[Evaluation of neonatal sepsis by BACTEC system in Mahdie hospital]

The signs and symptoms of neonatal sepsis are often non-specific and can make the diagnosis of infection more difficult. This leads to treat majority of neonates with antibiotics without bacterial infections. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of positive bacterial cultures and isolating the etiologic agents from neonates with suspected sepsis. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 120 neonates with suspected bacterial sepsis admitted in Mahdieh hospital, Tehran, Iran. Blood culture was performed by BACTEC 9120 system, as a more sensitive method compared to current blood culture techniques. Sepsis was classified as definite, probable, or possible based on clinical findings of sepsis, hematologic data, blood culture and CRP. Among 120 neonates, 11 cases had positive blood culture. Seven of them were positive by staphylococcus epidermidis and the rest by entrococcus, lactobacillus, diphtheroid and gram positive bacillus. Definite, probable, and possible sepsis was found in 1.7%, 9.2% and 89.1% of neonates, respectively. Early onset sepsis was determined in 90.8% of patients. The most common clinical manifestations were respiratory distress and apnea. It is beneficial to use an automated blood culture system such as BACTEC which is a sensitive method and lead to earlier detection of bacterial growth

[ assessment of hepatitis B and C prevalence in street children of Tehran from Farvardin to Shahrivar 1386]

One of the most important problems for street children is the health issue. Many of these children are suffering from malnutrition, anemia, and respiratory, gastrointestinal and dermatologic disorders and also acquired infections such as hepatitis, AIDS, and tuberculosis. According to the emphasis for performing vaccination of high risk children, recognition of these groups has especial importance. In this descriptive study 203 street children were gathered from different places of Tehran and settled at a welfare center. These children were clinically examined by a pediatrician and requested to answer a questionnaire. Blood samples [3CC] were obtained from each of them in order to determine the existence of Hepatitis B Virus [HBV] and Hepatitis C Virus [HCV] infections by ELISA method. Among 203 street children studied in this research, 196 were boys and 7 were girls. Six cases [3%] were HBsAg positive, 54 cases were HBsAb positive [26.6%] and 16 cases were HBcAb positive [8%]. Seven cases [3.5%] were HCVAb positive. All of the positive cases were boys. According to these positive results for hepatitis B and C, additional laboratory examination for screening of acquired infectious disease such as Hepatitis seems to be necessary

[Determining the frequency of neonatal sepsis based on premature rupture of membrane [PROM] -scoring system at Mahdieh Hospital in Tehran]

Premature rupture of membranes [PROM] increases the rate of neonatal sepsis. Using a clinical guideline for initiating the laboratory evaluation and treatment of such neonates, for instance PROM-Scoring system, particularely in developing countries in which the availability of rapid and accurate clinical conveniences are limited, may surprisingly result in reducing the antibiotic consumption, hospital charges and neonatal morbidity. We performed this survey to outline these issues. In this cross-sectional study 270 newborns of whom were born 18 hours or more after PROM were enrolled and studied at Mahdieh hospital for a one year period. The neonates underwent a thorough evaluation and the symptomatic ones were treated for sepsis, whereas the asymptomatc newborns and the ones with a PROM score of less than 3 went under a in-hospital supervision for 3 days. Among the studied newborn, 79 cases were symptomatic and 199 were symptom free. The threshold score of 3 was of an accurate specificity [100%] in diagnosing the affected infants. All the asymptomatic ones have a score below 3. Five cases developed several symptoms mostly during their first 12 hours of lives whom were considered as having sepsis and, therefore, were assessed and treated. None of asymptomatic cases were referred again after their discharge thus far. 14 neonates [5.2%] who all weighed less than 2500gr, died due to either RDS, Asphyxia or congenital anomalies. Based on the achieved results we suggest all the symptomatic newborns and the asymptomatic ones with PROM score of above 3 to be precisely evaluated and consequently treated for sepsis, whereas for asymptomatic infants with a score of less than 3 a 24-72 hours of in-hospital supervision is sufficient