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. 2021 Mar 17;18(6):3092.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18063092.

Epidemiological Characteristics of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome from 2010 to 2019 in Mainland China

Xiaoxia Huang  1 , Jiandong Li  1 , Aqian Li  1 , Shiwen Wang  1   2 , Dexin Li  1
Affiliations

Epidemiological Characteristics of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome from 2010 to 2019 in Mainland China

Xiaoxia Huang et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease and that is a severe threat to public health considering its high fatality and person-to-person transmission. In order to obtain an updated and deep understanding of the epidemiological characteristics of SFTS in mainland China, we used Pearson's chi-squared test to compare the fatality rate and demographic characteristics in different groups. Data were analyzed in R3.6.1 (R Development Core Team 2018), while the visualization was performed in ArcGIS 10 (ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA), and the statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. A total of 13,824 SFTS cases involving 8899 lab-confirmed cases and 4925 probable cases were reported and included in the epidemiological analysis. Our study found that the number of SFTS cases showed an increasing trend with a small decrease in the past three years. The laboratory-confirmed rate was about 64.4%, which varied between different years and areas. Although most cases (99.3%) were distributed in 7 provinces (Henan, Shandong, Anhui, Hubei, Liaoning, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu), the regional distribution of SFTS gradually expanded from 5 provinces in 2010 to 25 provinces by 2019, especially at the town level. The SFTS cases were mainly sporadic. A total of 96.5% occurred from April to October, and 93.3% of cases were concentrated in middle-aged and elderly people (40-84 years old). Farmers were the main high-risk population. Female cases were slightly more than male cases; however, there were differences between different provinces. The mortality rate showed an increasing trend with age. Overall, the SFTS cases were mainly middle-aged and elderly farmers that sporadically distributed throughout seven provinces with a spatially expanding trend. The laboratory-confirmed rate varied in different years and provinces, which implied that the diagnosis and report criteria for SFTS should be further updated and unified in order to get a better understanding of its epidemiological characteristics and provide scientific data for SFTS control.

Keywords: epidemiological characteristics; severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome; surveillance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The number of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) cases and the fatality rate from 2010 to 2019.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Regional distribution of SFTS cases in mainland China: (a) SFTS distribution in 2010, (b) the accumulative SFTS distribution from 2010 to 2014, and (c) the accumulative SFTS distribution from 2010 to 2019.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Regional distribution of SFTS cases in mainland China: (a) SFTS distribution in 2010, (b) the accumulative SFTS distribution from 2010 to 2014, and (c) the accumulative SFTS distribution from 2010 to 2019.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Regional distribution of SFTS cases in mainland China: (a) SFTS distribution in 2010, (b) the accumulative SFTS distribution from 2010 to 2014, and (c) the accumulative SFTS distribution from 2010 to 2019.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Monthly SFTS distribution in mainland China from 2010 to 2019.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Population distribution of SFTS cases from 2010 to 2019.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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