Prevention Of Communicable Diseases Research Articles

A Comparison Review of The Clinical Healthcare Services Provided to Liver Disease Patients in The GCC

Liver diseases are a critical health concern in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Fatty liver disease and viral hepatitis are the two most common liver-disease-related health problems in the region. Hepatocellular carcinoma development adds to the burden of liver cirrhosis. Given the importance of identifying patients with liver disease, it is essential to examine the GCC’s healthcare services. The goal of this study was to compare the clinical care services provided to liver disease patients in GCC member countries. A systematic comparative analysis of GCC studies from 2014 to 2020 on related topics was conducted. Articles relevant to liver disease prevalence rate, incidence, and clinical healthcare services, including mental health support, palliative care, liver surgery and transplantation, management of viral hepatitis B and C, dental care services, HBV and pregnancy, vaccination among HCWs and national screening were included in this study. The study results showed that most of the clinical healthcare services provided to liver disease patients are available in all GCC member countries. The prevalence of communicable diseases has significantly decreased among the GCC countries, indicating that there are successful healthcare systems for tracking and controlling disease spread at the level of the GCC. The same can be said of the management of viral hepatitis in Gulf countries. Despite the similarities of clinical services provided to liver disease patients, the study concluded that there were differences in the availability of liver transplantation programs and the level of palliative care among GCC member countries.

Community Awareness of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) In Tabuk, Saudi Arabia

Community awareness is an essential factor in the control and prevention of communicable diseases, especially the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This study investigates the level of COVID-19 awareness in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia in the areas of signs and symptoms, mode of transmission and prevention. A descriptive correlational, cross-sectional study design was used. The researcher-devised questionnaire was validated and was found reliable with Cronbach Alpha of 0.92. The majority of the 501 participants who responded to the questionnaire were extremely aware of COVID-19 in terms of signs and symptoms, modes of transmission and preventive measures. YouTube, Television and WhatsApp were the main sources of information regarding COVID-19. The awareness level about COVID-19 in Tabuk was exceptional based on the questionnaire scores, and the source of information reflected the concern of the studied population.

St. Philippe Rescue Center in an Area of high Prevalence of HIV Infection in Kisumu and Street Work for Street Boys in Nairobi

This short communication focuses on a comprehensive sportshousing-education program as part of HIV and other communicable disease prevention. Street boys in Kisumu are managed as indoor and 70 as outdoor social work clients. In Nairobi, a similar Center by St. Mother Theresa Fathers and Brothers are daily taking care of about 50-100 street children in one of the largest slum, serving food and pastoral assistance; helping those ; those addicted to glue and other available inhalational narcotics. The abstaining willing street boys are invited to join the community.

Hypertension and diabetes patients’ perspective of challenges and their coping mechanisms in Mukono and Buikwe districts in Uganda – a qualitative study

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, the burden of non-communicable diseases is steadily rising amidst a high prevalence of communicable diseases stretching the healthcare system. This study explored hypertension and diabetes patients’ perspective of challenges and their coping mechanisms in Mukono and Buikwe districts in Uganda. Methods: This descriptive qualitative study involved four focus group discussions with 26 patients at four selected health facilities. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and data analysed following the thematic content analysis guided by the semantic approach with the aid of Atlas ti 6.0.15 software. Results: Five themes were identified regarding challenges and coping mechanisms of patients in managing their conditions. 1) Inadequate opportunities for diagnosis, with community screening supporting identification of patients. 2) Accessing care came amidst transport challenges, absence of health workers and the lack of essential supplies for monitoring conditions. Patients borrowed transport funds or trekked to health facilities and some formed groups to contribute resources to buy equipment and supplies. 3) Access to medications was affected by frequent drug stockouts at public health facilities which pushed patients to purchase own drugs or obtain these through friends and networks. However, other patients resorted to cheaper herbal remedies. 4) Monitoring and managing conditions was affected by insufficient knowledge and opportunities for self-monitoring. Information from health workers and experiences from peers bridged the knowledge gap while private facilities or community health workers supported self-monitoring. 5) Adopting changes in behaviour was challenging but patients fitted these within their usual routines and mobilised family members to also adopt lifestyle changes while ignoring those they deemed unrealistic. Conclusions: The coping mechanisms patients adopted to manage their chronic conditions reflects self-care initiatives at the individual and community levels which could be reinforced and supplemented to better support and empower patients as steps are taken to address existing challenges.

