To understand the epidemic situation and factors influencing rabies cases in children in China, we obtained an overview of the current epidemic based on individual data of rabies cases in children and a descriptive analysis was carried on the prevalence and related factors. The results showed that the rabies cases in children accounted for 21.3% of the total number of rabies cases in China, 97.0% of these cases occurred in rural areas, they were mainly caused by dogs (81.5%), and were primarily level III exposure (47.7%). More than half of the cases were not treated with wound care, vaccination rate was extremely low (15.7%), and only 5.9% of cases were injected with antibodies. Furthermore, 25.4% of cases adopted incorrect treatments such as extruding bleed and wound closure, cases vaccinated with 5 injections accounted for only 22.5%. In conclusion, the prevalence of rabies cases in children in China remains a serious concern, the number and immune status of dogs in rural areas, and knowledge of rabies by risk populations should be considered in future rabies prevention and control programs.
Objective: To analyze and assess secular change in stature in rural children and adolescents in China from 1985 to 2010.
Methods: Data were obtained from the 6 rounds of the Chinese National Survey on Student's Constitution and Health. The subjects enrolled in the study were children and adolescents aged 7-18 years in rural areas of provincial capitals.
Results: An overall positive secular trend in stature occurred in rural areas of provincial capitals in China from 1985 to 2010. The overall average increase rates were 3.1 and 2.4 cm/decade for boys and girls, respectively. The total body height increases for grown up boys and girls were 3.6 and 2.3 cm and the increase rates were 1.4 and 0.9 cm/decade, respectively. There were differences in body height increase among eastern, central and western regions. The average body height of the children or adolescents in eastern region was highest, followed by central region and western region. The overall increase rates in central region were highest among the three regions. The difference between eastern/central region and western region was obvious.
Conclusion: Positive secular trend in stature of children or adolescents has occurred in rural area of China, and rural boys and girls showed a great potential for continuous growth. More attention should be paid to the differences in children's body height between western region and eastern/central region.