Iranian Journal of Public Health
Volume:33 Issue: 1, Spring 2004

Maternal infection with Toxoplasma gondii acquired during pregnancy may result in congenital infection of developing fetuses. Up to now, decision on informed therapeutic abortion of fetuses suspected of having T. gondii infection in Iran has been made based on serological findings in mothers. This might have led to unnecessary abortion of many uninfected children. We evaluated the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) assay on amniotic fluids against serological findings in mothers. PCR results in this study indicated that only about one third of Indirect Fluorescent Antibody (IFA) positive mothers had passed the infection to their children. It was a sigh of relief for the majority of mothers who learned that their infants were uninfected. On the other hand it helped the mothers of infected fetuses out of an awkward predicament by making them able to make a solid decision to terminate the pregnancy or carry their children to term.

طSludge production is an avoidable problem arising from the treatment of wastewater. The sludge remained after municipal wastewater treatment contains considerable amounts of various contaminants and if is not properly handled and disposed, it may produce extensive health hazards. On the other hand, this sludge has benefits for plants and soils. Thereupon, land application of sludge has received much attention over the traditional incineration and dump in sea. The comprehensive regulations of U. S. EPA title 40 CFR parts 503 include criteria and standards for land application of sludge. One of the most important wastewater treatment plants in Tehran, Iran is Shoosh Plant, which applies its waste sludge in agricultural lands after dewatering in drying beds. In this research, waste sludge from drying beds was examined according to 40 CFR parts 503. Results indicate that the dehydrated sludge has not the characteristics required for final discharge. If the dewatering process in the existing beds of the plant would be modified according to title 40 CFR part 503, the standard of Pathogen Reduction class B would be achieved. Waste sludge of drying bed must be applied in agricultural land with respect to the conditions of application method that is presented in vector attraction reduction. Concentration of this waste sludge is less than ceiling concentration limits identified by title 40 CFR parts 503.

Physiological mediators of human host such as androgenic hormones interfere pathogenic fungal growth. It has been revealed that the growth of yeasts as well as of dermatophytes is influenced by human androgenic hormones in vitro. In this reason for in vivo condition, the andrgenic hormones level must be measured in patients with dermatophytosis and healthy individuals. To this purpose we measured the levels of testosterone, androstendione dihydroepianderosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) of 46 male patients with dermatophytosis due to Edidermophyton floccocosum by ELISA method. After determination of mentioned hormone concentration in serum statistical analyses were conducted. Using SPSS for windows, version 10. The most important result in our study was the low serum testosterone concentration in patients with Epidermophyton floccosum. Therefore the measuring of this hormone in patients with chronic dermatophytosis can be useful in treatment and control the disease.

Tuberculosis is a continuous threat for health in all parts of the world. An estimated one-third of the world, s population is infected with the Mycobacterium tuberculosis and 7 to 8 million people develop TB disease each year. The purpose of this study was to investigate the rate of tuberculosis in the townships of Yazd province, Iran. During the study period (1997-1999), 3885 suspected tuberculosis patients (1820 males and 2065 females; aged 8-85 years) who had been referred to the Yazd referral polyclinic were investigated by Ziehl Neelsen staining and culture method and questionnaire was completed for each subject. Then, Collected data were analyzed by statistical package for social science (SPSS) and chi-square program. The results show that, of the total suspected tuberculosis, 604 cases were found to be positive for tuberculosis. The average annual rate of tuberculosis was 26.8 cases per 100000 population (23.1/100000 males and 31/100000 females). The highest and lowest rates of tuberculosis were observed among Sadough (78.1/100000) and Abarkouh townships population (19.8/100000) and also among age group ≥ 50 years old (111/100000) and < 10 years old (7/100000), respectively. The average annual rates of pulmonary and extra-pulmonary tuberculosis in Yazd province were 152 cases (20.2%) and 48 cases (6.4%), respectively. It seems that, despite the efforts, which have been done for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of patients with tuberculosis, it is still considered as a threat for health in the Yazd province, Iran.