Regional Consortia: A Framework for Public Health Laboratory Collaboration and Service Sharing.

Public health laboratories (PHLs) provide specialized testing services for programs focused on the prevention and control of communicable diseases, early detection of congenital disorders, testing for antimicrobial resistance, and identification of environmental contaminants, among other responsibilities. Although national public health programs and partners provide some funding support, training, and technical resources to PHLs, no dedicated funding is provided from federal programs to fully support comprehensive PHL services across the United States or the underlying infrastructure needed for PHLs to provide and ensure their core functions and capabilities. Public health laboratories have begun to rely on a "community of practice" approach to addressing various service needs by creating and formalizing regional consortia, which are organized groups of geographically clustered PHLs that share expertise, capacities, and capabilities to enhance PHL services. The number of states participating in these networks increased from 13 to 48 from 2015 to 2020, including participation by multiple local PHLs and a territorial PHL. These consortia have enabled strengthening of partnerships and collaboration among PHLs to address regional priorities and challenges. We explore the background and evolution of regional consortia, outline some of their practices and activities, review lessons learned from these successful collaborations, and discuss the positive effect they have on the national public health system.

Prevention of Coronavirus infections SARS-CoV-2 in dental practice

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis in public health. Professionals in dental institutions, dental associations and regulatory bodies face various challenges in providing dental care and prevention of oral health of the population, as well as protection of patients and practitioners from the health threat of SARS-CoV-2 virus. The aim of this paper is to present the current findings and views regarding the information on the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the need to implement protocols to protect patients and dental practitioners from the health threat posed by the virus, in compliance with medically relevant regulations.Material and methods: References from WHO, FDI and published papers in international scientific journals in this relatively short period were consulted and they presented: updated epidemiological and seroepidemiological information, review of response measures implemented in EU countries / EEA, UK and countries around the world and response options to minimize the risk of recurrence of COVID-19. Results: Viral pneumonia that appeared on February 11, 2020, was named "Coronavirus (COVID 19)" by the WHO, while the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) proposed the name "SARS-CoV-2" for phylogenetic and taxonomic analysis of this corona virus. Dentists/doctors of dental medicine should be familiar with transmission of SARS-CoV-2, how to identify patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection and what measures should be taken for protection during the intervention in order to prevent its transmission. There are recommendations for infection control measures that should be followed by the dentists/doctors of dental medicine. The fact that aerosols and drops have been considered for major SARS-CoV-2 propagation routes has been emphasized. If these measures are not undertaken, then the dental office can potentially expose patients to cross-infection.
 Conclusion: The epidemiological situation around the world is changing dynamically, but patients should not be left without urgent medical help. Oral health team members are required to update their knowledge and skills regarding the prevention, diagnosis and management of communicable diseases that can be transmitted in a clinical setting and to stick to the standard precautions to protect patients from infections as well as protect themselves.

Longevity medicine: upskilling the physicians of tomorrow

Longevity medicine: upskilling the physicians of tomorrow

An Investigation of the General Population's Self-Reported Hand Hygiene Behaviour and Compliance in a Cross-European Setting.

Every year, thousands of people from the UK travel to other countries for work and leisure. Europe, and particularly Spain, is one of the most popular travel destinations for people from the UK. However, it is known that travel to other countries can enhance the risk of communicable disease transmission from person to person, especially when a new one emerges. Adequate hand hygiene behaviour and compliance is widely accepted as being a simple, effective method in preventing the spread of communicable diseases that may be contracted during travel abroad. There is a well-established body of work investigating hand hygiene practice and compliance in community settings, but no recent studies have examined the hand hygiene practice and compliance of the general population when travelling abroad or in a cross-European context. The findings of this study indicated that most UK members of the general population when travelling abroad have a good level of understanding of the importance of adequate hand hygiene practice and compliance and its role regarding communicable disease prevention and control. As such, self-reported levels of compliance were high. Similar findings were made for Spanish members of the general population. However, while self-reported perceptions of adequacy of hand hygiene performance were relatively high, particularly among UK respondents, this was not supported by responses specifically focused on hand hygiene behaviour. However, differences in self-reported adequacy regarding the importance of handwashing versus hand drying, the number of steps that should be followed and the length of time that should be spent washing and drying hands were found for each group. This suggests that self-reported compliance may reflect intention to practice hand hygiene rather than true compliance. It also suggests that there are gaps in knowledge regarding the adequate method of hand hygiene among the cohort as a whole, and indeed these differences may account be a factor in for the high transmission rates of communicable disease when travelling abroad.

