Preliminary report of a nationwide case-control study for identifying risk factors of tuberculosis following renal transplantation

Background. Tuberculosis (TB) is an important infection encountered posttransplantation, especially among patients in developing countries, where there are high incidences of morbidity and mortality. Materials and Methods. One hundred and twenty subjects (1) from 15 major kidney transplantation centers in Iran from 1984 to 2003 were compared with 440 controls who were matched for operative time, treatment center, and surgical team. Results. Mean ages of research subjects and controls were 38.6 and 36.6 years (P = .04), respectively. The mean duration of pretransplantation hemodialysis was 29 months (range, 2 to 192 months) in research subjects and 20 months (range, 1 to 180 months) in controls (P = .003). Positive past history of tuberculosis was detected in 4 (3.3) research subjects and in 7 (1.5) controls (P = .2). Fifty-two research subjects (43.3) and 241 controls (54.8) had pretransplantation purified protein derivative of tuberculin less than 5 mm (P = .02). Mean dosages of initial and maintenance immunosuppressive drugs in research subjects and in controls were not significantly different. Sixty research subjects (50) and 152 controls (34.5) had rejection prior to diagnosis of TB (P = .03). Conclusion. To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrates an increased risk of posttransplant TB by prolonged duration of pretransplant hemodialysis and number of posttransplant rejection episodes. Further study is needed to clarify these findings specifically with respect to various immunosuppressive regimens. © 2005 by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Outbreak of contagious ecthyma in camels (<em>Camelus dromedarius</em> and <em>Camelus bactrianus</em>) in Southwest Iran

Camel contagious ecthyma (CCE) is a highly infectious viral skin disease of sheep, goats, and camels caused by a Parapoxvirus. This study reports an outbreak of CCE in a herd of 34 camels/dromedaries, with 24 infected animals. The infected animals exhibited severe papules on the lips and legs, increase in body temperature, profuse salivation, foul mouth smell, and facial edema. Staphylococcus aureus was identified in some samples. The morbidity and mortality rates were 70.6 and 6%, respectively. A supportive treatment was administered to the infected camels. Most of the  camels  recovered  within three weeks. Skin analysis by the polymerase chain reaction revealed the pre- sence of the B2L gene of the CE Kerman/2000 strain. This is the second report on the presence of CCE in Iran. As there is no vaccination program for camels against contagious ecthyma virus in Iran, this study may form the basis for establishing such a progra

The risk factors and laboratory diagnostics for post renal transplant tuberculosis: A case-control, country-wide study on definitive cases

Background. Tuberculosis (TB) is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in renal transplant recipients and, because of its infrequency and the lack of medical awareness, it is usually misdiagnosed. This study was carried out to determine frequency and weight of multiple risk factors for post kidney transplantation TB. Methods. A total of 44 cases (0.3), out of 12,820 patients from 12 major kidney transplantation centers in Iran from 1984 to 2003, were compared with 184 healthy transplant subjects who were transplanted by the same surgical team. Results. The mean age of cases and controls was 37.7 (13-63) and 35.6 (8-67) years (P=0.3), respectively. The mean duration of pre-transplantation hemodialysis was 30.3 (3-168) months in cases and 18.2 (1-180) months in controls (P=0.03). A positive past history of TB was detected in 2 cases and 1 control (P=0.3). The mean doses of initial and maintenance immunosuppressive drugs in cases and controls were not significantly different. A total of 25 cases (56.8) and 60 controls (32.6) had rejection before diagnosis of TB (P=0.004; OR=2.7, CI95: 1.3-5.6). Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrated an increase in the risk of post-transplant TB by increasing the duration of pre-transplant hemodialysis and the number of post-transplant rejection episodes as 2 immunocompromised states. Further study is needed to clarify our new findings, specifically in relation to different immunosuppressive regimens. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Risk factors and laboratory diagnostics for post renal transplant tuberculosis: A case-controlled, country-wide study on definitive cases

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in renal transplant recipients. It is usually misdiagnosed because of lack of medical awareness and its infrequency in renal transplant recipients. Materials and Methods: 44 cases (0.3) with post-transplant TB out of 12820 patients who had renal transplants performed between 1984 to 2003 were found from the hospital records of 12 major kidney transplantation centers in Iran. These cases were compared with 184 healthy transplant subjects whose transplants were performed by the same surgical team as the controls. Results: The mean age of cases and controls was 37.7 (13-63) and 35.6 (8-67) years (p=0.3), respectively. The mean duration of pre-transplantation hemodialysis was 30.3 (3-168) months in cases and 18.2(1-180) months in controls (p=0.03). A past history of tuberculosis was detected in 2 cases and 1 control (p=0.3). The mean doses of initial and maintenance immunosuppressive drugs in cases and controls were not significantly different. A total of 25 cases (56.8) and 60(32.6) controls had rejection prior to diagnosis of TB (p=0.004; OR=2.7, Cl95 1.3-5.6). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first study that demonstrated increasing risk of post-transplant TB by extending the duration of pre-transplant hemodialysis and the number of post-transplant rejection episodes. Further study is needed to clarify our new findings specifically in respect of different immunosuppressive regimens. © 2006 NRITLD, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Iran