Seroepidemiology of rubella, measles, HBV, HCV and B19 virus within women in child bearing ages (Saravan City of Sistan and Bloochastan Province)

Present survey basically focused on women between 15-45 years of age resident in a town of Sistan and Baluchistan province named as Saravan city located in border of Pakistan-Iran in order to find out the seropositivity against the viruses in child bearing ages in the above stated under study community. This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried-out from 2001 up to 2002. Saravan town was divided into 4 geographical areas and each area was further sub-divided into 10 blocks and in each block 10 families were chosen randomly. In the next step by referring to each family from the chosen married women with specified age i.e., 15-45 years, 5 mL blood was collected. Serum was then separated and stored at -20°C before the assay. ELISA kit was employed to detect anti B19, anti rubella, anti measles, anti HBV and anti HCV antibody. Furthermore during samples collection a questionnaire filled for each woman under study. This study showed that 89.6% of women understudy were seropositive against measles, rubella (96.2%), B19 (59.2%), HCV (0.8%) and HBV (19.8%), respectively. According to the results of no serious problem with rubella in this area; But, about measles, the present immunity against measles in this area is insufficient. It seems that incidence of B19 infection in this region is same as other places in Iran. The rate of seropositivity against HBV and HCV indicated of these viruses circulating in the population in this area. © 2007 Academic Journals

Response to the hepatitis B virus vaccine in Iranian infants

Background and Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate infants' immune response to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out on 215 infants 7-12 months of age in the Golestan province in northeastern Iran in 2006. These children had already received the complete three-dose vaccination against hepatitis B. The serumal levels of hepatitis B surface antigen antibody (anti-HBs), hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc), and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Of all 215 participants, 55.3 were males. All of them were 7-12 months old. Eighty-six percent of the studied cases responded positively to the vaccination. The response rate for males was lower than the rate for females (P = 0.34). Conclusions: We found that non-response to HBV vaccination is an important issue in our area. Further studies are needed to assess the influence of major factors such as the vaccination procedure, the type and site of inoculation, and vaccine preservation and transportation