Epidemiology of Shigella-Associated diarrhea in Gorgan, north of Iran

Objective : Shigella is an important etiological agent for diarrhea and especially dysentery. Shigellosis is an intestinal infection that is a major public health problem in many developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of Shigella and its various species in diarrheal samples in Gorgan located in the north of Iran. Materials and Methods: Between January-December 2005, the epidemiology of Shigella- associated diarrhea was studied among 634 patients in Gorgan. The diarrheal samples accompanied with a questionnaire, which contained the demographic and main symptoms of the patients, were transported to the laboratory and inoculated in different culture media. Colonies suspected to be of Shigella were detected using differential biochemical tests and subsequently, the serotype of Shigella was defined using antisera. Results : Shigella was isolated from 56/634 diarrheal samples) (8.8%) of which S. sonnei was the predominant species (55%). Occurrence of Schigella was highest in the 2-5 years′ age group (70.9%) and highest in summer (73.2%) with the most frequent clinical manifestation being abdominal pain (67.8%). The prevalence of Shigella in males and females was 8 and 9.8% respectively, but this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: It has been shown that Shigella sonnei is the most common Shigella serogroup among 2-5 year-old children in Gorgan. It is therefore suggested that hygienic training be given to childcare attendants and the children themselves

Maternal serum copper concentration in premature rupture of membrane: A case-control study

Copper is an integrated parts of metal-protein required far varieties of oxide-reductive metabolic pathways in human. Copper deficiency is considered as risk factors in some pregnancies. Premature rupture of membrane is a pregnancy complication with major adverse effects and is believed maternal Copper deficiency can also be considered as interventional factors. This study was done to evaluate if there is a correlation between maternal serum Copper concentration and premature rupture of membrane in pregnancy. In this case-control study 60 pregnant women with Premature Rupture of Membrane (PROM) were selected as case group including term and pre term the control group consist of 60 pregnant women with normal delivery of term and pre term states. Both group were matched for maternal and pregnancy age. In case and control group the pregnancy at term and pre-term were grouped independently as well. In general the maternal mean serum Copper concentration were 192.4±78.2 and 201.08±82.06 in case and control groups, respectively but this differences statistically was not significant. Data in this study revealed that the absolute value of maternal serum Copper concentration of term or pre term in case groups was slightly lower than related controls. Drop in maternal Copper concentration in some disturbed pregnancies such as premature rupture of membrane is previously demonstrated and based on our data the absolute Copper serum concentration of women with premature rupture of membrane was also slightly lower compared to healthy pregnancy but it was not statistically significant. © Asian Network for Scientific Information

Chemical composition and antibacterial activity from essential oil of Artemisia sieberi Besser subsp. Sieberi in North of Iran

The chemical composition and antibacterial effect of Artemisia siberi essential oil were studied in this research. The composition of essential oil from aerial parts was analyzed by GC/MS and its antibacterial effect were determined by disc diffusion method. Artemisia ketone (48.5%), 1, 8-cineole (19.7%), selin-11-en-4-a-ol (4.6%) and lavandulon (2.8%) were the major constituents of this herbal medicine. Inhibitory zone against Pseudomonas aeroginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli around discs contained 100 mg mL-1 of Artemisia siberi essential oil were 18, 13 and 12 mm, respectively. Further studies for the determination of and Pseudomonas infection in animal model are suggested. © 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Aphthous ulcer and the effective factors on it's incidence among the students of Golestan Medical Sciences University in the north of Iran

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and probable predisposing factors of Aphthous ulcer among the medical students. This project was a cross-sectional and descriptive study, which was carried out on 485 students of Golestan University of medical sciences in the north of Iran. Data was collected by filling the questionnaire. The gathered informations entered into SPSS software and were analyzed by Chi square method. The mean age of the students was 21.8 years. 36.9% (179 persons) of subjects had positive history and 8.9% (43 persons) of them had present Aphthous ulcer at the time of interview. 70.6% of students with positive personal history of Aphthous ulcer had positive family history of Aphthous ulcer too. Internal labial mucosa was the commonest site of the lesion among the subjects with present Aphthous ulcer. We found that gender, positive family history, the field of study, the form of diet and stress had a major correlation with the incidence of Aphthous ulcer. © 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information

Breastfeeding in Bolivia – information and attitudes

BACKGROUND: The main objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the attitudes of the mother and her family towards breastfeeding and the actual feeding pattern in a Bolivian population. A second objective was to study the relationship between breastfeeding information, specified according to source and timing, and feeding pattern. METHODS: Cross-sectional interviews with 420–502 Bolivian mothers with an infant less than or equal to 1 year of age. Duration of exclusive breastfeeding, use of prelacteal food and/or colostrum were the main outcome measures. RESULTS: The attitudes of the mother, her partner (the infant's father) and the infant's grandmother towards breastfeeding did not influence the infant feeding pattern. Women who had received breastfeeding information from health care personnel before birth or on the maternity ward breastfed exclusively for a longer duration (adjusted p = 0.0233) and avoided prelacteal food to a greater extent (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.42; 95% confidence interval for adjusted odds ratio (95% CI AOR) = 0.23–0.72). Information from a doctor before birth or on the maternity ward was associated with less use of prelacteal food (AOR = 0.53; 95% CI AOR = 0.31–0.93), an increased use of colostrum (AOR = 3.30; 95% CI AOR = 1.16–9.37), but was not linked to the duration of exclusive breastfeeding (p = 0.1767). CONCLUSION: The current study indicates that breastfeeding information delivered by health care personnel in a non-trial setting may affect the infant feeding pattern including the use of prelacteal foods and colostrum. There was no evidence that the attitudes of the mother, or the infant's father or grandmother influenced actual feeding behavior. The lack of a "negative or neutral attitude" towards breastfeeding in the participants of the current study does, however, diminish the chances to link attitude to feeding behavior

Elevation of serum Thyroxine level during early stage of first trimester of pregnancy

The aim of this study was to assess, the requirement of serum thyroxin level during early stage of first trimester of pregnancy. Serum thyroxin of 120 apparently healthy women was measured in Gorgan northern Iran during 2007- 08 using Enzyme,linked Immunossorbant assay(ELISA). According to the reference intervals of our standard kit, 48% of pregnant women in this study shown to have elevated thyroxin level. The findings of this study can be misleading because it was based on the laboratory standard kit, normal range for women, as general. Pregnant women require higher level of thyroxin. Therefore specific first trimester of normal range for pregnancy should be established in each particular region