Availment of Health Programs and Services in the Pre-Pandemic (COVID-19) Conditions in the Philippines

This study aimed to determine the communication factors in the availment of health programs and services. The study was conducted in two selected villages in Rizal, Nueva Ecija, Philippines namely, Barangay Poblacion Centro and Barangay Casilagan. Purposive sampling was used to select the survey sites. The two villages differ from each other in terms of geographical location. Poblacion Centro is located 1 km away from the health center while Casilagan is about 10 km away from the town proper. The number of respondents in each village depended on the total number of mothers who had children aged 0-7 years. The 136 respondents were determined using Slovin’s formula. Two sets of questionnaires were prepared: one for the opinion leaders or key informants, and another for the mother-respondents. The survey method using a questionnaire was utilized to gather the needed data. Results showed that the age of respondents ranges from 19-50 years old and the mean age was 32. Most respondents reached high school with a monthly income of below P5,000. Interpersonal contact with the health workers, televisions, and posters were their sources of information about health programs and services. Prevention of communicable and non-communicable diseases was often discussed by the health workers and respondents using the Filipino language in their conversation. Vaccination of infants and children, pre-natal/post-natal/childbirth services, free general consultations/access to secondary and/or tertiary health care, prevention and management of communicable and non-communicable diseases were sometimes seen on television or heard over the radio also in the Filipino language. Likewise, the same programs mentioned above including basic dental/oral hygiene, and family planning/reproductive health were sometimes read by the respondents in the different print materials. These print materials were written in Filipino and came from government agencies. Interpersonal media ranked first as the most preferred communication modality of the respondents to disseminate information about health programs and services. The communication modalities used by the LGU in the dissemination of information were home visits (individual approach), general assembly meetings (group approach), and television (mass approach). The language used in the dissemination of information is easy to understand, information is accessible, health workers are conducting home visitations and municipal/barangay health centers are using posters were among the factors that facilitated the respondents in availing the services. Complete medical facilities and equipment, presence of doctors and nurses, and good quality service of medical personnel also helped in the availment of health programs. On the other hand, the distance from the health center hinders them from availing the services because of the problem of transportation fare. Problems encountered by the respondents in availing health programs and services include lack of medicines for serious illnesses/diseases, no money for transportation fare and some medical personnel is not approachable. Finally, the socio-demographic and communication characteristics of the respondents had a significant relationship with availing of health programs and services.

Precision Medicine and Public Health: New Challenges for Effective and Sustainable Health.

The development of high-throughput omics technologies represents an unmissable opportunity for evidence-based prevention of adverse effects on human health. However, the applicability and access to multi-omics tests are limited. In Italy, this is due to the rapid increase of knowledge and the high levels of skill and economic investment initially necessary. The fields of human genetics and public health have highlighted the relevance of an implementation strategy at a national level in Italy, including integration in sanitary regulations and governance instruments. In this review, the emerging field of public health genomics is discussed, including the polygenic scores approach, epigenetic modulation, nutrigenomics, and microbiomes implications. Moreover, the Italian state of implementation is presented. The omics sciences have important implications for the prevention of both communicable and noncommunicable diseases, especially because they can be used to assess the health status during the whole course of life. An effective population health gain is possible if omics tools are implemented for each person after a preliminary assessment of effectiveness in the medium to long term.

Novel additive manufacturing applications for communicable disease prevention and control: focus on recent COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus has had serious adverse effects globally in 2020 which are foreseen to extend in 2021, as well. The most important of these effects was exceeding the capacity of the healthcare infrastructures, and the related inability to meet the need for various medical equipment especially within the first months of the crisis following the emergence and rapid spreading of the virus. Urgent global demand for the previously unavailable personal protective equipment, sterile disposable medical supplies as well as the active molecules including vaccines and drugs fueled the need for the coordinated efforts of the scientific community. Amid all this confusion, the rapid prototyping technology, 3D printing, has demonstrated its competitive advantage by repositioning its capabilities to respond to the urgent need. Individual and corporate, amateur and professional all makers around the world with 3D printing capacity became united in effort to fill the gap in the supply chain until mass production is available especially for personal protective equipment and other medical supplies. Due to the unexpected, ever-changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic—like all other potential communicable diseases—the need for rapid design and 3D production of parts and pieces as well as sterile disposable medical equipment and consumables is likely to continue to keep its importance in the upcoming years. This review article summarizes how additive manufacturing technology can contribute to such cases with special focus on the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

