Abstract:

Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of public health emergencies in Changchun City for evidence to develop corresponding prevention and control measures. Methods The public health emergencies reported in Changchun City from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2022 were recovered from the subsystem of Public Health Emergency Management under the Information System for Disease Prevention and Control in China, and descriptively investigated concerning the grades, classification, distribution of the time, regions and places of the emergencies. Results A total of 3 070 public health emergencies were reported in Changchun City from 2004 through 2022, during which 8 164 cases and 198 deaths were reported. The emergencies were primarily ungraded events(n=3 031, 98.73%), and the rest were crises at general or larger scale, which involved 29 (0.94%) and 10 (0.33%), respectively. The number of events (n=2 858, 93.09%) and deaths (n=165, 83.33%) of environmental factors were the highest, followed by infectious diseases, with 195 events (6.35%) and 29 deaths (14.65%). The environmental factors were mainly non-occupational carbon monoxide poisoning, and the number of events and deaths accounted for 99.90% (2 855/2 858) and 100.00% (165/165) of the environmental factors, respectively. Infectious disease events were dominated by influenza A (H1N1), accounting for 60.00% (117/195) of infectious disease events. The highest number of deaths was epidemic hemorrhagic fever, accounting for 48.28% (14/29) of infectious disease events.The number of reported incidents was mainly in Chaoyang District (n=1 490), Dehui City (n=356) and Erdao District (n=334), which accounted for 71.01% of the total events. The peak of the emergency appeared from October to March of the following year, when a total of 2 589 events (84.33%) were reported. The incidents primarily occurred in families (n=2 663, 86.74%) and schools (n=128, 4.17%). Conclusion The events from non-occupational carbon monoxide poisoning should be the focus of prevention and control of public health emergencies in Changchun City, particularly the safety of self-heating in winter season. In addition, publicity and education in communities and schools should be strengthened, and the awareness of prevention in population should be raised in order to reduce the occurrence of public health emergencies.

Key words: Public health emergency, Epidemiological characteristics, Non-occupational carbon monoxide poisoning, Changchun City