Survey on adoption of measures to prevent nosocomial infection by anaesthesia personnel

To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of anaesthesia personnel regarding infection control in hospitals, a questionnaire was distributed to anaesthesiology personnel of different educational levels in the hospitals of southern Islamic Republic of Iran. Chi-squared significance, Fisher exact and Spearman rho correlation coefficient tests were used to analyse the responses. The results suggest that measures to prevent infection transmission during anaesthesia are inadequate in our hospitals. The implementation of adequate measures to control infection was significantly associated with respondents' beliefs as to whether anaesthesia can cause infection in anaesthesia personnel and/or patients. Increasing the knowledge base of anaesthesia personnel and raising their awareness as to the risk of infection are necessary to improve infection control procedures by anaesthesia personnel

Comparison of prednisolone alone and in combination with azathioprine regimens in treatment of autoimmune hepatitis: a Prospective study

Side effects of steroid therapy of autoimmune hepatitis are seen more frequently with prednisolone only regimen. However, the question of efficacy restrains the broad use of prednisolone in combination with azathioprine. To compare biochemical responses to the two standard immunosuppressive drug regimens [prednisolone alone and prednisolone in combination with azathioprine] in children with autoimmune hepatitis. The study was performed on 42 children with autoimmune hepatitis. Patients were attributed to two groups, with group A receiving prednisolone alone and group B receiving prednisolone in combination with azathioprine, using simple random attribution unless there was a contraindication to azathioprine. The patients were evaluated for treatment response on three occasions: short term [one month after starting therapy], intermediate term [four to six month after starting therapy], and long term [one year after starting therapy]. Chemical response was defined as decrease in aminotransferases to a level below two times the normal values and gamma globulin to lower than 2.8 g/dL. Clinical response was defined as improvement in the initial clinical signs and symptoms [jaundice, hepatomegaly, splenomegaly, fever, and edema/ascites]. There were no differences in chemical and clinical response rates between the two groups. Both clinical and chemical response rates in intermediate term were significantly higher than short term. However, clinical and chemical response rates in long term did not significantly differ from intermediate term. The study shows that some patients need time to respond to therapy. Nonetheless, it seems that whenever there is no improvement after six months of therapy, it is prudent to change the treatment regimen rather than waiting for response. With the same efficacy and less side effects, the combination regimen must be preferred as the standard regimen, unless there is a contraindication to azathioprine

Hepatitis B surface antigen and anti-hepatitis C antibodies among blood donors in the Islamic Republic of Iran

We determined the prevalence rate of hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] and anti-hepatitis C virus antibodies [anti-HCV] among 7897 healthy voluntary blood donors in Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran. Sera were examined for HBsAg and anti-HCV antibodies using a second-generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Positive sera for HBsAg were found in 85 [1.07%] of the individuals and anti-HCV antibodies were found in 47 [0.59%]. We compared our results with those of other studies and conclude that the prevalence rate of HBsAg in our area has decreased in the last 2 decades; from being an area of high prevalence, it is now one with moderate-to-low prevalence. Since there are few reports on the seroepidemiology of hepatitis C in the Islamic Republic of Iran, we could not assess the changes in prevalence of hepatitis C