Five-year evaluation of chronic diseases in Hamadan, Iran: 2005-2009

Now the increasing growth of chronic diseases is the major health challenge worldwide. This survey was conducted to assess noncommunicable diseases related risk factors. A population-based cross sectional study was conducted in 2005 and repeated annually by 2009 in Hamadan province, the west of Iran using two-stage cluster sampling method. A total sample of 6500 subjects 15 to 64 years old were enrolled. The total prevalence of cigarette smoking was 18% [95% CI 17% to 19%], 35.1% in men versus 1.1% in women. The smokers consumed on average 15 cigarettes per day. Almost 26.3% [95% CI 24.8% to 27.7%] of the target population eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day; 52.8% [95% CI 51.2% to 54.3%] had work related physical activity; 28.1% [95% CI 26.7% to 29.4%] had physical activity during leisure time; 80.3% [95% CI 79.0% to 81.5%] had transportation related physical activity; 47.2% [95% CI 46.0% to 48.4%] were either overweight or obese; 8.1% [95% CI 7.1% to 9.2%] had impaired fasting blood sugar or were confirmed diabetes; 33.7% [95% CI 31.9% to 35.5%] had hypercholesterolemia; and 15.6% [95% CI 13.0% to 18.3%] had hypertriglyceridemia. There was a statistically significant association of age and gender with body mass index, systolic and diastolic hypertension, hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia. The evidences of the present survey promise a silent progressive epidemic of chronic diseases among Iranian citizens that may lead to an increasing growth of noncommunicable diseases in the next decade

Survey of antibiogram tests in cholera patients in the 2005 epidemic in Hamadan, Islamic Republic of Iran

An analytical cross-sectional study determined the serogroups and serotypes of Vibrio cholerae, and their antibiotic resistance rates, in the 2005 cholera epidemic in Hamadan. All 190 patients with positive stool cultures had V. cholerae serogroup O1, biotype El Tor and serotype Inaba positive. Of 60 cases selected randomly for antibiogram testing, sensitivity to norfloxacin, ciprofloxacin, kanamycin, amikacin, tetracycline and doxycycline was 97%, 92%, 88%, 85%, 77% and 67% respectively. Resistance to furazolidone, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and erythromycin was 100%, 98% and 62% respectively. Comparison with the results of the 1998 epidemic suggests a worrying increase in the resistance of V. cholerae to erythromycin, doxycycline and ciprofloxacin