Pharyngeal Myiasis Caused by Sheep Botfly, Oestrus ovis (Diptera: Oestridae) Larva, Tabriz, East Azarbaijan Province, Iran: A Case Report

Myiasis is caused by the larvae of flies infesting animal or human tissues and organs. This report aims to present a case of pharyngeal myiasis caused by the larvae of Oestrus ovis (Diptera: Oestridae). A 55-yr old drug addict living in the Shahindeje village of Western Azerbaijan Province, northwestern Iran was referred to the Emam Reza Hospi­tal in Tabriz, having a medical history of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and hospitalized due to respiratory distress, 20 days ago. He was intubated with a mechanical ventilator (MV) because of his respiratory distress condition. There was an evidence of the presence of pulmonary nodules in his lungs following diagnosis, and a CT scan revealed a cavity in his lung. During the nasogastric intubation procedure, a larva was seen emerging from the patient’s mouth by one of the staff of the intensive care unit of the hospital. A laboratory diagnosis was per­formed in the Entomology Department of the School of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Interest­ingly, larvae of O. ovis were identified and confirmed following the laboratory proceedings

Association between Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Educational Performance of Faculty Members in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences- 2014

Introduction: Regarding the educational goals of university and academic performance, it seems that organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is one of the effective variables in increasing the educational performance of university faculty members. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and educational performance of the faculty members of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2013-14. Methods: Researchers selected 127 faculty members and 1,120 students from different grades in order to investigate the relationship between altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, civic virtue and respect and the educational performance of faculty members. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used in this method. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21 software and the significance level of 0.05. Results: There was a significant relationship between altruism and educational performance (P =0.043). There was a significant relationship between conscientiousness and educational performance (p=0.046). A significant relationship was observed between sportsmanship and educational performance (p=0.004). There was no significant relationship between civic virtue and educational performance (p=0.98). A significant relationship was observed between respect and educational performance (P>0.001). There was no relationship between citizenship behavior and gender of the faculty members (P> 0.05).Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the more faculty members have the spirit of cooperation and assistance to colleagues and students and try to understand the specific situations that students face, the more effective they are in increasing the educational performance at the university level

Association Between Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Educational Performance of Faculty Members in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences- 2014 [Res Dev Med Educ 2015;4(1):81-84]

Introduction: Regarding the educational goals of university and academic performance, it seems that organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) is one of the effective variables in increasing the educational performance of university faculty members. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and educational performance of the faculty members of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2013-14. Methods: Researchers selected 127 faculty members and 1,120 students from different grades in order to investigate the relationship between altruism, conscientiousness, sportsmanship, civic virtue and respect and the educational performance of faculty members. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) were used in this method. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21 software and the significance level of 0.05. Results: There was a significant relationship between altruism and educational performance (P =0.043). There was a significant relationship between conscientiousness and educational performance (p=0.046). A significant relationship was observed between sportsmanship and educational performance (p=0.004). There was no significant relationship between civic virtue and educational performance (p=0.98). A significant relationship was observed between respect and educational performance (P>0.001). There was no relationship between citizenship behavior and gender of the faculty members (P> 0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the more faculty members have the spirit of cooperation and assistance to colleagues and students and try to understand the specific situations that students face, the more effective they are in increasing the educational performance at the university level

Nosocomial oral myiasis in ICU patients: occurrence of three sequential cases

Myiasis is the infestation of living vertebrates or humans tissues by dipterous larvae. The oral cavity is rarely affected by this infestation and the circumstances which can lead to oral myiasis include persistent mouth opening together with poor hygiene. Such infestations have been reported mainly in developing countries such as in Asia. Although rare, nosocomial myiasis must be noted carefully, especially in case of hospitalized patients. This report describes three cases of nosocomial oral myiasis in hospitalized patients in ICU (intensive care unit) in Tabriz, North West of Iran

Intestinal parasitic infections in patients with Diabetes Mellitus: A case-control study

