Who should be checked for hepatitis C virus infection in endemic areas?

Objective: To find additional factors suggestive of hepatitis C virus(HCV) infection in the general population by using data from a hepatitis virus survey. Methods: This study collected data of HCV infection from a hepatitis virus survey. The survey was conducted in 13 provinces in the northeast Thailand in 2014 and 2015. During the survey, a blood test was performed to screen for HCV. A questionnaire was also distributed to all participants asking about baseline characteristics, risk factors for HCV infection, and daily life activities. Risk factors for HCV infection were executed. Results: There were 2 112 participants for the survey. Of those, 110 participants(5.21%) tested positive for HCV infection. After adjustment by multivariate logistic regression, three factors were significantly associated with HCV infection, namely male gender, age, and family history of liver cancer. The adjusted ORs and 95% CI of these factors were 3.14(1.50, 6.56), 3.78(1.12, 12.76), and 2.28(1.08, 4.80), respectively. Conclusions: Male gender, increasing age, and family history of liver cancer are predictors of HCV infection in endemic areas. Males with a family history of liver cancer in their firstdegree relatives should be tested for HCV infection regardless of symptoms.

Chemical components of ambient particulate air pollution affecting suicides in Thailand

This research studied correlation between suicide risks and chemical components of particulate matter in Thailand.It employed satellite data on atmospheric particulate matter.Analysis for correlation between data on chemical components of particulate matterda type of accumulated pollution in Thailand from 2010 to 2017dand suicidal incidents in 2018.The methodologies consisted of Bayesian hierarchical spatiotemporal model and the Poisson log-linear model,which referred to the NASA database;aerosol diagnostics model,Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications,Version 2(MERRA-2);and database from the Bureau of Policy and Strategy Ministry of Public Health,Thailand.A total of 4,756 patients selected for this study accounted for annual suicide rate of 7.16 per 100,000 population.Suicides in Thailand are related to chemical components of particulate matter.This research thus found that every 1 mg/m^(3)increase of dust-PM2.5,only PM2.5 was related to the risks of suicide(which increased for approximately 63.5%).Black carbon,Organic carbon,and sulfate,however,had no statistically significant effects.Volume of atmospheric accumulated dust-PM2.5 correlated to increase in suicide risks,with statistical significance.