Intestinal parasitosis has been a major public health problem in Iran. It is necessary to evaluate an up-date data in this regard to be used by local authorities. Serum IgE determinations and coproparasitological analyses were conducted on 1200 individuals in city of Ghaemshahr, Mazandaran province, northern Iran. A total of 1200 subjects were taken stool samples for three days consecutively. Two hundred and ninety seven cases (24.7%0) were positive for parasitic diseases. The age group of 8-15 years old encompassed the highest rate of infection which showed a significant difference with the other groups (P< 0.01). No significant difference was detected between males and females as to the rate of infection based on the Chi-squared test (14.2% vs. 10.6%), but a significant difference was seen between infection rate and cases education (P<0.01). An about 5-fold elevation in serum IgE level was demonstrated. Intervention programs including health education and environmental sanitation are recommended.

An emission factor is a tool that is used to estimate air pollutant emissions to the atmosphere. It relates the quantity of pollutants released from a source to some activities associated with those emissions. To determine the quantity of pollutant released from copper and its alloys smelting furnaces, 63 samples from emission gases were collected on cellulose ester membrane filters in three 8-hour-shifts within 24 hours during a week at three locations. Samples were weighed and analyzed to measure the heavy metal content by flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The emission factors for location 1, without control equipment, for total particulate matter (TPM), Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr, Ni, and Cd were 87.689, 2.076, 37.071, 0.917, 0.023, 0.074, and 0.021 g/Mg of products respectively. Emission factors for location 3, with dedusting unit as control equipment, were 8.139, 0.152, 3.921, 0.055, 0.003, 0.008, and 0.007 g/Mg for the above-mentioned parameters respectively. Finally those were 95.828, 2.228, 40.992, 0.972, 0.026, 0.082, and 0.028 g/Mg as a whole set respectively. Samples of location 2 were collected from inlet of dedusting unit and their results were used only for dedusting unit efficiency calculation.

Specific and non- specific cellular immune responses were studied in 20 amoebiasis cases and 10 controls. All the study cases and controls were Indians living in Varanasi, India. Ten amoebic liver abscess cases were patients admitted to University hospital. Ten non-invasive intestinal amoebiasis cases constituted the second study group. Non-specific immune responses were studied using E-rosette technique. Specific cellular immune response was evaluated by measuring tritiated thymidine uptake by transformed lymphocytes using crude amoebic extract prepared from axenically grown Entamoeba histolytica NIH: 200 and two of its chromatographed fractions, i.e. fraction I (FI) & fraction II (FII) as well as a mitogen, i.e. Phyto Haemagglutinin-A (PHA). Results show those crude antigens followed by FI & FII are able to induce blastoid transformation of lymphocytes prepared from different cases. Moreover, it was shown that specific cellular immune response was greatly depressed in amoebic liver abscess cases (P<0.001). While the CPM (count per minute) of different groups on using PHA for stimulation did not vary significantly.

Since occurrence of an epidemic of cutaneous leishmaniasis with high incidence of disease (8.9/1000) in Arsanjan county, Fars province, southern Iran, an attempt was made to investigate an epidemiological study during 2001-2002. Symptomatic investigation among 270 schoolchildren over one year of study revealed that 11.9% of population had active lesion with 28.1% scar rate. Parallel study showed that among 7968 people which comprise 1572 households, 6.18% were positive for scars and 1.2% for ulcer. In our study three species of rodents, including Meriones libycus (71%), Cricetulus migratorius (22%) and Microtus arvalis (6%) were captured. By employing Nested-PCR technique, 6.8% (4 of 56) of M.libycus were found infected with Leishmania major. About 83% of indoor collected sandflies comprised, Phlebotomus papatasi. From its density it can be concluded that this species plays an important role in leishmania transmission in the area. The seasonal activity of the sandflies starts at early April and ended in early November.

