Virulence genotyping of Escherichia coli isolates from diarrheic and urinary tract infections in relation to phylogeny in southeast of Iran

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of virulence genes and phylogenetic groups/subgroups of Escherichia coli (E. coli) isolates from diarrheic and urinary tract infections (UTI) cases in Rigan area, southeast of Iran. One hundred thirty five E. coli were isolated from diarrheic (90 isolates) and urinary tract infections (45 isolates) samples. The confirmed isolates were examined to detect the phylogenetic group/subgroups and a selection of virulence genes including iucD, sfa/focDE, afaIBC, papEF, hly, cnfI and cdtI by PCR. The examined isolates belonged to four phylogenetic groups A (42.2%), B1 (14.1%), B2 (10.4%), and D (33.3%). Among 135 tested bacteria, 62.22% of diarrheic and 30.37% of UTI isolates had at least one of the virulence genes. In the diarrheic isolates iucD (47.77%) was the most prevalent gene. The other genes including sfa/focDE, afaIBC, papEF and cnfI/cdtI genes were detected in 15, 13, 11 and one diarrheic isolates respectively. None of the diarrheic isolates were positive for hly gene. Out of 45 UTI isolates 28.88% were positive for iucD, 13.33% for cnfI, 11.11% for afaIBC, 11.11% for papEF, 6.66% for sfa/focDE and 4.44% for cdtI genes. Several combination patterns of the virulence genes were detected in diarrheic and UTI isolates. In conclusion, the prevalence of virulence genes in diarrheic and UTI isolates differ according to phylogenetic groups, although B2 and D phylotypes have an accumulation of virulence associated genes

Prevalence Rate of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Bam District during 20 Years (1988-2007)

Abstract: Background & Aims: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) has been endemic in Bam district for many years and several epidemics have already occurred. Following a silent period, another outbreak of CL occurred after the earthquake in 2003. This study was performed to find the trend of CL during 20 years (1988-2007) in Bam district. Methods: In a retrospective study, data of 29395 CL patients were collected from medical records of Center for CL Control and Treatment and also from previous published studies and analyzed. Results: Before the earthquake there were three periods of outbreak, control and silent. The highest prevalence (8.3%, 6734 cases) was in 2000, whereas the lowest (0.2%, 215 cases) was in 2003 just prior to the earthquake. Again, in 2006 CL prevalence increased to an epidemic level (2.6%, 2880 cases). During these 20 years, age of patients has increased and after the earthquake males infected more than females. Lesion sites has changed from face to hands and legs. The causative agent and the vector have been Leishmania tropica and phlebotomus sergenti, respectively. Conclusion: Epidemiology of CL varies with environmental changes and due to the immunity after infection, the incidence rate becomes equivalent to the birth rate. Increase in the prevalence of CL after the earthquake is mainly due to the immigration of non–immune individuals to this area. In endemic areas with frequent natural disasters such as earthquake, it is very essential to consider preventive programs in advance. Keywords: Prevalence, Cutaneous leishmaniasis, Bam distric

The Effects of Prevention Knowledge Compared to the Improvement of Housing Conditions in Control of Anthroponotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis: a Natural Experience of Earthquake in Bam/Iran

Abstract: Background and Aims: There are still many unknowns about prevention and control of Anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL). Bam district is one of the old foci of CL. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of knowledge of prevention and improving housing, conditions in control of ACL based on a natural experience of earthquack, in Bam city. Methods: This comparative – analytical study was carried out in two time periods of before and after the 2003 bam Earthquake. Sampling was performed through random cluster method from the CL high risk areas within the city of Bam. The selected houses were actively visited in a similar manner and data about houses, hygienic conditions and the history of CL infection in the last three years were recorded. Data were analyzed through SPSS software and using t, Chi-Square and regression tests. Results: Both knowledge of CL prevention and housing, conditions were significantly better (p<0.0001) after the 2003 earthquake than before the earthquake. While the knowledge of CL prevention alone had no direct effect on the incidence rate of disease during both two time periods, improvement of housing, conditions was effective in decreasing the incidence rate significantly (p<0.0001). The household heads of houses with better living conditions indicated a high knowledge of prevention (r= 0.7, p<0.001). Conclusion: As it was seen, the earthquake has caused basic changes in hygienic conditions of houses and promotion of knowledge of CL prevention. Therefore, consequenthy improvement of housing, conditions directly and improvement of prevention knowledge indirectly decreased the incidence rate of CL. Therefore, for control and elimination of ACL, in addition to the early treatment, improvement of housing conditions is highly important. Keywords: prevention knowledge, Improvement of houses, Anthroponotic cutaneous leshmaniasis, natural experiences, Bam cit

Evaluation of the Cost – Effectiveness of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Treatment after the Earthquake in Bam

