ABSTRACT
Visceral leishmaniasis, also known as Kala-azar, is one of the main parasitic vector borne diseases, which transmitted by sand fly. The current study reported the seven positive cases of Kala-azar in Maravetapeh county in Golestan province, Iran from 2007-15. Using geographic information system, villages which had confirmed cases of Kala-azar were identified and their geographical information was registered. Villages with confirmed cases of Kala-azar were introduced as at risk villages for visceral leishmaniasis. All of these cases were aged under 6 years and in all of them fever and splenomegaly was reported. All subjects had lower normal range of hemoglobin and plateles. These cases were reported from 6 villages in 3 districts of Maraveh Tapeh County. All of these villages are in hot and dry areas of county and they have mountainous and semi-mountainous geographical status with higher altitude compare to other villages. Fifty two villages of county were recognized as at-risk villages for Kala-azar. Kala-azar presented in sporadic condition in Maravetapeh County. Continuous case finding of Kala-azar for early diagnosis and treatment is necessary
Subject(s)
Humans , Child, Preschool , Fever , SplenomegalyABSTRACT
The prevalence of hepatitis B infection is increasing worldwide. The main way to prevent hepatitis B transmission to newborns can be through accurate detection of HBsAg positive pregnant women and implementation of standard protocol for their infants. Therefore, this study carried out to determine the frequency of HBsAg in pregnant women in Gorgan, Iran. This cross sectional study was done on 1553 pregnant women whom attended to Dezyani hospital in Gorgan, North of Iran during 2008-09. Blood samples were taken and tested for HBsAg and HBeAg using ELISA method. HBsAg was found positive in 15 [1%] pregnant women. However, HBeAg were negative in all cases. Seven of these cases [46.7%] were not diagnosed before admission to the hospital for delivery and therefore had not received any immunoprophylaxis or HBIG treatment for their newborns. In contrary, six mothers and their newborns received immunoprophylaxis due to falsely diagnosed HBsAg seropositive. This study showed that the current protocols for dealing with HBsAg seropositivity and case finding among pregnant women in this region should be thoroughly revised. Furthermore, it is suggested that pregnant women during third trimester should be screened for HBsAg