Indexed in SCI Medline

<正>Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine(APJTM)is an international journal of tropical medicine that is edited by International Federation of Tropical Medicine(IFTM)and published by Elsevier.It is the only journal of tropical medicine included by SCI,Medline in China.It indicates APJTM has become one of the top international journals.Since the first issue in March 2008,it has been included by 12 international databases:     

Aims & Scope

正Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine(APJTM),aims to set up and provide an academic communicating platform for international physicians,medical scientists,allied health scientists and public health workers,especially those of the AsiaPacific region and worldwide on tropical medicine,infectious diseases and public health,and to meet the growing challenges of understanding,preventing and controlling the dramatic global emergence and reemergence of infectious diseases in the AsiaPacific region.     

Mucormycosis in Iran: A six-year retrospective experience

Mucormycosis is a devastating infection caused by Mucoralean fungi (Mucormycotina, Mucorales). Data concerning the global epidemiology of mucormycosis are scarce and little is known about the characteristics of mucormycosis in Iran. In this study, we aimed to understand the distribution of this infection in Iran retrospectively and to ascertain whether the patterns of infection are associated with specific host factors or not. A total of 208 cases were included in this study occurring during 2008–2014 and were validated according to (EORTC/MSG) criteria. A rising trend as significant increase from 9.7% in 2008 to 23.7% in 2014 was observed. The majority of patients were female (51.4%) with median age of 50 and the infections were seen mostly in autumn season (39.4%). Diabetes mellitus (75.4%) was the most common underlying condition and sinus involvement (86%) was the mostly affected site of infection. Amphotericin B (AmB) was the drug of choice for the majority of cases. Sixty four isolates did not show any growth in the lab and only 21 cases were evaluated by ITS sequencing, among them; Rhizopus arrhizus var. arrhizus was the dominant species. Considering the high mortality rate of mucormycosis, early and accurate diagnosis, with the aid of molecular methods may provide accurate treatments and improve the survival rate. Therefore, increased monitoring and awareness of this life-threatening disease is critical.     

Travel- and immigration-related problems in rheumatology

Health problems are self-reported by up to 64% of travellers to the developing world. Traditionally, rheumatic symptoms are accorded little significance, but many travellers do return home with musculoskeletal complaints. The assessment of these patients is often hindered by the Western clinician's lack of familiarity with the types of infections that the patient may have encountered while travelling. Standard serological tests for autoimmune diseases can be unreliable in the setting of concomitant tropical infection, and these infections themselves can have musculoskeletal manifestations. Even in the absence of tropical infection, laboratory investigation of musculoskeletal symptoms in individuals of different ethnicities is challenging due to genetic and physiological variation. This review focusses on addressing the impact global migration has had on rheumatological clinical practice.     

全球健康理念与课程的兴起与发展

全球健康是目前医学、护理学界及公共卫生学界非常重视的发展方向，更由于过去数年期间所发生的跨国界的传染病，如爱滋病、非典型肺炎、禽流感、埃博拉病毒传染等疾病在国际间的流行后，全球健康（Global Health）的呼吁与实践迅速的受到重视。全球健康的领域包括传染及非传染疾病的筛查、预防及治疗。随着中国在全球健康领域中承担越来越重要的责任，国家对于相应领域的人才需求日益迫切，学生们在学习健康知识之际，也需要建立健康的全球视野，因应时代的要求，理解不同的疾病对全球人们健康及大环境的影响。本文通过对国内外相关文件的检索，介绍全球健康理念的起源与发展，并且针对全球健康课程在国内外的设立、改进与发展趋势进行比较，以期为本校建立全球健康相关课程，协助学生深入的认识全球健康的挑战与机遇。     

Factors affecting seasonal changes in blood pressure in North India: A population based four-seasons study

ObjectiveThere are no community based, longitudinal, intra individual epidemiological studies on effect of weather and season on blood pressure (BP). We evaluated the effect of season and temperature on prevalence and epidemiology of BP in tropical climate.Methods and resultsIt was a longitudinal cross sectional survey of rural and urban subjects in their native surroundings. BP was measured in four different seasons in same subjects. A total of 978 subjects (452 rural and 521 urban) were included in the current analysis. Demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education, occupational based physical activity and body mass index (BMI) were recorded. Mean BP, both systolic and diastolic were significantly higher in winter season as compared to summer season. Mean difference between winter and summer was 9.01 (95% CI: 7.74–10.28, p < 0.001) in systolic BP and 5.61 (95% CI: 4.75–6.47, p < 0.001) in diastolic BP. This increase in BP was more marked in rural areas and elderly subjects. Prevalence of hypertension was significantly higher during winter (23.72%) than in summer (10.12%).ConclusionBP increases significantly during winter season as compared to summer season. Increase is more marked in rural areas and elderly subjects. Seasonal variation in BP should be taken into account while looking at prevalence of hypertension in epidemiological studies.