Capacity building for priority setting in Farrokhshahr population

زمینه و هدف: تعیین‌ اولویت‌های پژوهشی فرآیندی‌ مهم‌ در مدیریت‌ پژوهش‌ها در تمام حوزه ها بخصوص حوزه سلامت‌ کشورها بشمار می رود که‌ اهمیت‌ آن‌ بویژه‌در زمان‌ تخصیص‌ منابع‌ محدود مالی‌ و انسانی‌ دو چندان‌ می شود. فرآیند تعیین‌ اولویت‌ها به‌ تمامی‌ کشورها در زمینه‌ طرح‌ ریزی‌ برنامه‌های‌ پژوهش‌ در حوزه‌ سلامت‌ و بسیج‌ و تخصیص‌ منابع‌ پژوهشی‌ و همچنین‌ تقویت ‌ظرفیت‌ پژوهشی‌ بومی‌ خود کمک‌ خواهد کرد. گروههای‌ ذینفعی‌ که‌ باید در فرآیند تعیین‌ اولویت‌ها شرکت‌ داده‌ شوند علاوه‌ برپژوهشگران‌ شامل‌ بهره‌ گیرندگان‌ بالقوه‌ و مردمی‌ می‌باشند که‌ از نتایج‌ پژوهش‌ تأثیر خواهند پذیرفت‌. در این مطالعه توانمند سازی مردم در تعیین اولویت های مشکلات مردم فرخشهر در استان چهار محال و بختیاری به صورت مشارکتی مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است. روش بررسی: این‌ پروژه‌ یک‌ تحقیق‌ مشارکتی است که‌ در آن‌ مشکلات‌ شناسایی‌ شده‌ با روش‌ ارزیابی‌ سریع (Rapid appraisal) در شهر فرخشهر، استان‌ چهارمحال‌ و بختیاری‌ در سال‌ 83 توسط تیم توسعه فرخشهر با مشارکت معاونت پژوهشی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی شهرکرد مورد اولویت‌ بندی‌ قرار گرفتند پس‌ از طبقه‌ بندی‌ اطلاعات‌ بدست‌ آمده‌ از نیازسنجی‌ با در نظر گرفتن‌ عوامل‌ محیطی‌، اقتصادی‌، اجتماعی‌، ساختار نهادها و مؤسسات‌ منطقه‌ و همچنین‌ شناسایی‌ عوامل‌ کند کننده‌ و مانع‌ شونده‌ و شرایط زندگی‌ و معیشتی‌ گروههای‌ مختلف‌ مردم و تعیین‌ ارتباط آن‌ با عوامل‌ فوق‌ الذکر مشکلات‌ اولویت‌ بندی‌ و تجزیه‌ و تحلیل‌ شد. در فرآیند مشارکت جامعه، پرسنل ناظر و اجرائی ابتدا هدف از تعیین اولویت هارا برای عموم شرکت کنندگان شرح دادند و تمامی نکات مبهم را روشن ساختند فرآیند مشارکت بصورت تبادل فعال مشارکت یا مشاوره که از پیشنهادات و نظرات مردم در برنامه ریزی و تصمیم گیری استفاده شود دنبال شد و در آخر تصمیم گیری در مورد تعیین اولویت ها به مردم واگذار شد کل فرآیند با مشارکت فعال اعضای تیم توسعه فرخشهر و با نظارت محققین دانشگاه که به عنوان ناظر شرکت داشتند انجام گردید. ابزارهای اولویت بندی در گروههای ذینفع شامل: ماتریس دو بعدی، دیاگرام اولویت ها، جدول تجزیه و تحلیل مشکلات، دیاگرام ون گروهها دینفع، ماتریس اختلاف و همکاری بین گروههای ذینفع بود. یافته ها: در این‌ مطالعه‌ 40 مشکل‌ مردم‌ فرخشهر شناسایی‌ و در 9 گروه طبقه‌ بندی‌ گردید: مشکلات‌ سالمندان‌، فرهنگی‌ هنری‌، عمرانی‌، ورزشی‌، زنان‌، بهداشت‌ روان‌، جوانان‌، امنیت‌ اجتماعی‌ و مشکلات‌ اشتغال طی فرآیند فوق 20 مشکل به عنوان اولویت های اول تا بیستم تعیین گردید. نهایتاَ با تجزیه و تحلیل داده های بدست آمده از ابزار های اولویت بندی، درک صحیحی از مشکلات حائز اولویت، فرصت ها، اقدامات صورت گرفته، راه حل ها و منابع بالقوه و بالفعل پیش رو برای حل مشکلات حاصل شد

Treatment of Intestinal Parasitic Infections in Elderly and Mentally Retarded Patients

Objectives: The rate of person to person transmission of intestinal parasites is high in elderly and mentally retarded patients and lack of treatment may cause disease spread.This sudy was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of treatment of intestinal parasitic infections in elderly and mentallyretardedpatients of Golabchi center of Kashan. Methods & Materials: This descriptive study was carried out on 133 elderly and mentallyretardedpatients of Golabchi center of Kashan in 2007. Infected participants were treated according to the stool examination and scotch tape results. These tests were performedagain after one month and response to treatment wasdetermined. A questionnaire was completed during interview with patients to obtain the data of sex and age,clinical symptoms and side effects of drugs. Descriptive data analysis was performed to evaluate the results. Results: In general, 64.7% of patients were male and the rate of response to treatment was 93.2%. The response rate was highest (79.5%) and lowest (26.7%) in patients with 70 years of age respectively. Besides, theresponse rate was 93.6%, 89.2%, 90% and 100% in oxyur, entamoeba histolytica, giardia lamblia anddientamoeba fragilis respectively. Conclusion: With regardsto the high rate of response to treatment,resistance to routin anti parasitic drugs seems unlikely. The lack of response to tratment can be either dut to high severity of the infection or due to incorrect using of drugs

