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Abstract: In March and April 2009, an entirely novel influenza A (H1N1) virus (NIAV) emerged in Mexico and the USA. During the subsequent months, the virus rapidly spread all over the world by person-to-person transmission. In this report, RNA interference (RNAi) was used as an antiviral agent to inhibit NIAV replication in A549 cells. Ten small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting extremely conserved regions among multiple NIAV genomes could effectively block the replication of NIAV strain A/Beijing/01/2009 (H1N1) in A549 cells. This study may be useful to confront the sudden emergence of NIAV infection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background and Aim: Hepatitis C virus infection can lead to an enormous health burden worldwide. Investigating the changes in HCV-related burden between different countries could provide inferences for disease management. Hence, we aim to explore the temporal tendency of the disease burden associated with HCV infection in China, India, the United States, and the world., Methods: Detailed data on the total burden of disease related to HCV infection were collected from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2019 database. Joinpoint regression models were used to simulate the optimal joinpoints of annual percent changes (APCs). Further analysis of the age composition of each index over time and the relationship between ASRs and the socio-demographic Index (SDI) were explored. Finally, three factors (population growth, population aging, and age-specific changes) were deconstructed for the changes in the number of incidences, deaths, and DALYs., Results: It was estimated that 6.2 million new HCV infections, 0.54 million HCV-related deaths, and 15.3 million DALYs worldwide in 2019, with an increase of 25.4, 59.1, and 43.6%, respectively, from 1990, are mainly due to population growth and aging. China experienced a sharp drop in age-standardized rates in 2019, the United States showed an upward trend, and India exhibited a fluctuating tendency in the burden of disease. The incidence was increasing in all locations recently., Conclusion: HCV remains a global health concern despite tremendous progress being made. The disease burden in China improved significantly, while the burden in the United States was deteriorating, with new infections increasing recently, suggesting more targeted interventions to be established to realize the 2030 elimination goals., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Yang, Qi, Wang, Li, Jin, Liu, Liu and Rao.)

This paper describes the lessons from scaling up a verbal autopsy (VA) intervention to improve data about causes of death according to a nine-domain framework: governance, design, operations, human resources, financing, infrastructure, logistics, information technologies and data quality assurance. We use experiences from China, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Solomon Islands to explore how VA has been successfully implemented in different contexts, to guide other countries in their VA implementation. The governance structure for VA implementation comprised a multidisciplinary team of technical experts, implementers and staff at different levels within ministries. A staged approach to VA implementation involved scoping and mapping of death registration processes, followed by pretest and pilot phases which allowed for redesign before a phased scale-up. Existing health workforce in countries were trained to conduct the VA interviews as part of their routine role. Costs included training and compensation for the VA interviewers, information technology (IT) infrastructure costs, advocacy and dissemination, which were borne by the funding agency in early stages of implementation. The complexity of the necessary infrastructure, logistics and IT support required for VA increased with scale-up. Quality assurance was built into the different phases of the implementation. VA as a source of cause of death data for community deaths will be needed for some time. With the right technical and political support, countries can scale up this intervention to ensure ongoing collection of quality and timely information on community deaths for use in health planning and better monitoring of national and global health goals., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)