Epidemiological characteristics of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis in Nanchang, China: a retrospective study

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Shu-hua Chen¹  Jian Li¹  Zhen Liao²  Shi-hui Peng²  Hai-rong Wen²  Yan-xia Zhang²  Hai-ying Chen²  Xiao-wu Feng²  Yan Yan³  Chang-hui Xiong³  Li Zhang³  Hui-qing Yao³  Li Huang³ 

[1] Donghu District Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanchang, China;Nanchang City Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanchang, China;School of Public Health, Central South University, 410078, Changsha, China;

关键词: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis;    Incidence;    Epidemiology;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-111

 received in 2013-07-03, accepted in 2013-12-02,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAcute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an autoimmune disease that typically follows a monophasic course and may affect any age group. The precise population-based incidence of ADEM is still unknown in most countries. In China, there is no ADEM surveillance system. The exact incidence of ADEM is difficult to estimate, and other epidemiological characteristics of ADEM are unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of ADEM in Nanchang, China.MethodsA retrospective investigation was conducted with ADEM patients admitted to second-level and third-level hospitals in Nanchang from 2008 to 2010, aiming to analyse the epidemiologic characteristics of ADEM in the population in Nanchang. ADEM patients, defined as patients who were diagnosed according to the consensus definition of ADEM provided by the International Pediatric MS Study Group, were enrolled in the study. The data were extracted from the ADEM patients’ medical records.ResultsForty-seven ADEM patients were investigated. The average annual incidence was 0.31/100,000; the incidence among males (0.31/100,000) was nearly equal to that among females (0.31/100,000). The median age of onset was 25.97 years old, and the peak incidence was observed in the 5- to 9-year-old age group (0.75/100,000), followed by the over-60 age group (0.55/100,000). ADEM occurs throughout the year, but it occurs most frequently in March (n = 7) and least frequently in April and July (both n = 2). The patient numbers are roughly even in the other months. In the 2 months before the onset of ADEM, 15 patients presented with a preceding infection, but none of the patients received a vaccination. An increased number of vaccination was not accompanied by a corresponding increased number of cases of ADEM.ConclusionsThe average annual incidence of ADEM was 0.31/100,000 in Nanchang. The incidence among males was nearly equal to that among females. The peak age of onset was 5–9 years old. The peak season of onset was not apparent. There was no evidence of an association between increased number of vaccines administered and number of cases of ADEM in Nanchang, China.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Xiong et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.