Congenital rubella infection in neonatal cord blood samples of newborns in hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Rubella is a disease caused by the rubella virus and it is usually mild and self-limiting. Infection of a developing fetus is serious and important because the child may be born with congenital rubella syndrome. Its symptoms include mental retardation, heart defects, cataract, etc. In 2003, mass vaccination against measles and rubella in individuals 5-25 years old was done. One of the main objectives of this study was to survey congenital rubella infection status with the presence of IgM antibodies against rubella virus in cord blood samples and also the immunity assessment of maternal IgG antibodies against rubella virus in the above samples. Methods: The cross-sectional study was to determine the transfer of congenital rubella in 358 cord blood samples collected in hospitals affiliated to the Tehran University of Medical Sciences that was done in 2008-2009 The collected samples were analyzed by two ELISA methods for detection of IgG and IgM antibodies, RT-Nested PCR tests was applied on samples of IgG–negative and IgM-positive and also some of randomly IgG-positive samples for identifying the presence of the virus genome. In this study two groups of mothers were tested, one consisted above 29 years of age (at the time of vaccination) with the frequency of 73.4% and the other one below 29 years of age with the frequency of 26.6%.Results: Of the 358 samples, 91.1% IgG and 2.8% were found to be positive. None of the 31 samples were positive according to the presence of the virus genome via the method of RT-Nested PCR. Conclusion: According to high immunity of mothers, the probability of congenital rubella transmission was low, but because of low immunity of mothers of >29 years of age, it is much better to upgrade the age of vaccination to 28 years old

Detection of human T-cell lymphotropic virus Type-1 among patients with malignant hematological diseases in Capital of Iran, Tehran

Human T-cell lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1) is a deltaretrovirus linked causally to adult T-cell leukemia or lymphoma (ATL), and HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). The aim of this study was to detect HTLV-1 infection in patients with malignant hematological diseases and also determining the prevalence of HTLV-1 in these patient groups. Sixty patients with malignant hematological diseases were included in the study and tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for anti-HTLV-1, and Real time-PCR for the sequences from HTLV-1 tax gene. The mean age of patients was 33.9 ± 18.3 years. 18 of the subjects were found HTLV-1 seropositive using ELISA and the viral prevalence by Real time-PCR was 12%. HTLV-1 was found in 25% of patients with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), 58.3% of patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), 16.7% of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and no detected in patients with lymphoma. The present study revealed that HTLV-1 is prevalent in patients with malignant hematological diseases and in our study. The major HTLV-1 associated syndromes were chronic myelogenous leukemia and acute lymphoblastic leukemia

تعيين ميزان آلودگي سطح داخلي ماسک هايN95 استفاده شده توسط پرسنل درماني يک واحد مراقبت هاي ويژه در ايران به هنگام شيوع کوويد-91

