Determination of malaria epidemiological status in Iran's malarious areas as baseline information for implementation of malaria elimination program in Iran

According to willingness of the Ministry of Health, Iran and presence of appropriate conditions for disease elimination, national malaria control program decided to conduct a research to clarify malaria status in 2007 and to provide required information to perform the elimination program. This review is comprised of the basis of national malaria elimination program in vision of 2025, which was started in 2010. In this descriptive study, data were analyzed by applications of different variables at district level. All districts in the three south eastern provinces, in which malaria has local transmission, were considered. Malaria cases has been determined and studied based on the national malaria surveillance system. Since vivax malaria is predominant in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, number of vivax cases is equal to malaria positive cases approximately. The important point is that Nikshahr contains the maximum number of local vivax cases in this province and the maximum number of falciparum cases is reported from Sarbaz district. Among all districts of Hormozgan Province, no case of autochthonous falciparum was detected except in Bandar Jask and one case in Minab. There was no case of autochthonous falciparum in Kerman Province, except in Kahnoj and Ghale Ganj that each of them had one case in 2007. It appears that the report of locally transmitted cases in Iran is increasing over the past few years, before starting malaria elimination plan. Since the Afghan refugees started to return to their own country so the main source of reporting of imported malaria cases reduced and local cases would be demonstrated more clearly

Deltamethrin-impregnated bed nets and curtains in an anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis control program in northeastern Iran

Anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis [ACL] has long been a significant public health problem in northeastern Iran. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of deltamethrin-impregnated vs. nonimpregnated bed nets [NIBs] and curtains [NICs] in ACL control. Deltamethrin-impregnated bed nets [IBs] and curtains [ICs] with 25 mg ai/m[2] were distributed among 160 households in one district and NIBs and NICs were distributed among the same number of households in another district. A third district with a similar numbers of households served as a control. Health education messages were disseminated to ensure the population's complicance with the proper use of bed nets and curtains. Sticky paper traps were used to assess the effect of insecticide-impregnated bed nets and curtains on the density of Phlebotomus sergenti. Deltamethrin susceptibility and also bioassay tests were carried out on the species by WHO standard method. Case findings were done by house-to-house visits once a season and all the inhabitants of the selected households in each district were examined. IBs and ICs provided good protection against sandfly bites and reduced the transmission of ACL in the intervention district, while NIBs and NICs provided no protection. There was no significant difference in monthly density of P. sergenti indoors and outdoors among the districts [P>0.05]. This species was susceptible to delta-methrin in the field population in the area. Bioassays confirmed that the nets treated with deltamethrin remained effective for more than 3 months. Personal protection is an effective and sustainable means of preventing and controlling ACL and can reduce dependence on insecticides. We encourage the use of IBs and ICs to control ACL in other high-risk areas of Iran and Afghanistan during the active season of sandflies

Assessment of immunization coverage in Iran

In an effort towards complying with the WHO,s global policy of achieving Health For All by the year 2000 and also with the pledge made by the Government of Iran to that effect, a national headquarters has been set up to speed the implementation of the Expanded Programme on Immunization [EPI] in the country. This paper aims to report the results of evaluations made at various times since the beginning of the implementation of EPI in 1983