Association of Serum Uric Acid and Metabolic Syndrome Among Health Personnel from a Public Hospital in Peru

Background and aims: This study explored the association between SUA and MetS among health personnel from a public hospital in Peru. Methods: We performed an analytical cross- sectional study. We analyzed data from the Plan for Prevention and Surveillance of Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases in the Workers of the Hospital de Huaycán 2019. Sociodemographic, anthropometric, and clinical laboratory data was retrieved. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to ALAD criteria. The association between SUA and MetS was determined using Poisson regression models with robust variance. Results: A sample of 292 health personnel were analyzed, mean age was 46.2 ± 10.6 years, and 69.2% (n=202) were women. The prevalence of MetS was 38%. After adjustment by confounding variables, women with levels of SUA in the high tertile had a 71% higher prevalence of MetS compared to those with levels of SUA in the lower tertile, and this association was statistically significant (aRP:1.71, 95%CI: 1.07 – 2.74). Conclusions: SUA was found to be associated with MetS in health personnel at a public hospital from Peru. After adjusting for confounders, the association was found to be stronger in women than in the overall population. Prospective studies are required to corroborate the results found.

Who could be One Health Activist at the community level?: A case for India

BackgroundCommunity health workers (CHWs) are the mainstay of the public health system, serving for decades in low-resource countries. Their multi-dimensional work in various health care services, including the prevention of communicable diseases and health promotion of non-communicable diseases, makes CHWs, the frontline workers in their respective communities in India. As India is heading towards the development of One Health (OH), this study attempted to provide an insight into potential OH activists (OHA) at the community level. Thus, this case study in one of India’s western cities, Ahmedabad, targeted identifying OHA by exploring the feasibility and the motivation of CHWs in a local setting.MethodsThis case study explores two major CHWs, i.e., female (Accredited Social Health Activists/ASHA) health workers (FHWs) and male (multipurpose) health workers (MHWs), on their experience and motivation for becoming an OHA. The data were collected between September 2018 and August 2019 through a mixed design, i.e., quantitative data (cross-sectional structured questionnaire) followed by qualitative data (focus group discussion with a semi-structured interview guide).ResultsThe motivation of the CHWs for liaisoning as OHA was found to be low; however, the FHWs have a higher mean motivation score [40 (36–43)] as compared to MHWs [37 (35–40)] out of a maximum score of 92. Although most CHWs have received zoonoses training or contributed to zoonoses prevention campaigns, their awareness level was found to be different among male and female health workers. Comparing the female and male health workers to act as OHA, higher motivational score, multidisciplinary collaborative work experience, and way for incentive generation documented among the female health workers.ConclusionASHAs were willing to accept the additional new liaison role of OHAs if measures like financial incentives and improved recognition are provided. Although this study documented various systemic factors at the individual, community, and health system level, which might, directly and indirectly, impact the acceptance level to act as OHA, they need to be accounted for in the policy regime.

Interpretation of group standard for Clostridioides difficile infection diagnosis

Clostridioides difficile is a key pathogen of antibiotic related diarrhea and hospital associated infection, causing several outbreaks in Europe and North Americans and resulting in severe disease burden. However, the standardized diagnostic principle and detection specifications in C. difficile infection (CDI) survey are limited in China, and the infection rate and disease burden of CDI in China are unclear. Therefore, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention,National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, together with another 11 institutions, draft the group standard entitled "Diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection (T/CPMA 008-2020)" of Chinese Preventive Medicine Association. Based on the principle of "legality, scientificity, advancement, and feasibility", this standard clarifies risk factors, diagnosis principles, diagnoses and differential diagnoses in order to improve the accuracy of CDI diagnosis in clinical practice, guide the surveillance for CDI, and understand the infection rate and disease burden of CDI in China.