Background and Objectives: Healthcare workers in the hospitals are in front line of contact with SARS-CoV-2. Then protection of healthcare workers is a critical point for maintenance of public health. Since correct use of mask and leakage of virus from the sides into the mask play an important role for mask efficiency, in this study inner surface of N95 mask with SARS-COV-2 was evaluated. Materials and Methods: The inner surface of N95 (JSP 822ML model) masks in the health workers of an intensive care unit from Tehran for SARS-COV-2 contamination was determined. Ethics was emphasized by research license receiving, health and safety caring.SARS-COV-2 test was presented negative in studied subjects based on the heath records. All of samples was evaluated after a shift work use of mask by a sterile swab. The RNA of SARS-CoV-2 in samples was surveyed based on the real time reverse transcription-PCR. Results: Studied intensive care unit was contaminated by eleven confirmed COVID-19. All of health workers performed health hygiene protocols and used N95 mask in a shift (12 hours) continuously. Health workers monitor patients in the distance lower than o.5 m. However, all of swab samples from inner surface of used N95 face mask were presented negative results for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Conclusion: Due to the negative SARS-COV-2 test in subjects and results of virus detection in inner surface of masks, there are not considerable leakages into the masks. Personal protective equipment is the last suggestion in the occupational safety, continuous and correct use of N95 mask has been recommended as the most important part of health protocol for respiratory protecting against SARS-COV-2. Moreover, training of health care workers for correct use of protective mask has been recommended.   How to cite this article: Pouyakian M, Zendehdel R, Moradpour Z, Bokharaei-Salim F, Helmi-kohnehshahri M, Taherianfar Z. Inter-Surface Contamination of Utilized N95 Masks in Healthcare Workers of an Intensive Care Unit of in Iran during Covid-19 Outbreak. Irtiqa Imini Pishgiri Masdumiyat. 2021;9(3):177-82.    سابقه و هدف: پرسنل بهداشت و درمان در خط اول تماس با بیماران کووید-19 می‌باشند. لذا حمایت های مناسب و پیشگیرانه از پرسنل درمانی در حفظ سلامت عمومی از اهمیت بالایی برخورداراست. از آنجایی‌که پوشیدن صحیح ماسک حفاظتی و نشت از حاشیه‌های ماسک به داخل نقش مهمی در کارآیی ماسک دارد، به همین دلیل در این مطالعه میزان آلودگی سطح داخلی ماسک N 95  استفاده شده توسط پرسنل درمانی به سارس-کووید 2 ارزیابی شد. روش بررسی: سطح داخلی ماسک N 95 (شرکت JSP و مدل 882 ML) استفاده شده در پرسنل درمانی و مراقبتی یک بخش مراقبت‌های ویژه از بیماران بستری کووید 19 در یکی از بیمارستان‌های تهران برای تعیین سارس-کووید 2 ارزیابی شد. در این مطالعه ملاحظات اخلاقی همچون کسب مجوز انجام تحقیق، رعایت اصول بهداشتی و ایمنی رعایت گردید. بررسی پرونده بهداشتی پرسنل نشان داد، تست ابتلا به سارس-کووید-2 در پرسنل مطالعه شده منفی گزارش شده است. همه‌ی نمونه‌ها بعد از استفاده‌ی ماسک در انتهای یک شیفت کاری با کمک سوآپ استریل تهیه گردید. شناسایی ویروس سارس-کووید-2 با استفاده از روش RT-PCR برای شناسایی RNA ویروس در نمونه‌ها انجام شد. یافته‌ها: در زمان نمونه برداری 11 بیمار قطعی مبتلا به کووید 19 در بخش مراقبت‌های ویژه بستری بودند. تمامی پرسنل مراقبتی و درمانی پروتکل‌های بهداشتی را به دقت رعایت نموده و ماسک‌ها را در یک شیفت کاری 12 ساعته به طور مداوم استفاده کردند. کارکنان مراقبتی و درمانی در فواصل کمتر از 0/5 متر رسیدگی‌های معمول در خصوص بیماران را انجام می‌دادند. بررسی‌های انجام یافته نشان داد سطح داخلی هیچ‌کدام از نمونه‌های تهیه شده آلوده نبود و نتایج شناسایی ویروس منفی گزارش شد. نتیجه‌گیری: با توجه به منفی بودن تست ابتلا به سارس-کووید-2 در پرسنل مطالعه شده و عدم شناسایی ویروس در سطح داخلی ماسک‌ها می توان گفت در این مطالعه احتمال نشت از حاشیه‌ی ماسک به سطح داخلی آن قابل‌توجه نمی‌باشد. وسایل حفاظت فردی به عنوان آخرین اقدام حفاظتی در مشاغل مطرح است ولی استفاده مداوم و صحیح از ماسک N 95  به عنوان مهمترین راهکار در پروتکل‌های بهداشتی برای حفاظت از مسیر تنفسی در برابر سارس–کووید-2 پیشنهاد می‌گردد. همچنین توصیه می‌شود استفاده‌ی صحیح از ماسک‌های حفاظتی به کارکنان مراقبت‌های بهداشتی آموزش داده شود.   How to cite this article: Pouyakian M, Zendehdel R, Moradpour Z, Bokharaei-Salim F, Helmi-kohnehshahri M, Taherianfar Z. Inter-Surface Contamination of Utilized N95 Masks in Healthcare Workers of an Intensive Care Unit of in Iran during Covid-19 Outbreak. Irtiqa Imini Pishgiri Masdumiyat. 2021;9(3):177-82. &nbsp

HIV-1 reverse transcriptase and protease mutations for drug-resistance detection among treatment-experienced and naïve HIV-infected individuals.