Abstract: Background & Aims: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a vector – borne disease and at present it is one of the important health problems in tropical and sub - tropical countries including Iran. Due to imposed expenses to the people and government, this study was performed to evaluate the cost – effectiveness of cutaneous leishmaniasis treatment in the years after the earthquake in Bam/Iran. Methods: In a descriptive cross-sectional study data about treatment costs CL-patients during 2006-7 were collected. Overall, 100 recovered patients were randomly selected and their treatment costs were analyzed. Results: For 5320 CL patients about 2570 million rials was spend by the government that was equal to per capita cost of 483676 rials. In addition, 1150 million rials were spent by the patients themselves in private clinics which increase the per capita cost to 216320 rials. Overall, 3% of the patients referred to private sectors that had 2 million rials costs and 25% referred to both governmental and private sectors which has led to a per capita cost of 550000 rials. In total, over 90% of the costs were direct and 10% were indirect costs. Conclusion: The per capita treatment cost in this study shows a significant difference with those by other national and international reports. The establishment of CL Treatment Center after the earthquake in bam has reduced the disease costs and provided an efficient, free and easy accessible service for the patients. This experience could be a suitable model to be used nationally as well as globally. Keywords: Cutaneous leishmaniasis, Treatment costs, Bam Earthquak

A New Focus of Anthroponotic Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Dehbakry Region of Bam District, Southeastern Iran 2008

Abstract: Background and aims: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is still a health problem in the world, including Iran where its cases have significantly increased in recent years. The objective of this study was to assess a new focus of anthroponotic CL in rural communities after the earthquake in Bam district. Method: After the report of the provincial health authorities, this study has been carried out in the summer of 2008 in Dehbakry region, Bam district, Kerman province in southeastern Iran. Results: Overall, 3884 individuals consisting of 1913 females (49.3%) and 1971 males (50.7%) were physically examined for the presence of active lesions or scars. The overall prevalence rate was 5.3%; 6.3% in females and 4. 3% in males with no significant difference. Most of the infection was in age group ≤10 years (9.3%) and the lowest in 21-30 year group (2.9%). The prevalence rate was significantly (P<0.001) higher in native residents (4.1%) than in non _ natives (1.1%). Most of the lesions were on the face (47%), and hands (34%). The majority (78%) had one lesion. Most of the cases had occurred during 2006. PCR technique revealed all 26 examined cases as Leishmania tropica. Conclusion: All the cases have occurred after the earthquake and simultaneously with epidemic condition in the city of Bam. Traveling from endemic areas of Bam to this locality could be the main factor for establishment of this new ACL focus. Keywords: Cutaneous leishmaniasis, Epidemiology, Ba

Seroepidemiology of Canine Visceral Leishmaniosis in Kerman City, 2011

Abstract: Background & Aims: Visceral leishmaniosis (VL) is a sporadic disease in many provinces of Iran, while it is considered endemic in other parts. This study was designed to assess the seroprevalence of canine VL in the Kerman city. Methods: Samples were randomly selected from the referred household dogs to the veterinary hospital of Shahid Bahonar university, Kerman, Iran and stray dogs, euthanized by Kerman municipality. Blood samples were taken after complete clinical examination. All collected sera were tested by a commercial indirect ELISA kit for the presence of anti Leishmania infantum antibodies. In addition, complete blood count tests were performed in all dogs to detect hematological alterations. Collected data were analyzed through SPSS software and using ?2 and fishers’ exact tests. Results: The overall seroprevalence was 7.03%, which was calculated 11.1% in stray dogs. Seroprevalence of disease was significantly higher in dogs over 5 years old in comparison to younger dogs (P<0.01). Seroprevalence had no significant relationship with sex and hematological alterations. Conclusion: Although the seroprevalence of canine VL in Kerman city was less than that in endemic parts, stray dogs could be a potential risk factor for public health in this area. Further complementary ecological studies on vectors and reservoirs in different areas of Kerman province seem to be necessary. Keywords: Leishmaniosis, Visceral, Serology, Kerma

Electrocatalytic oxidation and selective voltammetric detection of methyldopa in the presence of hydrochlorothiazide in real samples

The combination of methyldopa and hydrocholorothiazide are used to treat high blood pressure. The present research dealt with the synthesis and utilization of the hexagonal-shaped of ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) to develop a new, sensitive, and exclusive electrochemical sensor for detection of methyldopa. Thus, we did our examination on the methyldopa detection via cyclic voltammetry (CV) method, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique, and chronoamperometry (CH) at molybdenum (VI) complex-ionic liquid�ZnO NP modified carbon paste electrode (MCILZNMCPE) in 0.1 M PBS (pH of 7.0) solution. The use of DPV showed linear dependence of methyldopa peak current at pH of 7.0 solution on their concentration ranging between 0.05 and 300.0 µM. Then, limit of detection (LOD) has been determined to be 20.0 nM for methyldopa. Ultimately, the modified electrode has been utilized for detecting methyldopa in the presence of hydrochlorothiazide by DPV. © 2020 Elsevier B.V