Introduction: Patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are at increased risk of certain infections; however, little is known about the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in them. The aim of this study was to assess the risk of intestinal parasitic infections in patients with DM in comparison with a healthy control group. Methods: This case-control study was conducted on 118 patients with DM and 118 healthy people as control group from April to September 2014. Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and hemoglobin A1c level were checked, and checklists including risk factors for parasitic infections were filed for all participants. Three stool samples and one scotch tape were obtained. Samples were examined by direct wet smear, formol-ether concentration, Kinyoun acid-fast staining, and modified trichrome stain. Data were analyzed using chi-square and logistic regression tests. Results: The rate of parasitic infection was significantly more in the patients (26.3%) than the controls (6.8%) (P < 0.050). The most detected infection was Blastocystis hominis (n = 14) followed by Endolimax nana (n = 10) and Giardia lamblia (n = 5). Infection with B. hominis was significantly more in the DM patients (9.3%) than in the controls (2.5%) (P < 0.050). DM [odds ratio (OR) = 3.6], female gender (OR = 3.0), and the presence of symptoms (OR = 9.900) were the risk factors for intestinal parasitic infections (P < 0.050).Conclusion: Patients with DM might be at an increased risk of infection with intestinal parasites specifically B. hominis as an opportunistic infection, and routine stool examination should be considered for them

Diagnostic Accuracy of Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification Assay as a Field Molecular Tool for Rapid Mass Screening of Old World Leishmania Infections in Sand Flies and In Vitro Culture

Background: We employed a highly sensitive loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) by targeting 18S rRNA gene to identify the rapid mass screening of Leishmania infections in captured sand flies of southwest Iran and In vitro culture. Methods: One hundred fifty sand flies were collected from 11 sites adjacent to Iraqi’s borders in southern parts of Khuzestan Province by using sticky sheets of paper and CDC miniature light traps during late May 2014 to Nov 2015. Following morphological identification of sand flies species, the DNA of infected samples was extracted and amplified by PCR and LAMP assays by targeting ITS-rDNA and 18S rRNA genes. The PCR amplicons were directly sequenced to conduct the phylogenetic analysis Results: Ten (6.6%) Leishmania infections were identified by LAMP assay (detection limit 0.01 parasites DNA) among infected Sergentomyia baghdadis, S. sintoni and Phlebotomus papatasi sand flies that was more sensitive than PCR (n=6.4%; (detection limit 101parasites DNA). LAMP can identify 101-106promastigotes/100 µl RPMI 1640 while PCR recognized104-106 promastigotes. The majority infection rate of sand flies was confirmed to L. major inferred by phylogenetic analysis. Conclusion: This is the first exploration characterized the Old World Leishmania infections by LAMP technique in both infected sand flies and In vitro conditions. The LAMP method because of its shorter reaction time, robustness, more sensitivity, lack of requirement of complicated equipment and visual discriminatory of positivity can be appeared a promising tool instead of PCR to identify low Leishmania loads and entomological monitoring of leishmaniasis in resource-limited endemic of the world

Genetic variability and discrimination of low doses of Toxocara spp. from public areas soil inferred by loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay as a field-friendly molecular tool

Aim: One of the main diagnostic problems of conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is indiscrimination of low parasitic loads in soil samples. The aim of this study is to determine the genetic diversity and identification of Toxocara spp. from public areas soil inferred by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay. Materials and Methods: A total of 180 soil samples were collected from various streets and public parks of northwest Iran. The DNA of recovered Toxocara eggs were extracted and amplified by PCR and LAMP following ZnSO4 flotation technique. The amplicons of internal transcribed spacer-2 gene were sequenced to reveal the heterogeneity traits of Toxocara spp. In addition, Toxocara canis sequences of southwest Iran were directly retrieved to compare gene flow between two distinct populations. Results: Toxocara spp. eggs were found in 57, 14 and 77 of soil samples using the microscopy, PCR and LAMP (detection limit 1-3 eggs/200 g soil), respectively. 7.7% of isolates were identified as T. canis by PCR method, while LAMP was able to detect 27.2%, 15.5% and 12.2% as Toxocara cati, T. canis and mixed infections, respectively. The kappa coefficient between LAMP and microscopy indicated a strong agreement (0.765) but indicated a faint agreement among LAMP-PCR (0.203) and PCR-microscopy (0.308) methods. A pairwise fixation index (Fst) as a degree of gene flow was generally low (0.02156) among Toxocara populations of northwest and southwest Iran. Conclusions: The statistically significant Fst value indicates that the T. canis populations are not genetically well differentiated between northwest and southwest Iran. This shows that here is possibly an epidemiological drift due to the transfer of alleles. The LAMP assay because of its shorter reaction time, more sensitivity, and simultaneous detection of environmental contamination to be appears as valuable field diagnosis compared to PCR. Therefore, the detection of low Toxocara spp. loads from public area soils will help to expand epidemiological understanding of toxocariasis and establishing preventive strategies in resource-limited endemic of Iran

