4.0%, respectively. The per protocol colposcopy referral rate of HPV testing was significantly lower than that of cytology (3.5% vs 4.0%), and this difference was mostly due to the low referral threshold of cytology (≥ASC-US). Overall, HPV testing detected more CIN2+ (5.5 vs. 4.4 per 1000, adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=1.18, 95% confidence interval 1.11–1.25) and had a higher PPV (13.8% vs 10.9%, aOR 1.29, 95% CI 1.21–1.37) than cytology. The colposcopy referrals of HPV testing in comparison to cytology differed by income status; it significantly increased in lower-middle-income areas (3.7% vs 3.1%, aOR 1.21, 95% CI 1.17–1.25) and significantly decreased in upper-middle-income areas (3.4% vs 4.9%, aOR 0.69, 95% CI 0.67–0.71). Sensitivity analyses demonstrated the reliability and robustness of the results. Conclusions The introduction of HPV testing could improve both the CIN2+ detection rate and efficiency of cervical cancer screening programme, supporting the introduction of primary screening with high-risk HPV testing in China. Further study is needed to investigate the long-term effect of this change.

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