Perceptions of malaria control and prevention in an era of climate change: a cross-sectional survey among CDC staff in China

Published online: 31 March 2017Background: Though there was the significant decrease in the incidence of malaria in central and southwest China during the 1980s and 1990s, there has been a re-emergence of malaria since 2000. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted amongst the staff of eleven Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in China to gauge their perceptions regarding the impacts of climate change on malaria transmission and its control and prevention. Descriptive analysis was performed to study CDC staff’s knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and suggestions for malaria control in the face of climate change. Results: A majority (79.8%) of CDC staff were concerned about climate change and 79.7% believed the weather was becoming warmer. Most participants (90.3%) indicated climate change had a negative effect on population health, 92.6 and 86.8% considered that increasing temperatures and precipitation would influence the transmission of vector-borne diseases including malaria. About half (50.9%) of the surveyed staff indicated malaria had re-emerged in recent years, and some outbreaks were occurring in new geographic areas. The main reasons for such re-emergence were perceived to be: mosquitoes in high-density, numerous imported cases, climate change, poor environmental conditions, internal migrant populations, and lack of health awareness. Conclusions: This study found most CDC staff endorsed the statement that climate change had a negative impact on infectious disease transmission. Malaria had re-emerged in some areas of China, and most of the staff believed that this can be managed. However, high densities of mosquitoes and the continuous increase in imported cases of malaria in local areas, together with environmental changes are bringing about critical challenges to malaria control in China. This study contributes to an understanding of climate change related perceptions of malaria control and prevention amongst CDC staff. It may help to formulate in-house training guidelines, community health promotion programmes and policies to improve the capacity of malaria control and prevention in the face of climate change in China.Michael Xiaoliang Tong, Alana Hansen, Scott Hanson, Easey, Scott Cameron, Jianjun Xiang, Qiyong Liu, Xiaobo Liu, Yehuan Sun, Philip Weinstein, Gil, Soo Han, Craig Williams and Peng B

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Health Professionals’ Perceptions of Dengue Fever, Malaria and Haemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome in the Face of Climate Change in China

Background Dengue fever, malaria and Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS) are common infectious diseases in China. The impact of climate change on infectious diseases has been studied extensively. An association between climatic factors and these emerging and re-emerging vector/rodent-borne diseases has been demonstrated in China. However, health professionals’ perceptions of climate change and infectious diseases, and China’s capacity to manage the challenge of these climate-sensitive diseases are still not clear. This study aimed to investigate health professionals’ perceptions, and to explore the adaptive capacity of China’s health system to deal with these diseases in the context of climate change. Methods With dengue, malaria and HFRS as case study diseases, questionnaire surveys were conducted to gauge health professionals’ perceptions of climate change and infectious disease control and prevention, and to explore the current capacity of the health system to manage emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in China, in the context of climate change. The study can be broadly divided into two parts. In the first part of the study, a questionnaire survey was conducted among public health professionals in the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at national, provincial, prefectural and county levels. The second part of the study was conducted among clinical health professionals in hospitals. Data analysis was undertaken using descriptive methods and logistic regression. Results Most health professionals were concerned about climate change, and agreed with the statement that the weather was becoming warmer. More than 80% of health professionals agreed that climate change would affect population health, and indicated that climate change would influence infectious disease transmission, especially vector-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria. Nearly all perceived that dengue had emerged or re-emerged, and indicated that there had been a geographic expansion of the disease. Roughly half indicated that malaria had re-emerged in some parts of China, especially in southwest China. More than half perceived that HFRS had re-emerged, especially in northeast China. Most health professionals indicated that the capacity of the health system to detect infectious disease outbreaks/epidemics was excellent, and was well prepared for the challenge that emerging infectious diseases may pose. Conclusions The findings showed that health professionals were concerned about climate change and believed that it would affect infectious disease transmission. This research has identified some of the significant factors contributing to the transmission of infectious diseases, such as climate variation, migrant population, increasing vector/rodent density, imported cases, lack of health awareness and poor environmental conditions. For dengue control, reducing and controlling the density of mosquito vectors would be most important. For malaria control, regional cooperation and information sharing were urgently needed to curb re-emergence. For HFRS control, rodent control measures and health awareness of HFRS risks should be strengthened. Most health professionals believed that the capacity of the health system to manage infectious diseases was excellent. However, to increase adaptive capacity, the results show there is a strong need to increase funding for disease surveillance and control, improve the capacity of lower-level CDCs and rural health care, and strengthen logistical support in hospitals.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Public Health, 201