Avicenna Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infection
Volume:1 Issue: 1, May 2014

Rabies has been reported as the most important endemic zoonotic disease in Iran and still remains as a major public health problem.. The main objective of the current research was to study the epidemiology of animal bites in Borujerd County in Iran and to compare its prevalence to other parts of Iran from April 2006 to September 2011..Patients and The data were recorded in questionnaires and analyzed by SPSS version 16. Chi-square test was performed to evaluate the relationship among variables and P value was set as 0.05.. Dog bites were the most common (69.8%), followed by cat (17.2%), fox and wolf (1.4%), sheep and cow (2.8%), monkey and donkey (5%), mouse and squirrel (2.2%) and other animals (1.6%). Leg was the most common bite site forming 46.6% of cases, followed by hands (41.8%), buttocks (4.6%), head (4%) and body (2.9%). Most of the subjects belonged to the age group < 10 (175.2 per 100000 populations). The injury location was associated significantly with sex and the residential status.. This study strongly highlights a high priority goal for health authorities to develop educational programs, recommended for the general population to inform them about the benefits of continuing the medication. Vaccination of domestic dogs and also eradication of stray ones, in addition to educational programs should be prioritized by health authorities..

Opportunistic infections have become much more considerable in the last decades, especially in immunocompromised patients and due to the medical interventions. Cryptosporidium is a pathogenic protozoan parasite causing diarrhea in children and some times acts as a life threatening opportunistic pathogen in the immunocompromised adults.. This study aimed to investigate the presence of Cryptosporidium infection among patients undergone renal transplantation, who are at risk for this infection..Patients and This was a cross-sectional study and the sample collection consisted of 180 renal transplanted patients referred to Shaheed-Beheshti Hospital, Hamadan city, Iran. The stool specimens were concentrated using formalin-ether technique and then the fecal smears were prepared from the sediments. Afterwards, the slides were stained using the Ziehl-Neelsen staining method and then examined for the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts.. One out of 180 fecal samples was positive for Cryptosporidium infection. The infected patient was a 51-year-old woman who had a renal transplantation six years earlier, with continuous use of CellCept® (mycophenolate mofetil) and prednisolone. The patient had been referred to the hospital with gastrointestinal symptoms.. Based on the results of this study the prevalence of cryptosporidiosis was very low in renal transplanted patients in Hamadan city, Iran. It could be concluded that cryptosporidiosis is not a life threatening risk in this region and it probably showed well post-transplantation hygienic status of the patients and/or low oocysts load in the area..

Hepatitis B is one of the most common chronic viral infections worldwide, especially in developing countries. The insufficient treatment of the disease increases the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which impose heavy costs to the patient and the society. Different studies evaluated several protocols for the treatment of the disease.. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response rate of the different treatments in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB)..Patients and In a cross-sectional study, 89 patients with CHB who were referred to Infectious Diseases Clinics during 2004 to 2009 were studied. Serological and biochemical outcomes to the different treatments were evaluated. The data were analyzed by SPSS 16.. CHB was more frequent in men (74.2%) than women (25.8%). The mean age of the patients was 36 ± 1.36 years. Fifty-three patients (59.6%) had active CHB while 36 (40.4%) were asymptomatic carriers. Serologic and biochemical responses to the treatment were 50% and 69.44%, respectively. However, 50% of the patients with positive HBeAg showed serologic response to the treatment, 37.5% showed HBeAb as well as reduced amounts of HBeAg, and 12.5% just showed reduced amounts of HBeAg. Patients treated by lamivudine showed the highest serologic response rate (75%).. Serologic and biochemical response to the different treatments in the patients were better than other similar studies. Besides, it is recommended to begin antiviral therapy against CHB infection with lamivudine alone as a first-line therapy..

