Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: Sexually transmitted infections are the most common human infections that lead to severe complications. Mycoplasma genitalium (MG) and Ureaplasma urealyticum (UU) are common and important cause of genitourinary tract infections. MG is a member of genital mycoplasmas which is emerging as an important causative agent of sexually transmitted infections both in males and females. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of UU and MG in pregnant women and to assess the risk factors which may contribute to the predisposition of the individuals to the infection.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, The population of 210 pregnant women admitted to the Rasoul Akram Hospital in Tehran, were selected for the study using non-random sampling. The urine specimens were collected from 194 pregnant women from May to December, 2015. The samples were transferred to the Infectious Disease Research Center of Rasoul Akram Hospital under sterile condition. Samples were exposed to DNA extraction followed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect the infection. Data including sex, age, history of abortion, history of genitourinary tract infections were collected subsequently.
Results: The prevalence of MG and UU infections in urine samples was 5.6%, 11.2%, respectively. The mean and standard deviation of the risk of UU was 2.08 (3.56-1.22) in women with a history of abortion and 0.70 (1.03-0.47) in women without a history of abortion. There was a significant relationship between the history of sexually transmitted diseases and the frequency of UU (P<0.022). From 22 patients with UU infection, six patients had a history of sexually transmitted diseases. A significant correlation was found between prevalence of MG and UU infections. The History of abortion was significantly related with the frequency of UU and MG infections. The prevalence of MG infection is negatively correlated with pregnancy trimesters. The History of genitourinary tract infections was significantly associated with the frequency of UU.
Conclusion: The presence of UU and MG could be associated with abortion.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital infections in newborns which can lead to long-term complications in more than half of the cases with symptomatic infection at birth time. Unfortunately, neonates with congenital CMV infection will mostly remain undiagnosed because the golden time for detection is limited to the first 3 weeks of infants' life. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of congenital CMV infection in newborns admitted to intensive care units of hospitals in Tehran, Iran and assess related risk factors associated with the infection.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study from April to October 2017, newborns within the first three weeks of life who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) of university-affiliated hospitals in Tehran, Iran, were eligible for enrollment. CMV infection in neonates was diagnosed through testing infants' Guthrie cards and detection of viral DNA via an in-house nested-PCR assay. Congenital CMV infection in neonates with positive results was confirmed by testing urine specimens as a sensitive and gold standard sample. Related data (demographic and maternal factors) were collected by questionnaires and analyzed.

Results: Congenital cytomegalovirus infection was diagnosed in 8 of 63 newborns (12.7%). Hearing loss was seen in 2 infected infants. The mean of head circumferences among infected neonates was significantly lower than that observed in uninfected cases. Infants with CMV related symptoms had statistically more chance to have infection (P=0.02). We also found Guthrie cards as a reliable sample with high sensitivity for CMV detection assays. Conclusion: The current study showed a high rate of symptomatic congenital CMV infection among neonates attending on NICU sections of hospitals in Tehran, Iran. It is of crucial importance to note that based on evidence, diagnosis of infants with congenital CMV infection at early stages could help to decrease the burden of long-term diseases if associated with prompt interventions and reduce the costs of late-ineffective treatment. Therefore, routine screening of newborns for congenital CMV infection via Guthrie cards is suggested.