Prognostic Value of Diverse TP53 Mutations in Metastatic Cancers: An Analysis of the Cbioportal Database

Background: Functional heterogeneity among TP53 mutations necessitates a need to dissect the prognostic potential of TP53 mutations at different sites or against different molecular background. Methods: The information of TP53 mutations and overall survival time among 7572 patients with metastatic cancers in the MSK-IMPACT clinical sequencing cohort were collected. The effects of TP53 mutations on survival were conducted using the Kaplan-Meier approach, log-rank test and Cox regression model in pan-cancer, and in major subtypes of lung, breast, and colon cancers. Findings: Mutations in exons 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10, p.R342*, p.Y220C, and p.G245S were identified as potential pan-cancer poor prognosticators (p < 0.05 for all). R213* was identified as a significant poor prognosticator only in metastatic lung adenocarcinoma (p = 0.01). The negative prognostic effect of mutated TP53 was statistically significant in lung adenocarcinoma patients harboring EGFR p.L858R (p = 0.002), but not in those with exon 19 deletion (p = 0.173). Compared with wild-type TP53, higher risk of death correlated with TP53 mutational status located in exon 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 among patients with metastatic breast invasive ductal carcinoma. In addition, p.R282W substitution was significantly associated with poor prognosis in metastatic colon adenocarcinoma (mCOAD), while TP53 mutation was also significantly negative associated with poor survival in COAD patients carrying driving mutations (KRAS or RAS/RAF). Interpretation: The prognostic values of TP53 mutation depended on cancer type and concurrent genomic abnormality. Our results may facilitate prognosis, patient identification for further investigation, and development of TP53 -targeted anti-cancer therapy. Funding: This work was supported by the Logistics Support Department of PLA [grant number 19BJZ03, 2019], Military Medicine Fund of Changzheng Hospital [grant number 2019CZJS208-1, 2019], Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality [grant number17511103403, 2017], Medical Innovation Research Project of Shanghai Science and Technology Commission (grant number 20Y11914400, 2020), Chinese National Natural Science Funding [grant number 82002522, 2020]and State Key Program for Chronic non- communicable Disease Prevention and Control of the Ministry of Science and Technology, China (grant number 2017YFC1309202, 2017). Declaration of Interest: All authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Vaccination and the Prevention of Communicable Diseases in Healthcare Settings: Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic.

With the number of Covid cases and Covid-related deaths continuing unabated, achieving a high vaccination coverage is essential to ensure the safety of staff and patients and resume normal hospital care admissions and operations. This article questions current strategies around vaccination in healthcare settings and proposes ways to understand and address vaccination hesitancy among staff. It offers insights on how to develop a multifaceted vaccination strategy, which takes into consideration vaccination hesitancy among healthcare professionals and community-specific factors. Drawing from social psychological theories, we suggest that the root of vaccination hesitancy lies in conflicting representations or cognitive polyphasia. In addition, we argue that current communication strategies mostly rely on rational arguments and ignores the importance of a more emotion-based approach.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception on Hepatitis B Vaccination Among Non-health Workers Attending Selected Health Facilities in Mbale City, Uganda

<i>Introduction</i>: Vaccination has for a long time been used for the prevention and control of communicable diseases among children and adults. For the vaccination to be effective in controlling the spread of communicable diseases a significant number of people must be vaccinated and immunized to achieve herd immunity. The success of a vaccination campaign and program depends on the communities' knowledge attitudes and perceptions on vaccines. Uganda is endemic for HBV disease with 10 national prevalence, and therefore needs to have a general community fully vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. The current study assessed the knowledge attitude and perceptions of the community on HBV vaccination. <i>Methods</i>: A cross-section study will be used by administering a questionnaire to all OPD clients who are above 18years at three selected health facilities in Mbale district. Data was analyzed using Stata SE/14. <i>Results</i>: Out of 1020 participants 51.86% (530) were males and 48.14% (492) were females, the majority were between 18-35 years and 35.49% had minimal tertiary level of education.58.8% of respondents had moderate knowledge on HBV disease and vaccination. There was a generally good attitude and perceptions on HBV Vaccination however 62.23% (636) believed that the HBV vaccine was not effective.29.68% (304) of respondents agreed that they would go for vaccination if given an opportunity 56.33% (579) preferred to get them vaccinated from government facilities and 75.53% (772) would recommend others to go for vaccination. <i>Conclusion</i>: More Education and sensitization on the use, availability, and safety of vaccines to the community is highly recommended to improve the knowledge and attitude; Opinion leaders should be given appropriate IEC materials on Vaccines; a study on the uptake of HBV vaccine and associated factors should be carried out.

