Epidemiology and Health System Journal
Volume:2 Issue: 1, Winter 2015

Ebola virus (EBOV) is an enveloped virus including a negative single strand genome in its virion with cylindrical/tubular morphology. EBOV is the causative agent of Ebola virus disease (EVD), which is also involved in the outbreak observed in Central Africa since 1976. EVD is a complex zoonotic viral disease which is highly virulent in human. The transmission of Ebola infection is not usually high. In addition, the initial human-to-human transmission of EBV occurs via contact with the fluids of infected patients. Since there is no available established treatment or vaccine for Ebola, symptomatic therapy and strict quarantine seems to be adequate for preventing its transmission. This virus is not airborne, foodborne or waterborne. Due to the fear from EVD and the potential outbreak at any given moment, this article discusses the main epidemiological characteristics of the disease.

Infertility is a major problem during reproductive age. Physical and psychological effects of infertility in women are problematic. The aim of this study was to determine the potential predictive factors of infertility, among women referring both public and private health centers in Ilam province, western Iran, in 2013. In this cross-sectional study, 1013 women referring the health care centers of Ilam province were enrolled in 2013. The participants were selected by simple random sampling method and their demographic, medical and obstetric variables were collected. The univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to predict the potential risk factors of infertility. The husband’s education and occupation showed to be suitable independent predictor variables for infertility by multivariate logistic regression analysis (OR: 1.36 and 2, respectively). Overall percentage of correct classification of the model was 88.7%. It means that, considering the husband’s education and women’s occupation, the ability of the model to predict the actual category of the cases was 88.7%. It seems that husband education level and women occupation are independent predictive variables. The women at risk of infertility have to be identified and high-quality counseling should be given in order to minimize the complications of infertility in both genders.

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignant and papillary cancer and three times more prevalent in women than men. The aim of this study was to evaluate the incidence rate and trend of thyroid cancer in Iranian population. National incidence was rated by Iran National Cancer Registry data derived from Iran’s annual national cancer registration reported from 2003 to 2009. The crude rate and age standardized rate were used to express the incidence of thyroid cancer. The results indicated that, the incidence of thyroid cancer increased from 2003 to 2009. The age standardized rate for women and men increased from 2.02 and 0.82 to 4.2 and 1.36 per 100,000, respectively. This study indicated remarkable increasing trends in thyroid cancer incidence. So, attention to high risk groups and public programs is necessary to reduce the incidence of this cancer in future.

Many factors could affect on the health status. This study aimed to assess the general health status of high-school students in Ilam province in 2014. This cross– sectional study determined the general health status of high-school students in Ilam, located in west of Iran in 2014. The samples were selected by multi-stage random sampling method. Data were collected by a two-part questionnaire. The first part of the questionnaire included the personal characteristics and the second part of the questionnaire contained General Health Questionnaire- 28 (GHQ-28. A total of 381 students were enrolled in this study. Overall 236 (61.9%) of students had healthy status. In addition, 145 (38.1%) of all participants had disorder in one or more dimensions of their general health status. The mean±SD of overall score of general health was 5.78±4.53 in healthy status students and 7.83±5.72 in disorder status students. The difference in overall score of general health was statistically significant between healthy and disorder status students (P<0.001). Moreover, the differences in the age, school grade, parental education and number of children living with families were significant between healthy and disorder status students (P<0.05). General health is an important issue among adolescents and high-school students who are at high risk of general health disorder. Therefore, the regular evaluation of their general health status is necessary for planning an appropriate counseling program.

The aluminum-containing compounds are used as glaze in tile and ceramic production plants. It means that the workers working in these plants are in direct exposure to aluminum-containing compounds. The aim of this study was to assess the potential damages caused by aluminum among tile plant workers. In this cross-sectional study, 60 workers whom were in direct exposure to glazing material were enrolled as case group and 112 workers whose jobs were different from the case group and who had no exposure to the chemical materials in tile plants were considered as control group. After taking fasting blood samples, it was performed cell count tests using an automated blood cell counter. Serum iron and liver function test were measured using auto analyzer. Serum aluminum measurement was done by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and ferritin was measured by ELISA. The serum aluminum level was significantly higher in the case group (7.26±2.63) than the control group (5.48±1.75) (P<0.001), as well as the mean hemoglobin level was lower in the case group (14.28±0.88) than the control group (15.44±1.19) (P<0.011). However, the mean level of iron and ferritin as well as liver tests exhibited no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05). Occupational exposure to aluminum in tile production industries could increase the serum aluminum level but may decrease blood hemoglobin concentration, which is a predisposing factor for anemia possibly through intervening in blood iron and ferritin.

Nurses are particularly susceptible to burnout. Nursing staffs are in face to a relatively stressful work environment, high mental and physical pressure, irregular scheduling or shifting, limited job promotion, and socio-emotional pressures in connection with the patients and partners. This study aimed to assess the quality of work life (QWL) and its association with «job burnout» of the nurses in an Iranian province. This is a descriptive-correlation survey which included 120 nurses of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran in 2008. Data were collected using a questionnaire and subjects were selected by stratified random sampling from the hospitals related to Isfahan University of Medial Sciences. According to the findings, dimension of quality of nursing working life was moderate. Nurses reported moderate levels of burnout in their workplaces. There was a significant relationship between job burnout subscale and quality of working life in all aspects. This study evaluated the QWL in some Iranian nurses using a valid instrument. Higher levels of quality of working life were associated with lower levels of burnout. These findings suggest that if quality of working life is effective. Then, nurses are likely to report lower levels of burnout.

Water resource scarcity, population growth, pollution of surface and groundwater by discharging toxic wastewater and subsequent diseases may raise the necessity of reusing and treatment of wastewater. Cyanide is one of the toxic materials which can be found in some industrial wastewaters. Strict laws set by international bodies have forced industries to work on developing efficient cyanide removal processes. In addition, at short-term exposure, cyanide could result in rapid breathing, tremors and other neurological effects, but long term exposure it may cause weight loss, thyroid effects, nerve damage and death. Skin contact with liquids containing cyanide may also produce irritation and sores. The application of old methods like alkaline chlorination process has become limited due to toxic nature of intermediate and by-products, and unique methods, such as biological, the iron cyanide precipitation, SO2/Air, acidification/volatilization and reneutralization, ion exchange and hydrogen peroxide processes are mainly developed and used by their respective companies. In this paper, the negative effects of cyanide on health and its industrial manufacturers as well as cyanide removal processes are briefly discussed.