A case-control study on the risk factors for hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome

• Published in: BMC infectious diseases Vol. 20; no. 1; p. 103
• Main Authors: Wang, Xiaochen, Shen, Wenqi, Qin, Yuanfang, Ying, Liang, Li, Haipeng, Lu, Jiankui, Lu, Jing, Zhang, Nan, Li, Zhifeng, Zhou, Weizhong, Tang, Fenyang, Zhu, Fengcai, Hu, Jianli, Bao, Changjun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 04.02.2020; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Accounting; Adolescent; Adult; Aerosols; Aged; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral - blood; Case-Control Studies; Case-control study; Cats; China; Communicable diseases; Community-based; Control methods; Crop diseases; Crops; Demographics; Diseases; Family income; Farmers; Female; Fever; Food; Food contamination & poisoning; Hantaan virus - immunology; Hantaan virus - pathogenicity; Hantavirus; Health aspects; Health education; Health risks; Hemorrhage; Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome - etiology; Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome - transmission; Hemorrhagic fevers; HFRS; Humans; Immunoglobulin M; Immunoglobulin M - blood; Immunoglobulins; Infections; Laboratories; Logistic Models; Male; Medical personnel training; Medical research; Middle Aged; Prevention; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Risk analysis; Risk Factors; Risk management; Risk taking; Rodent Control; Rodents; Studies; Variables; China; Europe; Case-control study; Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome; Community-based; HFRS
• ISSN: 1471-2334; 1471-2334
• DOI: 10.1186/s12879-020-4830-5

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is an endemic communicable disease in China, accounting for 90% of total reported cases worldwide. In this study, the authors want to investigate the risk factors for HFRS in recent years to provide the prevention and control advices. A community-based, 1:2 matched case-control study was carried out to investigate the risk factors for HFRS. Cases were defined as laboratory-confirmed cases that tested positive for hantavirus-specific IgM antibodies. Two neighbourhood controls of each case were selected by sex, age and occupation. Standardized questionnaires were used to collect information and identify the risk factors for HFRS. Eighty-six matched pairs were investigated in the study. The median age of the cases was 55.0 years, 72.09% were male, and 73.26% were farmers. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, cleaning spare room at home (OR = 3.310, 95%CI 1.335-8.210) was found to be risk factor for infection; storing food and crops properly (OR = 0.279 95%CI 0.097-0.804) provided protection from infection. Storing food and crops properly seemed to be protective factor, which was important for HFRS prevention and control. More attention should be paid to promote comprehensive health education and behaviour change among high-risk populations in the HFRS endemic area.