International Archives of Health Sciences
Volume:1 Issue: 1, Jan-Mar 2014

As this is the first issue of the International Archives of Health Sciences, a scholarly journal of Kashan University of medical Sciences, we start with an editorial of Dr. Rouhullah Dehghani, the editor-in-chief, to explain the aims and views of the editorial board members and the scope of the journal.

A very common species of leeches has been named as Hirudo medicinalis. Regarding to the application of leeches in medicine and their fast extinction, this study was performed in aquatic habitats of Kashan aimed to determine the distribution of leeches and to provide information about their regional and habitat characteristics. This descriptive study was conducted during 2008 to 2010 in three periods and 90 samples from 30 sites were collected, totally. 30 lentic and lotic aquatic habitats located in different regions of Naragh were recognized and selected. Leeches were collected initially in 10% ethanol followed by washing and removing mucus and then maintained in 70% ethanol. The identification keys were used for recognizing the species of leeches. According to the identification key of the leech species, 15 samples from the total samples of 30 locations were Hirudo medicinalis. Total Hirudo medicinalis samples were collected just from Naragh River. These species of leeches were relatively large with 7-10cm and their colors were olive green, brown and greenish brown with a red stripe on the sides. Naragh River is one of the habitats of Hirudo medicinalis.

The occurrence of fire in residential buildings, commercial complexes and large and small industries cause physical, environmental and financial damages to many different communities. Fire safety in hospitals is sensitive and it is believed that the society takes the responsibility to care sick people. The goal of this study was to use Fire Risk Assessment Method for Engineering (FRAME) in a hospital complex environment and assess the level of fire risks. This descriptive study was conducted in Kashan Shahid Beheshti hospital in 2013. The FRAME is designed based on the empirical and scientific knowledge and experiment and have acceptable reliability for assessing the building fire risk. Excel software was used to calculate the risk level and finally fire risk (R) was calculated separately for different units. Calculated Rs were less than 1for health, autoclave, office of nursing and infection control units. R1s were greater than 1 for all units. R2s were less than 1 for office of nursing and infection control units. FRAME is an acceptable tool for assessing the risk of fire in buildings and the fire risk is high in Shahid Beheshti Hospital Complex of Kashan and damages can be intolerable in the case of fire.

Musculoskeletal disorders are common occupational hazards and disabilities in developing countries. This study was to assess postures and determine musculoskeletal disorders in employees of a water flow meter manufacturing factory in Iran. In this descriptive analytical study that was done among workers of Iran Ensheab Factory from Water-Counter Manufacturing industry in Qom province in 2013, 85 workers from different departments were selected by objective sampling method. Demographic data of the workers like age, sex, period of work experience, weight and height were recorded in a checklist and “Rapid Upper Limb Assessment” approach and Nordic questionnaire were used for data gathering. Data analysis was done by SPSS 16 software using independent T and Chi-square tests. There was a significant correlation between musculoskeletal disorders and movement postures of shoulder, lumbar, pelvic and knee. There were significant correlation between work experience (p<0.05) and unit of working (p<0.05) and musculoskeletal disorders. Most of the workers of water-counter manufacturing industry are from level 2 according to “Rapid Upper Limb Assessment” approach and lumbar disorders are the most prevalent work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

Textile wastewaters are the most important health and environmental problems in Kashan. This research was aimed to compare the poly aluminum chloride and chlorinated cuprous efficiency for removal of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and color from Kashan Textile Industries Company wastewater. This experimental bench scale study in a batch system was conducted on 20 composed wastewater samples collected from Kashan Textile Industries Company raw wastewater. During 5 months, in the beginning of every week a day was selected randomly and in the day a composed sample was taken and studied. PAC at the doses of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50mg.l-1 and chlorinated cuprous at the doses of 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500mg.l-1 were applied. The optimum pH also optimum concentration of PAC and chlorinated cuprous were determined using Jar test. The data was analyzed by SPSS 16 using descriptive statistics and Fisher Exact test. The average concentration of COD in the raw textile wastewater was 2801. 56 ± 1398. 29 mg.l-1. The average COD concentration has been decreased to 1125.47 ± 797.55 mg.l-1. There was a significant difference between the effects of these two coagulants efficiency (p<0.05). The average COD removal efficiency for chlorinated cuprous and PAC was 58.52% and 72.56%, respectively. Also, the average color removal efficiency by chlorinated cuprous and PAC were 17.23 and 64.45%, respectively. PAC is more efficient than chlorinated cuprous for both COD and color removal from KTIC wastewater.

Considering the medical significance of cockroaches as insect vectors of food toxicities, and triggering allergy in respiratory system and skin, this survey was conducted to study the frequency of infestation and their effective factors in Shahin Shahr, Iran. This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in 2010 in Shahin Shahr, Isfahan, Iran. Data gathering instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire regarding to the research aims. Data were analyzed by SPSS 11.5 software using Chi square and Fisher exact tests. 675 of 1000 studied houses (67.5%) were infested by all life stages of the cockroaches and 32.5% had no infestation. 46% of infested houses had few, 30% had medium and 24% had high infestation. the bathrooms and toilets were recognized as the most infested places (41%). There were significant relationships between infestation of houses and the age of building (p<0.001), the type of building (p=0.009) and the education level of the family (p<0.001). Significant difference was found between houses equipped their doors and windows by tulles and without tulles (p=0.03). Most infection was found in houses sheltering 5 and more people (72.3%). Significant correlation was found between the infection and the number of family members (p=0.0012). Infestation rate of cockroaches in Shahin Shahr houses is high and is mostly of P. americana species.

Municipal landfill leachate contains high concentrations of heavy metals, organics, ammonia. T he efficeincy of electrochemically removal of heavy metals from landfill leachate was studied. The leachate was obtained from Kahrizak landfill in south of Tehran. The experiments were carried out by batch process. The 2liter batch reactor was made of glass. There were eight anodes and cathodes electrodes. The electrodes were placed vertically parallel to each other and they were connected to a digital DC power supply. The pH and conductivity were adjusted to a desirable value using NaOH or H2SO4, and NaCl. All the runs were performed at constant temperature of 25 ° C. In each run, 1.5liter of the leachate was placed into the electrolytic cell. Samples were extracted every 10min and then filtered through a mixed cellulose acetate membrane (0.42μm). The amount of Lead, Zinc and Nickel removal was measured at pH=7 and in current density of 0.5, 0.75, and 1A. When current density and time reaction increased, removal efficiency of heavy metals such as Lead, Zinc and Nickel increased. At initial pH=7, density 1A and reaction time= 60min, Lead, Nickel and Zinc were removed up to 86, 93 and 95%, respectively. Electrochemical process can be proposed as a suitable technique to remove heavy metal from landfill leachate.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a prevalent parasitological disease with diverse clinical manifestations in Iran. Therefore, the present retrospective study carried out to describe the demographic features of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ramshir, Iran. This descriptive study was performed on 136 cutaneous leishmaniasis patients whose data were recorded in the Ramshir health center during 2006-9. Demographic information of patients including age, sex, habitat and sites of lesions, month and years of incidence were recorded. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16 software. Totally 79 patients (58.1%) resided in urban areas and the born to 9 years (49.3%) was recognized as the most infected age group. Hands (41.2%) had the highest rates of cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions followed by face (36.0%) and foot (22.8%). The maximum number of cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions was reported in March. As cutaneous leishmaniasis in Ramshir seemed to be an endemic rural type, the appropriate preventing measures regarding to the rural cutaneous leishmaniasis should be considered to decrease incidence of the disease in the region.