BACKGROUND:The presence of drug resistance mutations (DRMs) against antiretroviral agents is one of the main concerns in the clinical management of individuals with human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) infection, especially in regions of the world where treatment options are limited. The current study aimed at assessing the prevalence of HIV-1 DRMs among naïve and treatment-experienced HIV-1-infected patients in Iran. METHODS:From April 2013 to September 2018, the HIV-1 protease and reverse transcriptase genes were amplified and sequenced in plasma specimens of 60 newly diagnosed antiretroviral-naive individuals and 46 participants receiving antiretroviral therapies (ARTs) for at least six months with an HIV viral load of more than 1000 IU/mL to determine the HIV-1 DRMs and subtypes. RESULTS:Among the 60 treatment-naïve HIV-1-infected participants, 8.3% were infected with HIV-1 variants with surveillance DRMs (SDRMs). The SDRMs, D67N and D67E, belonged to the NRTIs class in two patients and K103N and V106A belonged to the NNRTIs class in three patients. The phylogenetic analysis showed that 91.7% of the subjects were infected with subtype CRF35_AD, followed by subtype B (5.0%) and CRF01_AE (3.3%). Among the 46 ART-experienced participants, 33 (71.7%) carried HIV-1 variants with SDRMs (9.1% against PIs, 78.8% against NRTIs, and 100% against NNRTIs). M46I and I47V were the most common mutations for PIs, M184V was the most common mutation for the NRTIs, and K103N/S was the most common mutation for NNRTIs. Phylogenetic analysis of the polymerase region showed that all of the 46 HIV-1-infected patients who failed on ART carried CRF35_AD. CONCLUSIONS:The moderate prevalence of SDRMs (8.3%) in treatment-naïve and ART-failed (77.1%) Iranian patients with HIV-1-infection emphasizes the need for systematic viral load monitoring, expanding drug resistance testing, carefully surveilling individuals on ART regimens, and facilitating access to new antiretrovirals by health authorities

Occult Hepatitis C Infection Among Hemodialysis Patients: A Prevalence Study

Introduction and aim: Occult hepatitis C infection (OHCI) is the presence of HCV-RNA in the liver or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) accompanying with negative serologic results. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of OHCI among Iranian chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients. Material and methods: In this cross sectional study 200 chronic HD patients with negative HCV antibody enrolled the study. Blood sample of patients were obtained, followed by Polymerase Chain reaction (PCR) testing for detection of HCV RNA. Patients with positive serum HCV RNA were considered as manifest hepatitis C infection (MHCI). However, patients with negative serum HCV RNA underwent further tests on PBMCs for detection of OHCI. Results: Serum HCV RNA was positive in 2 (1%) patients whom considered as MHCI, and 6 (3.03%) patients had positive PBMC HCV RNA. Conclusion: In conclusion, chronic HD patients have been considered as a high risk group for hepatitis C infection. The results of this study suggest that these patients are also at risk for OHCI. Furthermore, evaluating PBMCs to detect HCV RNA would be a sensitive diagnostic method to find OHCI patients

Prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in neonates born to mothers or relatives with COVID-19

BACKGROUND: In December 2019, in Wuhan, China, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was emerged due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). It seems that children and neonates, similar to adult and elderly individuals, are at risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, adequate data are not available about neonates infected with SARS-CoV-2. METHODS: This study evaluated the presence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in neonates born to mothers or relatives with COVID-19. This cross-sectional study was performed on 25,044 consecutive Iranian participants in Tehran, Iran, from January 2020 to August 2020. Viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) was extracted from 500 µl of the oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal specimens of the participants. The genomic RNA of SARS-CoV-2 was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. RESULTS: Out of all participants, 98 (0.40%) cases were neonates born to mothers or relatives with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, the current study was performed on these neonates. Out of 98 studied neonates, 6 (6.1%) cases had positive PCR results for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Moreover, among 98 studied neonates’ mothers, 25 (25.5%) cases had positive PCR results for SARS-CoV-2 infection. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study demonstrated that the rate of COVID-19 in neonates born to mothers or relatives with SARS-CoV-2 infection in the Iranian population is about 6.1%