Radiologic findings in patients with smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis

Aim and objective: Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic lung infection that contaminated 1/3 of the people in the world and that causes 2 million deaths and 9 million infected with the disease. Sputum smear and Ziehl-Neelsen staining are the best methods for diagnosis of TB, but chest X-ray is another method that can help diagnose pulmonary TB, and it is especially helpful for smear-negative patients. The aim of this study is to show that radiologic findings can assist in diagnoses in pulmonary TB smear-negative groups. Methods: In this descriptive analytical study, 100 patients with smear-negative pulmonary TB during the time period 2010–2011 were enrolled. The standard World Health Organization (WHO) definition of smear-negative was used in this study. All patients had a chest X-ray (PA and lateral). Data were analyzed with cisquire and T test with the use of SPSS and p < 0.05 was significant. Results: Of the 100 patients, 63.5% were female and 97% Iranian; 25% of patients had ESR more than 50 frequency. Calcification, Hilar adenopathy, incomplete pulmonary destruction and bronchiectasis was 27%, 21%, 14% and 11%, respectively, but frequent reticulonodular infiltration and pulmonary fibrosis (41% and 23%, respectively) were not significant (p = 0.2). Conclusion: Radiologic findings for pulmonary TB cannot be used to diagnose, but are rather suggestive

Epidemiology, risk factors, and molecular characterization of occult hepatitis B infection among anti-hepatitis B core antigen alone subjects

Objectives: Features of occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among the anti-hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) positives have yet to be described in more details. This study aimed to determine the molecular prevalence of occult HBV infection (OBI), and association to risk factors among seropositives for anti-HBc. Methods: This was part of a community-based screening project that included 5234 cases. All participants completed a questionnaire on demographic and socio-epidemiological information. Then, the blood samples were collected and tested for anti-HBc and HBsAg using ELISA method. To identify OBI, nested-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were performed for HBV-S and X genes, and viral load was determined using an in-house real-time PCR. Sequencing and phylogenetic analysis have been implemented for genotyping. Results: Overall, 596 cases, positive only for anti-HBc were included in the study. OBI was detected among 61 cases (10.2). The genotype and subgenotype of HBV among all of them was D1, except one that was D4. Most of them had low viral loads ranged from 1.2 � 10 2 to 1.34 � 10 3 copies/mL; 19.6 had undetectable viral loads. Important mutations in surface protein and reverse transcriptase were sI92T, sQ129H, rtL80I, rtS85F, rtL91I. The prevalence of OBI was related to some risk factors, such as tattooing (P = 0.02), sexual activities (P = 0.009), and diabetes (P = 0.031). Conclusion: Our study suggests that OBI should be considered among anti-HBc seropositive subjects. This form of HBV infection was accompanied with some mutations, risk factors, and diseases. However, further investigations are needed to determine virological importance of documented mutations. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc