[Epidemiology of injuries in toddlers and infants [6-24 months]]

Injury is a leading cause for morbidity and mortality in otherwise healthy children. There are few data [especially in Iran] about epidemiology and incidence of injury in the first two years of life. This research was a cross sectional descriptive study on a group of 1000 infants [6-24 months old], from all the health care centers in Mashhad, who were evaluated about the history of any kind of injury since birth. The study was performed in autumn of 2004. The mean age of the study group was 13.8 +/- 7.8 months. During this time 55.7% of the infants had experienced some kind of injury. The occurred injuries in order of frequency were Falls [13.4%], Chocking due to foreign body aspiration [12.8%], Cuts and lacerations [11.9%], Burning [10.9%], Poisoning [3.9%] Traffic accidents [1.5%] Drowning [0.7%] and electrical injuries [0.6%]. Overall fifty infants [5%] in our group were visited [for accident] in an office by a doctor, which burning [with 16 outpatient visits] was the most common injury in this group. There was history of 80 hospital admission in the study group but only seven of them were due to accidents, and poisoning in three cases was the most common causes of injury related admission. The periodic prevalence of injuries in our study group was 55.7%. Falls, Chocking [due to foreign body aspiration], Cuts and burns were [in order of frequency] the most common types of the injuries in infants of Mashhad. Injury was not a significant cause for hospital admission in this age group

Clinical features and long term prognosis of childhood brucellosis in northeast Iran

Brucellosis is a prevalent disorder in children of developing countries. The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiology and long term prognosis of Brucellosis in Khorasan, Iran. This is a descriptive cross sectional study [from November 2003 up to February 2006], the subjects of which are composed of 82 patients [from Imam Reza hospital, Mashhad, and Health Center of Kashmar]. In this study the diagnosis of Brucellosis is based on serology accompanied with clinical signs and symptoms. Our strategy for duration of treatment was to treat all patients for at least 6 weeks. We followed the patients by phone and if necessary by visiting. During 38 months we had 82 children with Brucellosis. The mean age was 8.02 y, and 40% of them were girls [M/F=1.21]. Summer with 45.9% of the cases was the peak season. History of consuming raw dairy products, close contact with farm animals, living in village and Brucellosis in family was found in 91.6%, 76%, 70.24% and 41.1% of the cases respectively. The presenting symptom in 79.7% of the cases was joint pain, 72.9% had history of fever during the course of the disease. Arthritis, splenomegaly and lymphadenopathy were found in 60.97%, 16.9%, 7.5%, of patients respectively. The therapeutic regimen of 48.7% of our patients was Co-trimoxazole and rifampin. We followed 74% of the patients for at least 3 years which showed the relapse rate of 6.5%. There was a case of reinfection, a patient with residual sequel and one death related to Brucellosis in our case series. Brucellosis is still a common disease in our children and at least a risk factor for it can be found in the history of almost all cases of pediatric Brucellosis. With at least six weeks treatment with two antibiotics and with close follow up, we can decrease the relapse rate in pediatric Brucellosis to zero, even without repeating the serology during or after treatment

Congenital tuberculosis presenting as ascites

Congenital tuberculosis is a rare disease of which the most common presentations include respiratory distress, fever, and organomegaly. We report a case of congenital tuberculosis presenting with ascites

[Aseptic meningitis after MMR vaccination in children of Mashhad]

In Iran vaccination against Mumps [with Zagreb strain] has been started since 2005, and since that time the incidence of Mumps and its complications [like meningitis] has dramatically decreased. However during the 3 years after Mumps vaccination there have been frequent reports of Parotitis and Meningitis in the first few weeks after the shot. This article is the report of the authors experience about the probable adverse reactions of mumps vaccine. This was prospective cross sectional observational study in Pediatric wards of Imam Reza and Dr Sheikh hospitals from August 2004 up to July 2009. In this study children who developed Parotitis or Meningitis within 0ne to six weeks after MMR vaccination were considered as probable Mumps vaccine adverse reaction. There were 24 cases of Meningitis [with or without Parotitis] and 16 cases of isolated Parotitis during 9 to 39 days after MMR vaccination. Male to Female ratio was 3/1 in Meningitis and 2/3 in Parotitis group. In the whole group%65 [26] of children were 4-6 years old and 30% of them [12 cases] were One year old, and in all of them this was the first shot of Mumps vaccine. We had a probable case of vaccine virus transmission from a 7 years old girl to her 14 years old brother. Meningitis is a common event during one to six weeks after Mumps vaccination with the current [Zagreb] strain