The first morphometric and phylogenetic perspective on molecular epidemiology of Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato in stray dogs in a hyperendemic Middle East focus, northwestern Iran

Abstract Background Hydatidosis is considered to be a neglected cyclo-zoonotic disease in Middle East countries particularly northwestern Iran which is caused by metacestode of tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus sensu lato. Human hydatidosis is a high public health priority in the area, however there is little known from a morphometric and phylogenetic perspective on molecular epidemiology of adult Echinococcus spp. in Iranian stray dogs. Methods 80 dogs (38 males and 42 females) were collected during June 2013 to April 2014 in northwestern Iran. The isolated parasites from each dog were distinguished by morphometric keys including small, large hook length and blade length. Subsequently, isolates were confirmed by sequencing of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene. Results 16 (8 males and 8 females) (Prevalence 20 %) out of 80 dogs were infected to genus Echinococcus. With regard to demographic factors, the frequency of parasitism in both male, female adults and their age groups showed no difference (P > 0.05). The phylogenetic analyses of cox1 sequences firmly revealed the 13 sheep strains (G1), one buffalo strain (G3), one camel strain (G6) and one mixed infection. The findings of rostellar hook morphology show an intraspecies variation range among G1 isolates. However, hook measurements in Echinococcus derived from G1 (sheep strain) were not a significant difference from those G6 and G3 strains. Six unique haplotypes were identified containing a high range of diversity (Haplotype diversity 0.873 vs. Nucleotide diversity 0.02). Conclusions First presence of camel strain (G6) in this region seems to indicate that potential intermediate hosts play a secondary role in the maintenance of camel-dog biology. Current findings have heightened our knowledge about determination of Echinococcus prevalence, strains of taxonomy and genotypic trait of parasite in Iranian stray dogs which will also help in the development of strategies for monitoring and control of infected stray dogs in the area

Resistance status of main malaria vector, Anopheles stephensi Liston (Diptera: Culicidae) to insecticides in a malaria Endemic Area, Southern Iran

Objective: To evaluate the susceptibility of Anopheles stephensi (An. stephensi) Liston, the main malaria vector in southern Iran, to WHO recommended insecticides. Methods: Larvae of An. stephensi were collected from three different larval habitats in both urban and rural area of Bandar Abbas city and one rural area in Rudan county southern Iran. WHO standard method was used for evaluation of adult and larval mosquito susceptibility. Bendiocarb, permethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, deltamethrin as insecticide and temephos and chlorpyriphos as larvicide were used at the diagnostic dosages recommended by WHO. Results: Findings of this study showed all larval populations of An. stephensi were completely susceptible to temephos and candidate for resistance to chlorpyriphos. Adult mosquitoes in rural areas of Bandar Abbas city were resistant to pyrethroid and carbamate insecticides. Conclusion: Comparison of the results of this survey with previous studies indicates that the resistance to pyrethroids and carbamates in this malaria endemic region is increasing. Wide use of pesticides in agriculture is certainly effective in increasing resistance. The inter-sectoral coordination and collaboration in health and agriculture seem to be necessary to manage insecticide resistance in malaria vectors