Respiratory syndromic disease study in Shanghai community population

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Microbiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) pose a significant public health challenge, particularly in high-density urban settings.
• Understanding the epidemiology and microbial landscape of ARIs is crucial for effective control strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To monitor ARI incidence and coinfection patterns in Shanghai's general population.
• To characterize microbial landscape dynamics and host-pathogen interactions.
• To inform predictive modeling and optimize public health interventions for ARIs.

Main Methods:

• Prospective community-based cohort study (ARI-ECAS) involving 15,199 residents in Shanghai.
• Syndromic surveillance, molecular diagnostics, and targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS).
• Data collection via Shanghai Health Cloud platform, including demographic, behavioral, and clinical data.

Main Results:

• During an 8-month period, 10.96% of participants reported symptomatic ARI episodes.
• Pathogen detection identified coinfections in 60.97% of symptomatic cases (dual or polymicrobial).
• A low healthcare-seeking rate (14.91%) was observed, with 85.09% of episodes self-managed.

Conclusions:

• High prevalence of ARI coinfections and self-management in Shanghai urban communities.
• Findings highlight the need for tailored public health interventions considering pathogen dynamics and healthcare-seeking behaviors.
• Continued surveillance and integrated multi-omics approaches will enhance understanding of ARI transmission.