Sero-prevalence of antibodies against varicella zoster virus in children under seven-years old in 2012 in Tehran, Iran

Varicella zoster virus [VZV] is a member of herpes family viruses, which causes varicella [chickenpox] after primary infection and herpes zoster [shingles] because of latent virus reactivation from dorsal root ganglia. Generally, prevalence of varicella antibodies increases with age. We aimed to compare the prevalence of anti-VZV antibody in children under seven years old, in order to obtain a preliminarily picture of general presence of these antibodies to design an immunization plan. In this cross-sectional study, performed from September 2011 to September 2012 in Tehran, Iran, 267 serum samples including sera from 7 month old infants, n= 87; 18 month old children, n= 86; and 6 year old children, n= 94 were assessed for the presence of specific IgG antibodies against VZV, using ELISA technique. 4.6% of 7 month, 12.8% of 18 month and 21.3% of 6-year-old children were seropositive. No relation was found between demographic variables [e.g. age and birth weight] and seropositivity in these age groups. VZV antibodies increased with age. Serum levels of varicella antibodies were elevated in 18 months old compared to 7 months old children, significantly [P < 0.001]. In view of the significant elevation of VZV antibodies in children from 7 months to 18 months of age and rate of seronegative children, our results support the necessity of varicella immunization between 7 and 18 months of age in order to prevent viral infection

[Comparison of the performance of health volunteers in the health centers of Shahid Beheshti university of medical sciences]

Health volunteers are the women who do charity work to prevent, protect and promote the health status of the covered neighbors and hereby cooperate with the health centers. The aim of this study was to compare the health volunteer's performance in the covered health centers by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. This descriptive- analytical study was performed by the participation of 2060 Health volunteers, who were cooperating with 90 covered health centers by Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. These include Shomal, Shargh, Shemiranat, Pakdasht, Damavand and Firoozkooh. We used census sampling method. Demographic data was gathered through interviews with the health volunteers and their performance evaluated by the supervisor of the volunteers; through the evaluation forms and these data gathered together. The mean [SD] of the health volunteers performance was 30.9 [16.4] in all centers. They were 35.1 [22] in Shargh, 34 [14.5] in Shomal, 32 [11.3] in Firoozkooh, 28.3 [14] in Shemiranat, 7.9 [9.2] in Damavand and 23.6 [8.5] in Pakdasht respectively. The mean [SD] of the efficacy of health volunteers was 8.6 [9.9] in all centers. They were 11.7 [5.6] in Firoozkooh, 10.7 [15.7] in Shargh, 9.4 [6.8] in Shomal, 7.9 [4.9] in Damavand, 7.9 [6.1] in Shemiranat and 4.6 [4.3] in Pakdasht respectively. Older and married volunteers with more experience performed better. There was no significant relationship between the efficacy of health volunteers with their literacy level, employment status and absorber of them. The health volunteers of Shomal, Shargh and Firoozkooh had the best performances respectively. The performances of those in Shemiranat, Damavand and Pakdasht were less than the overall health centers' mean score. The efficacy score of Firoozkooh, Shomal and Shargh health centers were above the overall health centers' mean score respectively. Considering all factors, it seems that the efficacy of the health volunteers of Shomal and Pakdasht were the most and least suitable respectively