[Pulmonary tuberculosis risk factors in hospitalized HIV positive patients in Ahvaz, Iran [2001-09]]

Human immunodeficiency virus [HIV] pandemic is increasing word-wide. Tuberculosis is the main cause of death and low quality of life in HIV infected patients. The prevalence of Tuberculosis in HIV infected patients varies in different areas according to socioeconomic, cultural and geographical situation. This study was done to asses the pulmonary Tuberculosis risk factors in hospitalized HIV positive patients in Ahvaz, Iran. In this data based study all medical files of admitted HIV positive patients in Razi hospital in Ahvaz in south west of Iran were reviewed during 2001-09. Demographic characteristics and HIV Tuberculosis related variables were analyzed using SPSS-16, Fisher's exact test and Odds Ratio. Out of 123 HIV cases 99 [80.5%] were injecting drug user [IDU], sixty eight [55.3%] had imprisoment history. Eighty one patients [65.8%] had Tuberculosis, in which 46 had co-morbidities such as infective endocarditis or viral hepatitis, 79 cases were IDU, 61 cases had imprisonment history and 24 cases had CD4 count below 200. There was a significant association between Tuberculosis and IDU, imprisonment and CD4 count [P<0.05]. This study showed that the rate of Tuberculosis in HIV positive patients is higher than the rate in previous studies performed in Iran. Also exposure to Tuberculosis cases in prison, IDU and low CD4+ T- lymphocyte count are the main risk factors for Tuberculosis acquisition

[Patterns of breastfeeding in infants]

Successful breastfeeding is the result of right patterns of breastfeeding. This research aimed to study the patterns of breastfeeding in infants in Ray health centers. This is a descriptive study. The cluster random sampling [CRS] technique was used to select 400 mothers who had children under one year. Data were gathered using a questionnaire. Validity of the questionnaire was evaluated using content validity and reliability was determined using test-pretest method. Statistical analysis was carried out using statistical package for social sciences [SPSS]. The results showed that 34.5% of mothers breastfed their children exclusively for 6 months. In 58.7% of the samples, the first contact between mother and child was made in less than 2 hours. 95.2% of children were started their first feeding with colostrums and 59% of mothers fed their children with Manna and 54% with sugary water and 39.5% gave them water. 81.5% of children were breastfeed on demand and 18.5% of them were feed two to four times a day. There was no significant relationship between parent's knowledge, child's sex, parent's age, child's rank in the family and child's race with breastfeeding [P>0.05]. The results showed that the mothers had wrong beliefs, low knowledge and inappropriate practice on breastfeeding