Behavior Change Communication: Past, Present, and Future.

Behavior change communication (BCC) aids in the prevention of both communicable and noncommunicable diseases in clinical settings and public health. Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in the future need to be tackled by developing behavioral immunity through effective BCC strategies. Health education and Information Education and Communication gradually evolved to BCC primarily focusing on creating a conducive environment for promoting behavior change. Various theories/models operating at the individual, inter-personal, and community levels were put forward to explain the core constructs of behavior change. Each theory/model has its own strengths and weaknesses in its applicability. In practice, no theory is perfect and each has certain limitations. Hence, a battery of theories may be needed to develop a BCC strategy. This review article critically appraises the evolution of BCC, the strengths and weaknesses of BCC theories/models and it's applicability from the past to the future. This review will benefit postgraduates and public health workers in understanding the concepts of BCC and applying the same in their practice.

Health Surveillance in India: Current and Future Prospects

Surveillance is an information for action. India has created considerable improvement in control, prevention and eradication of certain communicable diseases. Few such diseases that have been effectively controlled are polio, smallpox, vector-borne illness, nipah, Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) and so on. These achievements are the outcome of an active surveillance system incorporated at community, facility, and health system level. Any of these progresses is impossible without a robust public health surveillance structure. Therefore, enhancing the public health surveillance system further will be helpful in managing upcoming pandemics at its earliest. Improvements in public health surveillance should be synchronised with the goals of Universal Health Coverage and its regulating standards of safe guarding universal health as a right besides privilege, ensuring equity, non-discrimination, guarding the affected individual’s rights and respect their choice and placing health in people’s hand. In alignment with the National Digital Health Mission, the new Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) aims to substitute traditional surveillance data-entry system with modern advances in digital health and technology. This platform also initiates various sector collaboration, including public and private healthcare organisations and civil societies. Recommendations to strengthen the surveillance system starts with enhancement of laboratory infrastructure, referral networks and health organisations at the block level with the aim of strengthening community-based surveillance and responding in a timely manner for upcoming outbreaks.

Aetiological Diagnosis of the U-EPS-S Test in Patients with Chronic Prostatitis-Like Symptoms

Background: Prostate examination is considered to be most important in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of patients with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms, and little attention has been given to other genital organ examinations for these patients. We speculate that this may be an important factor affecting the treatment effect of chronic prostatitis. Methods: We randomly selected 200 patients with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms from the clinic services of hospitals in China for this study and used a urine-prostate-semen test (U-EPS-S test) to collect urine, prostatic secretion and semen specimens. The specimens were inoculated into a suitable medium culture for bacteriological/fungal localization detection, and the number and distribution of colonies in each isolation culture were observed. The gene assay by PCR was used to further identify the Chlamydia and the species of Neisseria and Candida. Findings: All of these patients had an infection of the internal genital organs, and the infection rate was 100%. Of these, prostatic secretion-positive isolation cultures were obtained in 66 cases (33%), semen-positive isolation cultures were obtained in 34 cases (17%), and prostatic secretion- and semen-positive isolation cultures were obtained in 100 cases (50%). In these patients, gram-positive microbes were the most common pathogens, accounting for 91.1%. Positive isolation cultures of more than two kinds of microbes occurred in 107 cases, and multiple microbial infections (MMIs) accounted for 53.5%. Positive isolation cultures of semen and both prostatic secretions and semen occurred in 134 cases, and multi-organ infections (MOIs) accounted for 67%. Interpretations: In patients with chronic prostatitis symptoms, there was a high incidence of MMI and MOI caused by resistant strains of different microbial species, and gram-positive microbes were the most common causative agents. Neglecting semen sample collection and posttherapy pathogen redetection are important factors leading to missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis of patients and thus treatment failure. Funding: This study was supported by the Science and Technology Department of Guizhou Province of China (SY[2001]3045) and Health Department of Guizhou Province of China (gzwkj2009-1-028) and State Key Laboratory for Infectious Diseases Prevention and Control, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for AIDS/STD Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2011SKLID302). Declaration of Interest: We declare no competing interests. Ethical Approval: This protocol was evaluated and approved by the ethics committee of Guizhou Medical University.