ABSTRACT
Toxoplasma gondii is an important opportunistic agent especially in immunocompromised hosts and can cause significant morbidity and mortality. Hence, detection and monitoring of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies are of a great interest in HIV-infected patients. A study on the prevalence of toxoplasmosis and associated risk factors was carried out among HIV-infected patients in Jahrom, southern Iran. The prevalence of anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies was 21.1% in HIV-infected patients by ELISA. PCR was performed on all of the samples, and 1 of the blood samples was positively detected. Among the HIV patients, anti-Toxoplasma IgG antibodies were significantly higher in age group of 30–39 years old (P=0.05). The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in patients with CD4+<100 cells/μl was 33.3% that was significantly higher than the other groups (P=0.042) with or without IgG antibodies. The CD4+ count mean of seropositive patients was lower than that of seronegative patients. The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in patients with highly active antiretroviral therapy was significantly less than patients without therapy (P=0.02). In conclusion, this study showed low seroprevalence of latent toxoplasmosis among HIV-infected patients in the region and confirmed the need for intensifying prevention efforts among this high-risk population and also the risk of toxoplasmosis reactivation which could be important among this population.
Subject(s)
Humans , Antibodies , Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active , CD4 Lymphocyte Count , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , HIV , Immunocompromised Host , Immunoglobulin G , Iran , Mortality , Polymerase Chain Reaction , Prevalence , Risk Factors , Seroepidemiologic Studies , Toxoplasma , ToxoplasmosisABSTRACT
Objective: To identify the anti-Toxoplasma antibodies from blood donors who referred to blood transfusion bases of Jahrom County, using ELISA method. Methods: Based on the prevalence and characteristics method, 400 serum samples were collected from blood donors referred to Jahrom blood transfusion bases, Southern Iran, during 2010-2011, designed at testing by ELISA. IgM and IgG antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii were tested using ELISA kits (Dia-Pro) on serums. The data were analysed by SPSS 19 software. Results: Review of 400 cases, 54 of them were IgG positive for parasites (13.5%) and 346 of those with negative IgG (86.5%). In IgM examination, 1.75% of them have been positive IgM (7 cases) and 98.25% of them were IgM negative (393 cases). By comparing the different group ages, 40-50 year age group had the highest prevalence of IgG positive (17.9%) and the age group of 30-40 years had the highest incidence of IgM negative (2.5%). Conclusions: Due to the serological infection rate of toxoplasmosis obtained from this study, toxoplasmosis should be considered as a significant transfusion risk factor in Jahrom and also in any region with similar situations.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of vancomycinresistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from clinical samples in Shiraz hospitals. From March to December 2012, 100 S aureus isolates [mainly from wound and blood] were collected from three hospitals in Shiraz, south of Iran, After identification of Staphylococcus aureus by biochemical, microbiological and molecular methods, antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed by Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion test for 13 different antibiotics Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates were determined by vancomycin agar screening test and PCR for vancomycin resistant genes [vanA and vanB]. The lowest and highest resistance was seen for quinupristin-dalfopristin [n=l] and ampicillin [n=95], respectively Vancomycin agar screening test showed that 37 isolates can grow on these media. Further study by PCR also detected vanA and/or vanB genes in all of these strains Also, 19 isolates showed either vanA or vanB but were susceptible according to vancomycin agar screening test. In total, van A and vanB resistant genes were detected in 34% and 37% of clinical isolates, respectively. The results showed that the frequency of vancomycin resistance genes [vanA, vanB] is very high in Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from patients in south of Iran. Thus, urgent interventions are needed to keep the emergence and transmission of these isolates to a minimum