The purpose of this study was to find a relatively inexpensive method for removal of arsenate and arsenite from drinking water. The capability of Iranian natural clinoptilolites, relevant synthetic zeolites A and P and Iron(П) modified of them was investigated for the uptake of arsenic anions from drinking water. Data obtained from ion-exchange using batch (static) technique showed that among the investigated zeolites, modified synthetic zeolite A was the most selective sorbent for removal of arsenic. In this study, the influence of factores including temperature, arsenic concentration, pH and zeolite particle size on removal of arsenic species from water was also determined and studied.

Ammonia in air can be hazardous to human and animal life and should be removed from the environment. Recently the removal of environmental pollutants such as ammonia by means of natural and modified zeolites has attracted a lot of attention and interests. In this study the capability of three Iranian natural zeolites (Clinoptilolite) in point of view of removal of ammonia from air was investigated. Through this research, different zeolites from various regions of Iran including Semnan, Meyaneh, and Firoozkooh resources were considered to be studied. These samples of zeolites were ground and granulized into 425 µm to 4 mm and were utilized in dynamic sorption experiments. Curves of sorption were plotted and breakthrough and saturated points of zeolite samples were obtained. The adsorption capacities at different ammonia concentrations, temperatures, and flow – rates were also calculated. Results obtained showed that, the natural Iranian zeolite (Clinoptilolite) was identified to be more efficient adsorbent than the others to remove ammonia from the air. In the same conditions, the obtained breakthrough time for clinoptilolite sample of Meyaneh was longer than the others (135min), while, the adsorption capacity of Semnan clinoptilolite was higher than adsorbents (6.30 mg /g) (P<0.0001).

Ammonia in air can be hazardous to human and animal life and should be removed from the environment. Recently the removal of environmental pollutants such as ammonia by means of natural and modified zeolites has attracted a lot of attention and interests. In this study the capability of three Iranian natural zeolites (Clinoptilolite) in point of view of removal of ammonia from air was investigated. Through this research, different zeolites from various regions of Iran including Semnan, Meyaneh, and Firoozkooh resources were considered to be studied. These samples of zeolites were ground and granulized into 425 µm to 4 mm and were utilized in dynamic sorption experiments. Curves of sorption were plotted and breakthrough and saturated points of zeolite samples were obtained. The adsorption capacities at different ammonia concentrations, temperatures, and flow – rates were also calculated. Results obtained showed that, the natural Iranian zeolite (Clinoptilolite) was identified to be more efficient adsorbent than the others to remove ammonia from the air. In the same conditions, the obtained breakthrough time for clinoptilolite sample of Meyaneh was longer than the others (135min), while, the adsorption capacity of Semnan clinoptilolite was higher than adsorbents (6.30 mg /g) (P<0.0001).

Fungi are found in different environments with variable distribution patterns depending on various factors. The aim of this study was determination of fungal contaminants in public swimming pools in Uromia, Iran. The fungal contaminations of four indoor swimming pools were studied by using membrane filtration and swab sampling method. Samples were collected by a manual plastic pump, in a 200 ml sterilized bottle. All samples were collected within 2 hours and then transferred to the laboratory. A total of 384 samples including water and environmental surfaces were collected and tested for the presence of fungi in different seasons within one year. In addition to the above information, some physical and chemical parameters such as temperature, residual chlorine, pH, turbidity of water and the number of swimmers were studied. Findings indicated that, the average temperature, pH, residual chlorine and turbidity of water in the swimming pools within one year were: 29.9°C, 8.1, 0.6 ppm and 0.8 NTU respectively. The most common fungi recovered were as follows: Asepergillus Spp. 56.25%, Candida spp. 22.9%, Rhizopus spp. 4.16 %, other filamentous fungi 16.6% and other yeast species 2.8%. The fungi such as Alternaria, Cladosporium, Philophora and Trichophyton mentagrophytis were isolated from dressing room, bathing room and other places out of pools. According to these results and previous studies on pools, it has been indicated that contamination by fungi in the pools is not significant in water and environment. Presence of dermatophytic fungus from dressing room is probably due to human contact.