Prevalence of intestinal parasites infections among Afghan children of primary and junior high schools residing Kashan city, Iran, 2009-2010

Background and objectives: Intestinal parasites are one of the major medical and health problems in the developing countries that cause malnutrition, diarrhea, weight loss and anemia in humans, especially in children. This study was done to the prevalence of intestinal parasites in the Afghan children of the primary and junior high schools of city to evaluate some of the related risk factors. Materials and Methods: this descriptive study was carried out on 430 Afghan students in 2009- 2010.The students were collected by random multi-sectional sampling. Their feces were examined with direct and formalin-ether concentration. Scotch tape test was also performed for 244 students. Prevalence of the parasites and their relationship to some factors such as sex and age group were determined .The data were analyzed by Chi-square test. Results: out of the 430 students, 49.7% were male and the rest were female. The prevalence of intestinal parasites was 33.5%. The frequency of pathogenic intestinal parasite was 15.4%. The rate of intestinal parasite infections were: Entamoeba coli 16.5%, Giardia lamblia 8.8%,Blastocystis hominis 7%, Endolimax nana 3.4%, Iodamoeba buchlelli 3.4%, Chilomastix mesnili 1.62%, Entamoeba histolytica/E.dispar 1.2%,Hymenolepis nana 1.8% , and Ascaris lumbricoides0.2%.Entrobius vermicularis was found in 13.5% of the students using scotch tape test.There was a significant statistical association between duration of living in Afghanistan and intestinal parasitic infections.(p≤0.03) Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the prevalence of parasitic infections in the Afghan children was rather high. Examination and treatment of the students, education of the children and their parents and teachers in the field of personal hygine and environmental sanitation are necessary for prevention of parasite transmission

Isolation of Free-living amoeba and Molecular Characterization of Acanthamoeba From Stagnant Water, Kashan, Iran

Background and Aims: Acanthamoeba, the causative agent of granulomatous amebic encephalitis )GAE), is among the most prevalent free-living amoebas (FLA) existing in water, soil and dust. This study was conducted to determine FLA and identify Acanthamoeba genotypes isolated from stagnant water in Kashan, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, 138 stagnant water samples were collected from Kashan mosques and public parks. The samples were filtered (0.45µm) and cultured onto non-nutrient agar for the presence of FLA. Acanthamoeba spp. was identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specific primers, which amplified a 490 bp fragment. Among ten sequenced isolates of Acanthamoeba, different genotypes were determined by sequence analysis. The parameters such as pH, temperature, sampling season and related results were recorded and analyzed using SPSS16. Results: The rate of FLA was 88.4 %, 59.4% of which were confirmed as Acanthamoeba spp. using PCR method. The rate of Acanthamoeba T4 and T2 genotypes were 80% and 20%, respectively. There was a significant relation between FLA rate and sampling season (P= 0.01). The highest rate of FLA and Acanthamoeba was observed at pH 7. There was no significant relationship between FLA and Acanthamoeba spp. with pH and temperature.  Conclusions: The rate of FLA and Acanthamoeba in stagnant water were high in Kashan. The dominant Acanthamoeba genotype (T4) is pathogen. Due to serious amoeba-induced complications, hygienic education is recommended to increase the public awareness on transmission and health/preventive measurements

Seroepidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii infection in immunodeficiency patients in Kashan and Qom during 2014-2015

Background: Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic parasitic protozoon, which is a causative agent of serious complications such as encephalitis in immunodeficiency patients. Considering insufficient data on toxoplasmosis in these patients, the present study was conducted to determine the seroepidemiology of T. gondii among immunodeficiency patients. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on cancer, ADIS, hemodialysis and renal transplant patients (case group) and healthy persons (control group) in Kashan and Qom cities. Totally, 317 serum samples were collected from the case group and 120 samples from the control group. The ELISA method was used to determine the anti-T. gondii IgG and IgM antibodies. Results: Totally, 60.3% of the samples from the case and 33.3% from the control groups were positive for anti-T. gondii IgG (P<0.001). In the case group, only 2 persons (0.6%) were positive for anti-T. gondii IgM. The anti-T. gondii IgG detected in immunodeficiency patients was 55.2% in Kashan and 68% in Qom, which were higher than in the control group (P<0.001, P<0.006, respectively). The highest prevalence of T. gondii were seen in 40-59 years old (49.8%) and illiterate (60%) patients. There was a meaningful correlation between toxoplasmosis and blurry vision and dermal rash (P=0.001 and P=0.003, respectively). Conclusion: The prevalence of T. gondii was higher in different immunodeficiency patients compared to healthy persons. Screening examinations were recommended for the diagnosis and treatment of patients to prevent serious side-effects and health education