Seroepidemiology of crimean congo hemorrhagic fever in slaughterhouse workers in north eastern Iran

Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever [CCHF] is an acute febrile haemorrhagic disease. This study was conducted to ascertain the infection status amongst slaughterhouse workers in Iran's north-eastern provinces [Razavi and northern and southern Khorasan], so that analysis of the results could help clarification of the epidemiology of this disease in the aforementioned provinces and eastern regions of Iran. In this cross-sectional study, conducted in 2004 and 2005, 108 slaughterhouse workers from 24 cities of the three previously mentioned provinces were randomly entered into the study. An IgG specific ELISA test was carried out on the participants' serum samples. Sixteen out of 108 [14.8%] participants under study were shown to have IgG against CCHF. The highest rate of infection was seen in Razavi Khorasan and southern Khorasan at 17.5% and 16.7%, respectively. The study showed a relatively high frequency of this disease amongst slaughterhouse workers in these provinces. Taking into account the small number of reported cases from these provinces, it would seem that more focus is required on primary diagnosis and on referral of suspected patients

[Quality of life and satisfaction with services in caregivers of children with cancer]

Quality of life has been defined in a variety of ways depending on the context and the orientation of scholars. The purpose of the this study was to evaluate caregivers ' quality of life and also to investigate the correlation between quality of life of caregivers and their satisfaction with social work section services. The present study employed a correlational design, with 125 caregivers of Iranian children with cancer. It was conducted at hospitals covered by MAHAK. Quality of life in caregivers was measured by the Iranian version of WHO, QOL-BREF. Satisfaction of social work section services was measured by questioner including six services. Data was analyzed by t-Test and ANOVA using SPSS-PC [v.17]. The scores of all dimensions of caregivers' quality of life were lower than general population. The difference was significant in physical [p<0.001], psychological [p=0.000] and environmental [p<0.001] dimensions. The lowest score and highest difference was found in psychological dimension of quality of life. The highest satisfaction rate was related to supporting the child and family and the highest dissatisfaction was related to services given to family. The highest positive correlation was found between satisfaction with services for child and psychological dimension of care givers' quality of life [r=0.28, p<0.001]. Understanding of factors that associate with caregivers' quality of life is of central importance to the improvement of care, treatment process and for effective interventions for children with cancer. These findings provide useful information for managers to enhance quality of services and to enhance caregivers' satisfaction

High intravenous fluid therapy prevents post-tonsillectomy nausea and vomiting

Background: post-operative nausea and vomiting [PONV] following surgical operations requiring general anesthesia are common and distressing. The incidence of PONV may be as high as 70% during the first 24 hrs. of tonsillectomy

Objective: this study determines the effects of intraoperative well-hydration on postoperative nausea and vomiting

Methods: 90 ASA I patients with age of 6-12 years scheduled for tonsillectomy under general anesthesia randomly assigned to receive either routine iv fluid plus intraoperative well-hydration plus 4 ml/kg/h Ringer's solution [well hydrated group; n=45] and routine iv fluid requirements [control group; n=45]. All study preparations were administered in a double blinded fashion

Results: during the first postoperative day, the incidence of nausea and vomiting were significantly lower in the well-hydrated group as compared with control [p<0.05]. There was no significant differences between males and females regarding the incidence of nausea and vomiting [p>0.05]

Conclusion: the present study showed that well-hydration reduces the incidence of post tonsillectomy nausea and vomiting, and high iv fluid therapy is a simple, effective, safe and well-tolerated technique for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting