RESUMO
Background: Chlamydia trachomatis [CT], the most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection [STI], leads to pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility and chronic pelvic pain in women as well as an increased risk of vertical transmission, conjunctivitis and pneumonitis in infants. It may also be a co-factor along with human papillomavirus [HPV] in cervical cancer progression. We aimed to determine the prevalence of CT genotypes in genital specimens of women from South Khorasan, Iran and to test the association between CT and cytology statistics
Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study on 248 Pap smear samples from women who visited a gynecologist for routine Pap smear testing in South Khorasan province. Nested polymerase chain reaction [PCR] was used to test the residual fluids of Pap smears for CT-DNA after cytological examination. Direct sequencing, alignment and phylogenic analyses were performed on eight samples to identify their genotypes
Results: The mean age of patients was 37.54 +/- 5.21 years. Most samples had a normal cytology [214 cases, 86.29%]. Overall, 31 samples were positive for CT infection [12.5%] of which 20 [9.34%] were normal and 11 [32.35%] were abnormal, with the frequency difference being significant [P=0.022]. The co-infection of CT/HPV in total was identified in 14 cases [5.6%]. The results of sequencing eight samples out of the 31 CT positive samples revealed the detection of genotypes D and E, each with four cases
Conclusion: We show that a high prevalence of genital CT infection is present in women with both normal and abnormal cytology; however, the higher prevalence among women in the abnormal group may indicate its involvement in cervical neoplasia
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Human parvovirus B19 (B19V) is one of the smallest DNA viruses and shows great resistance to most disinfectants. Therefore, it is one of the common contaminant pathogens present in blood and plasma products. Parvovirus 4 (PARV4) is a newly identified parvovirus, which is also prevalent in parenteral transmission. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of B19V and PARV4 DNA among patients with hemophilia in Birjand County in eastern Iran. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional epidemiological study comprising nearly all people with hemophilia in this region. Whole blood samples were taken after patient registration and sent for plasma isolation. After nucleic acid extraction, B19V was detected with real-time polymerase chain reaction, PARV4 DNA was then detected using sensitive semi-nested PCR. RESULTS: In total, there were 86 patients with hemophilia, with mean age 28.5±1.5 years. Of these, 90.7% were men and 9.3% women; 84.9% had hemophilia A and 7.0% had hemophilia B. We found 11 patients (12.8%) were positive for B19V DNA and 8 were positive (9.3%) for PARV4 DNA. The prevalence of B19V was higher in middle-aged groups rather than younger people, whereas PARV4 infection was more common in younger patients (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: There was a high prevalence of B19V and PARV4 infection in this high-risk group of patients with hemophilia. Due to the clinical significance of the B19 virus, imposing more precautionary measures for serum and blood products is recommended.