[Relative frequency of rotavirus gastroenteritis in children below 3 years old with acute gastroenteritis referred to afzalipour hospital in autumn 2008]

Diarrheal diseases are one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in infants and toddlers in developing countries and Rotavirus is the single most important cause of severe infantile gastroenteritis worldwide. This study was conducted to estimate the frequency and clinical manifestations of rotavirus infection in children below 3 years old with acute gastroenteritis referred to Kerman Afzalipour Hospital in autumn 2008 in order to emphasize on infants' vaccination against rotavirus. In this study, 118 stool specimens were examined with Gel Electrophoresis for rotavirus. Children less than 3 years old who had gastroenteritis with duration of less than 2 weeks were included into the study. From 118 stool specimens, 24.6% [n=29] were positive for rotavirus. Mean age of children with rotavirus gastroenteritis was 14.4 months. Fifty percent of rotavirus infected children were male and 50% were female. Clinical manifestations of rotavirus infections were fever [65/5%], vomiting [65.5%], rinorrhea [24.1%], mild dehydration [46.4%], moderate dehydration [35.7%] and serve dehydration [17.9%]. From all, 51.7% of children with rotavirus gastroenteritis were discharged, 17.3% were admitted in the Emergency room and 31% were hospitalized in the pediatric ward. Rotavirus is a major cause of acute dehydrating gastroenteritis in children in our region. A considerable percent of these children need primary care, visit in emergency room and admission in pediatric ward. Therefore, further studies to pursue the cost effectiveness of rotavirus vaccine comparing to direct and indirect expenses caused by rotavirus gastroenteritis seems to be necessary

[Epidemiological and clinical aspects of Kala-azar in hospitalized children of Kerman province, during 1991-2006]

Leishmaniasis is a complex parasitic disease with various epidemiological and clinical features. Visceral leishmaniasis [VL] can be extremely fatal in untreated cases. The objective of this study was to assess the epidemiological and clinical aspects of the disease in children with VL in Kerman province during 1991-2006. In a descriptive-analytical survey, medical files of 68 VL cases hospitalized in Hospital No. 1 and Afzalipour Medical Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences during 1991-2006 were studied. Data analysis was done by SPSS software and using descriptive and analytical statistics. Of 68 cases of Kala-azar, 45 ones were boys and 23 ones were girls with mean age of 52.3 +/- 46.2 months. Most of the cases were in the age group of 1-4 years. The majority of cases [41.2%] belonged to Ball, followed by Jiroft [22.0%], Kahnouj [14.7%] and Sirjan [10.3%]. Most patients were referred to hospitals in winter and mainly during February. Mean duration of clinical symptoms before referring was 31.8 days and mean duration of hospitalization was 12 days. Overall, 65 cases cured completely, while 3 cases died. The mean sedimentation rate was 58 mm/hour and the most common clinical symptoms were fever, and hepato-splenomegaly, respectively. Further studies on reservoirs and vector ecology, particularily in Ball district are required for planning control programs, in the affected areas

frequency distribution of parainfluenza, adeno and respiratory syncytial virus infections in children below 2 years old with bronchiolititis, by multiplex polymerase chain reaction method, afzalipoor hospital, kerman, 2006

Acute respiratory infections are common cause of mortality during childhood. This study was designed to determine the incidence of adenovirus, parainfluenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus in respiratory infections by Multiplex PCR method. This study included 168 children under 2 years of age with clinical diagnosis of bronchiolitis. Nasopharyngeal specimens were taken and transferred to the virology laboratory in VTM transport medium. Following extraction of viral DNA and RNA, Multiplex RT-PCR was performed. From 168 specimens, 33 cases [19.6%] were infected with parainfluenza viruses, 18 cases [10.7%] with adenovirus and 63 cases [37.5%] with RSV. The rest of the specimens were negative for these viruses, which indicated that these specimens had been probably infected with other viral agents not investigated in this study, or with mycoplasma. No significant correlation was found between WBC count, ESR values, degree of air trapping, coryza, fever, cough, retraction rale, wheezing and the type of viral infection. Also no significant correlation was found based on age, sex or general condition of patients. Major causes of viral infections in this study were respectively respiratory syncytial virus [RSV], parainfluenza and adenovirus

[Statistical study of laboratory diagnostic tests of streptococcus pyogens]

Bacteria of species Streptococcus pyogenes are a human pathogen, causing serious invasive infections. The culture method remains the standard way for its isolation and identification. Due to the accessible facilities, medical laboratories employ different methods in this way. In present study the most common methods have been statistically interpreted. A total of 159 beta-hemolytic streptococci isolated from different samples were tested for hemolysis potency, sensitivity to bacitracin [BC] or sulfametoxazole/trimethoprim [SXT] and Voges-proskauer [V.P]. Based on L-pyrrolidonyl-beta-naphthylamide [PYR] test, the positive predicted value [ppv], negative predicted value [npv] and sensitivity [sen] of each test were calculated. The ppv, npv and sen. of beta-hemolysis on sheep blood agar [SBA] for identification of S. pyogenes were 75, 89 and 89% respectively. It was 76, 89 and 53% for banked human blood [BHB]. For BC test the above mentioned criteria were 52, 70 and 89% and also for VP test 57, 89, and 94%. Finally SXT test with 49, 47 and 63% demonstrated the least practical identification value. The PYR test is considered the most reliable biochemical test for identification of S. pyogenes among other beta hemolytic streptococci. If it is not available, combining of hemolysis >/= 3mm with BC >/= 10mm has presumptive identification value of 89%. It was realized that the hemolytic activity of this bacterial species on BHB is documented and equal to a potent hemolysis on SBA. The VP test with 89% value is a suitable test to rule out its presence; but the accuracy of SXT test result is limited