ABSTRACT
Jails may foster the spread of HIV, particularly among drug users. In 2006, male injection drug users (n = 499) detained in Tehran consented to HIV testing at intake and discharge. HIV prevalence at intake was 24.4%. Nine of those who were HIV negative at intake were positive at discharge (annualized incidence rate 16.8%), including one p24 antigen positive. Jails may be contributing to the rapid spread of HIV in Iran and should be major points for prevention interventions.
Subject(s)
HIV Seropositivity/transmission , Prisoners/statistics & numerical data , Substance Abuse, Intravenous/complications , HIV Infections/prevention & control , HIV Seropositivity/epidemiology , Humans , Iran/epidemiology , Male , PrisonsABSTRACT
Hydatid disease is a parasitic infection of humans and herbivorous animals caused by Echinococcus granulosus. A 20-year-old male soldier from Booshehr province police center was admitted with left upper quadrant pain that began 1 year before admission. Sonography disclosed an echogenic mass measuring 14 x 16 cm near the spleen and kidneys; a computed tomography scan confirmed it as a hypodense mass of the spleen that was 16 x 17 x 18 cm in dimension. Casoni skin test and indirect fluorescent antibody were positive. Through laparatomy, a splenectomy was successfully performed.
Subject(s)
Echinococcosis/diagnostic imaging , Splenic Diseases/parasitology , Adult , Animals , Echinococcosis/physiopathology , Echinococcosis/surgery , Echinococcus/isolation & purification , Humans , Iran , Male , Military Personnel , Splenectomy , Splenic Diseases/diagnostic imaging , Splenic Diseases/surgery , Tomography, X-Ray ComputedABSTRACT
In this study, 333 blood samples of malaria cases positive by microscopic test (70.6% male and 29.4% female, p<0.05) were investigated. The group included 55 cases (16.52%) from Minab (Hormozgan Province), 116 cases (34.82%) from Iranshahr (Sistan-Baluchesta Province) and 162 cases (48.65%) from Kahnouj (Kerman Province). The results showed 244 cases (73.27%) were diagnosed as P. vivax, 87 cases (26.13%) P. falciparum and 2 cases (0.6%) showed a mixed infection of both Plasmodia. In a molecular study of the same samples using nested-polymerase chain reaction (nested-PCR), 185 cases (55.6%) were P. vivax, 50 cases (15%) P. falciparum and 95 cases (29%) both Plasmodia. Comparing the two methods used in this study, the highest rate of infection was found to be P. vivax. However, the rate of mixed infections (0.6% microscopy, 29% nested-PCR) varied and depended on the assay used. This indicated that the sensitivity of nested-PCR was greater than microscopic examination, especially for the detection of mixed-infections (p<0.05) in the current malaria epidemiology study.