The risk of occupationally acquired tuberculosis (TB) remains a concern, even now that the infection has been under control to a great extent.. The aim of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of latent TB infection and pulmonary TB, and to assess the risk factors for TB, among health care workers in Hamadan.. Patients and Tuberculin skin test was performed on 245 health care workers, in two educational hospitals. The reaction was considered as «positive» if the induration diameter was ≥ 10 mm. Individuals with a positive test > than 15 mm were encouraged to seek further medical evaluation, including a chest-x-ray and a smear and sputum culture of the sputum for acid-fast bacilli, in those with radiographic changes indicating TB.. Out of 245 health-care workers included in this study, 92 (38%) had positive tuberculin test. There was a significant association between aging and tuberculin positivity. There was also a significant association between the length of employment and tuberculin positivity. Ward attendants had higher rates of positive test results, compared with other occupational groups.. It was concluded that latent TB infection is common among health-care workers in the studied region. Age, occupational group and employment length were found to be strongly associated with tuberculin positivity..

Context: Viral hepatitis and the consumption of alcohol are recognized as important reasons for the development of liver disease throughout the world. It would also seem that chronic alcoholism causes more severe and rapid progression of liver disease in patients with chronic hepatitis C, leading to more frequent liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma..Evidence Acquisition: The data for this article were obtained through an initial Medline search and from the references of relevant articles, and used to provide updated information on the relationship between alcohol consumption and the hepatitis C virus.. Excessive alcohol consumption among patients with chronic hepatitis C is likely to result in more severe hepatic injuries, promote pathologic progression to cirrhosis, and increase the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma. Although the exact mechanisms involved in the progression of chronic hepatitis C in alcoholic patients have not been definitely established, possible alcohol-induced enhancement of viral replication, iron overload, immunologic suppression, the role of NF-kappa B, and the signaling pathways involved in its activation, have been suggested. Significant correlations have been reported between hepatitis C virus RNA levels and the amount of alcohol consumed by an individual. Interferon therapy is less effective for alcohol patients, than non-alcoholic patients, even after a period of abstinence. The obtained data suggest that a hepatitis C virus infection is an important cofactor in the pathogenesis of liver disease among patients with an alcohol problem.. In light of a possible synergistic effect between alcohol and hepatitis C virus replication, total abstention ought to be recommended, and due to alcohol''s inhibitory effect on interferon therapy, patients with alcohol problems should not be treated until they stop drinking..

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the most important agents causing nosocomial infections worldwide. Multidrug resistance of isolated bacteria from nosocomial infections makes it difficult and sometimes impossible to treat.. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antibiotic resistance and association between blaIMP and blaVIM genes with resistance to meropenem and imipenem among P. aeruginosa strains isolated from Iranian patients in ICU wards of Hamadan, IR Iran..Patients and In this cross-sectional study, 100 P. aeruginosa strains were isolated from bedridden patients in ICU wards of three university hospitals during five months in 2012. Isolates were confirmed at species level using biochemical tests. Their susceptibility to 18 antibiotics was assessed using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by E-test method. Single PCR was used for detecting blaVIM, and blaIMP genes.. The highest resistance rates of the isolates to ampicillin/sulbactam, tigecycline, and cefotaxime were 95%, 76%, and 67%, respectively. The lowest resistance rates were observed by colistin sulfate (96%), piperacillin/tazobactam (81%), amikacin (77%), aztreonam (77%), meropenem (76%), imipenem (76%), cefepime (76%), piperacillin (74%), ceftazidime (74%), gentamycin (72%), tobramycin (73%), and levofloxacin (70%). E-test illustrated that 24% of the isolates were resistant to imipenem (MIC: 32 µg/mL). In contrary to blaVIM gene that was not detected in any isolate, blaIMP gene was detected in 4% of the isolates. No statistically significant association was observed between resistance rates to imipenem and meropenem with aforementioned genes.. Prevalence of P. aeruginosa strains drug resistance in our areas was very high and alerting, but the other antibiotics were effective enough to be used in treatment of the infection. Overall, low resistance rate in this region was probably resulted from low prevalence of metallo-β-lactamases producing strains. Permanent monitoring of changes in P. aeruginosa resistance would help to determine national priorities for local intervention efforts..