Rabies antibody levels in pregnant women and their newborns after rabies post-exposure prophylaxis.

BACKGROUND: Rabies is a fatal infectious disease and rabies post-exposure prophylaxis is the method of choice for prevention of human rabies. CASE SERIES: We report rabies antibody levels in cord blood and also in serum of pregnant women who were bitten by suspected animals to rabies and were immunized by purified Vero cell rabies vaccine (PVRV) and Human Rabies immunoglobulin (HRIG) serum. During the years of 2007-2010, six pregnant women by the age range of 22-35 years were admitted in treatment and prevention of rabies center in Pasture institute of Iran, in Tehran. Among them two cases were at first trimester, one at second trimester and three at third trimester of conception. The interval between biting with delivery was 5-265 days (mean 121 days). CONCLUSION: Results of immunoglobulin illustrate that levels of rabies antibody in maternal sera with the fetus are not equal and uniform but it is proved that baby will find efficient immunity as well with minimum protective level of 0.5 IU/ml in all cases except a newborn whom had been born just 5 days after the mother's immunization and in a shorter time than the appropriate immunization of the mother who had received her second vaccination courses.

Comparison of QuantiFERON TB-G-test to TST for detecting latent tuberculosis infection in a high-incidence area containing BCG-vaccinated population.

OBJECTIVE: Until recently, the only tool for detection of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) was the tuberculin skin test (TST). QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test (QFT) is a promising in vitro diagnostic test for LTBI that has potential advantages over the TST. In this study we aimed to compare QFT with TST for diagnosis of LTBI. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 186 BCG-vaccinated subjects enrolled in study. They underwent TST and QFT assay. They divided in two groups. Group 1 includes individuals who were at low risk for exposure to M. tuberculosis (LRG) and Group 2 includes individuals who were likely to have been exposed to M. tuberculosis infections (HRG). RESULTS: Overall agreement between QFT and TST was 89.3% (kappa = 0.052). In LRG, agreement between the two tests was 52.6% (95% confidence interval, 44-60%) with kappa-values of 0.019. In HRG agreement between the two tests was 63.2% (95% confidence interval, 42-84%) with kappa-values of 0.28. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the QFT assay showed acceptable results for determining latent M. tuberculosis infection in vaccinated population. The decision to select QFT over TST will depend on the population, purpose of testing and resource availability.

Animal bites in Tehran, Iran.

Animal bites are major public health issues, not only for the risk of acquiring secondary infections but also for the possibility of contracting rabies. The objective of this study was to determine the epidemiology of animal bites in Tehran, Iran. During a three- year period, through a questionnaire- based study, 8806 bitten persons were enrolled into our study. Of these, 79.16% were males and 20.84% were females. Bites were most frequent among the age group of 20-29 years. Most cases were self employed. Upper extremities were the most frequent bite site (53.8%). The offending animals, in order of frequency were dogs, cats, squirrels, monkeys, hamsters, and other animals, responsible in 5804 (65.9%), 2241 (25.44%), 343 (3.89%), 134 (1.52%), 125 (1.41%), and 159 (1.84%) cases, respectively. We found that animal bites are still prevalent in Iran and thus preventive measures and health education are required for the public.