Determination of seroprevalence rate of Toxocara canis in 6-15 years aged rural and urban school children in Ahvaz, Iran

Toxocariasis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by the acaridae of dogs and rarely cats. Seroprevalance of toxocariasis vary with geographic regions. In this study, the sera of school children aged between 6 to 15 years were examined for the presence of anti T.canis antibodies. In this descriptive cross-sectional study the sera of 203 randomly selected school children aged between 6 to 15 years from urban and rural regions in Ahvaz, south western of Iran from 2007 to2008 was examined by means of ELISA with excretory-secretary antigen of infectious larva stage. CBC was performed for the presence of eosinophilia or hypereosinophilia. A short questionnaire was fulfilled to obtain data of age, sex, history of pica, contact with dogs and living area [urban or rural]. Of total 203 students 90 [44.3%]were female and 113 [55.7%] were male. 86 [42.9%] were rural and 114 [57.1%] were urban, 67 [33%] had contact with dogs,35 [17%] had history of recent cough,5 [2.5%] had pica, on had hypereosinophilia but 21 [10.3%] had eosinophlia, 4 [2%] had positive ELISA for T.canis IgG, of them one was male and three were female, two were urban and two were rural, non had history of contact with dogs, pica, chronic cough or asthma, and also non had hypereosinophilia but all had eosinophilia. Our study showed that toxocariasis is present in the school children of Ahvaz, but it is lower than was expected and also lower than similar tropical regions

case report of Sarcoptes scabiei infection in Ahwaz, Iran

The prevalence of Sarcoptes in rural areas has been investigated by many investigators. Sarcoptes infestation in areas with poor education and hygienic is higher than urban areas. In this study, one severe case of Sarcoptes scabiei infestation is described from a four months old child. Confirmation of scabies was done by clinical examination of child and by the identification of the mite by microscopically examining scrapings from the scabies lesions. The prevalence of scabies is high in children in rural regions, suggesting that it is a serious public health problem. This phenomenon may be due to the fact that certain environmental conditions such as overcrowding, poor personal hygiene, poverty, and ignorance, which are conducive to the spread of scabies, tend to be quite common in rural regions. Control programs should be put in place and implemented in an integrated manner, by reducing over crowding, and by improving health education, personal hygiene, treatment and surveillance among high-risk populations

Evaluation of carcinoemberionic antigen CEA and CA 15.3 tumor markers in patients operated for breast cancer

Tumor markers are biochemical signs of tumor existence and consist of cell surface antibodies, cytoplasm proteins, enzymes and hormones. We evaluated the variability of tumor marker levels in following-up patients without the evidence of the disease after the resection of a primary breast cancer. Carcinoemberionic antigen [CEA] and CA 15.3 were measured by commercially available methods in serial blood samples collected from 94 patients referred to surgical and oncological center of Ahwaz. In 72 cases with normal CA 15. 3, metastasis and recurrence occurred for 12% and 4.17 respectively. In 12 cases with abnormal CA15.3 metastasis and recurrence occurred for 54.55% and 4.55% respectively. In 80 cases with normal CEA metastasis and recurrence occurred for 15% and 5% respectively, and in 14 cases with abnormal CEA metastasis and recurrence occurred for 64.24% and 14% respectively. The incidence of metastasis is high in patients with abnormal tumor markers, and CA15.3 is more sensitive in following-up and evaluating the patient"s response to the treatment

Human dirofilariasis due to dirofilaria repens in Ahvaz-Iran: a report of three cases

Zoonotic filariasis due to Dirofilaria repens is prevalent in several regions of the world and because of recent rise in the number of human infections in countries of Europe, Africa and Asia, it is considered an emerging zoonoses in these continents. In 2002 three cases of dirofilariasis were diagnosed. The first case was a 34 year old man from Ahvaz referred to dermatologist with a nodule on the right cheek. During the excisional biopsy an adult dirofilaria measured 120 mm in length with white color was removed. The second case was a 37 year old man from a village around Ahvaz city who noticed a single moveable nodule with itching, irritation and swelling, 1.5 cm in diameter on his chest. The patient pressed the nodule and a white worm with 130 mm in length was revealed. The third case was a 35 year old man from Ahvaz presented at Imam Khomeini hospital because of eye irritation with symptoms and signs of itching, swelling and redness of the right eye. Examination noticed a living worm with the length of 110 mm which removed from the subconjunctival space. The worms were examined in parasitology department and based on morphological characters and microscopical identified as Dirofilaria repens. This is the second report of subcutaneous and the first report of subconjunctival dirofilariasis from Iran