Factors Influencing Animal Bites in Iran: A Descriptive Study.

OBJECTIVES: Animal bite is a significant health economic challenge worldwide. In Iran, there has been an increase in the number of animal bites in recent years. This study was performed to investigate the epidemiology of animal bites and their influencing factors in Semirom, Iran, from 2008 to 2012. METHODS: This was a descriptive study conducted for 5 years. The data were based on the information sheets presented in health-care centers concerning how to combat against rabies caused by animal bites. The data obtained were classified and analyzed statistically. RESULTS: During the 5-year study period, 1,246 animal bite cases were reported; 60% of the victims belonged to rural areas and the remaining 40% to urban areas. Among various aggressive animals, dogs had the highest rate of attacks (63.4%). The highest rate of animal bite (23.19%) was reported in the age group of 10-19 years and the lowest one (2.32%) was reported in the age group of 0-4 years. The animal bite rates among men and women were 76% and 24%; respectively. The highest and lowest rates were found among students (23.5%) and employees (5.5%), respectively. Regarding the commonly injured organ, the highest (67%) and lowest rates (23%) were for lower extremities and head and face, respectively. Regarding the nationality of the victims, 98% were Iranians and the rest were Afghan. CONCLUSION: Given the increasing number of animal bites reported, there is a need to implement strategies to prevent bite-related complications, which may have health and financial burden on the country. It is also necessary to increase awareness among target groups and to formulate preventive strategies with the help of various authorities to control animal bites.

The Relationship between Serum Vitamin D Level and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent mental health disorders. In recent years, the impacts of various micronutrients on ADHD have been studied. However, vitamin D has received much less attention. This study was aimed at evaluating the association and level of serum vitamin D in children with ADHD. MATERIALS & METHODS: This case-control study was carried out, in 2012, on 6 to 12 yr-old children. Thirty-seven were children with ADHD in the cases group and another 37 healthy children were in the control group. Venous blood sample was drawn from each child to measure the serum level of vitamin D. Other variables were compared as well. RESULTS: The mean serum vitamin D level of children with ADHD (19.11±10.10 ng/ml) was significantly lower than that of the control group (28.67±13.76 ng/ml) (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Deficiency of vitamin D has been proved in various psychiatric diseases. This study evidenced a significantly low level of serum vitamin D in children with ADHD. This suggests the need for regularly monitoring of serum vitamin D levels and treatment of patients with vitamin D deficiencies.

The Relationship Between Iron Deficiency and Febrile Convulsion: A Case-Control Study.

INTRODUCTION: Febrile seizure is among the most common convulsion disorders in children, which strikes 2% to 5% of children between 3 to 60 months of age. Some studies have reported that iron deficiency could be a risk factor for febrile seizure. The present study was conducted to compare the rate of iron deficiency anemia in febrile children with and without seizure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This case-control study evaluated 200 children aged 6-60 month in two 100 person groups (febrile seizure and febrile without convulsion) in Kashan. The CBC diff, serum iron and TIBC were done for all of participants. Diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia based on mentioned tests. RESULTS: No significant differences were found in two groups regarding to the age, gender, and the disease causing the fever. The presence of iron deficiency anemia was 45% in the convulsion group and 22% in the group with fever without convulsion. The Chi Square test indicated a significant difference between two groups. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that a considerable percentage of children having febrile seizure suffer from iron-deficiency anemia and low serum iron. This means the low serum iron and presence of anemia can serve as a reinforcing factor for the febrile seizure in children.

Fatigue and Vitamin D Status in Iranian Female Nurses.

INTRODUCTION: Given that nurses are among professions with frequent problems of fatigue, and given the nature of their profession that provides little exposure to sunlight and the subsequent deficiency of vitamin D, the present study examined the relation between fatigue and circulating vitamin D levels in female nurses working in Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Kashan, Iran in 2013. MATERIAL & METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 200 female nurses working in Shahid Beheshti Hospital. To measure fatigue, fatigue questionnaire containing 9 questions eliciting the subject's feeling in scales of 1 to 7, getting a possible score of 9 to 63, and Visual Analogue Scale in which nurses specified their fatigue in a band of zero to 10 were used. The 25-hydroxyvitamin D, which is the most important vitamin D metabolite, also was determined. The data was analyzed by SPSS-16. The Pearson's correlation of coefficients, t-test, and multiple regression analysis were used in this study. RESULTS: The mean fatigue score of nurses was 38.76±12.66 in questionnaire and 5.73±2.12 in Visual Analog Scale. The 89 per cent of nurses suffered from vitamin D deficiency, 9.5 percent of them had normal level and 1.5 per cent had toxicity level of vitamin D. There was a significant relationship between vitamin D level and fatigue scores (P<0.0001), and visual fatigue scores (P<0.0001). According to multivariate regression analysis, vitamin D level accounted for 13 per cent of the fatigue based on data on questionnaire and 18.6 per cent of fatigue according to Visual Analog Scale. CONCLUSION: High prevalence of fatigue among nurses could be attributed to vitamin D deficiency.