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Showing 31 results for Epidemiology
Epidemiology of gunshot bodies referred for forensic medicine in Tehran
Mazaher Ghorbani, Amir Molanaei , Sheis Amini, Maryam Ameri ,
Volume 72, Issue 3 (6-2014)
Abstract
Background: The rate of using firearm in criminal acts, even in countries with strict le-gal controls on these weapons is increasing. The most common methods of homicides and suicides are using firearm in United States. In this study we aimed to evaluate the epidemiology of gunshot bodies referred to Forensic Medicine. Methods: Information about firearm-related injuries in autopsy hall of Forensic Medi-cine center in Tehran during 2011-2012 were evaluated from patients’ documents. Necessary information including age, sex, education, employment, drug and alcohol addiction, as well as information related to shot such as suicide or homicidal, shoot number (incoming bullets), shot location, type of firearm, organ damage, shot distance and location of the incident were extracted and analyzed using SPSS version 16. Results: In this cross sectional study, 38 deaths were identified. These were over-whelmingly males (100%) with mean age of 32.4 (SD= 6.57). The typical entrance wound sites in suicides were the head (42.2%) and chest (24.3%) and abdomen (5.4%) and limb (2.7%) and others (48.6%). place a bullet in the head, 16 (42.2 %), chest 9 (24.3%), the abdomen, 2 cases (5.4%), an organ (2.7%) and hit a different place (9 cas-es 24.3 percent). Brain damaged in 18 cases (84.6%) and lung 5 (13.5%) and 12 (32.4%) and several organs were damaged. The typical entrance wound sites in suicides were the head (42.2%) and chest (24.3%) and abdomen (5.4%) and limb (2.7%) and others (48.6%). This total included 33% attempted or completed suicides, and 47.5% assaults/homicides The scene of disaster were the 12 patients (50%) outdoors, 8 (33.3%) at home and in 4 cases (16.7%) at work. Conclusion: Based on results of this study, age of victims is higher than previously ob-served patterns, such as gender of victims, location of shots, type of weapon used is different with international reports due to differences in availability of Iranian weapons and cultural differences. The results of this study can be a base for other investigations’s changes in trends of total firearm death rates, mass fatal shooting incidents, rates of firearm homicide, suicide and unintentional firearm deaths, and of total homicides and suicides.
Epidemiologic investigation of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: a ten-year study
Abdolreza Malek, Yahya Aghighi , Behnam Parvisy Parvisy , Seyed Reza Raeeskarami , Vahid Ziaee ,
Volume 72, Issue 3 (6-2014)
Abstract
Background: Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA) is the most common chronic pediat-ric rheumatologic disease. There is a wide range of variation in disease subgroup distri-bution and evolution according to different populations, environments and genetic pre-disposition. This study was designed to evaluate epidemiologic characteristics of JRA in Iran. Methods: A cross-sectional studies was performed on children suffering from JRA ac-cording to American College of Rheumatology during 10 year (2002-2011). Patients' data was recorded in hospital questionnaires Patients' age at the first presentation and time of diagnosis, sex, ethnicity, early clinical and constitutional presentations, joint in-volvement pattern and presence of associated diseases were evaluated. Results: In this study, 171 children (91 boys and 80 girls) were enrolled. The mean age of patients was 5.2±3.5 years at the time of presentation and 5.7±3.6 years when the diagnosis was confirmed. The most common type of disease was polyarticular arthritis (41.9%). The prevalence of pauciarticular and systemic onset subtype were 31.6% and 19.3%, respectively. According to ethnicity, the most common incidence was seen in Fars and Turk populations respectively. The most common constitutional presentation was fever. Fever and morning stiffness was significantly higher in polyarticular pa-tients. Extra articular manifestation was seen in 40.4% patients. Among extra-articular manifestations, skin involvement was seen more than others. There was no correlation between sex and type of chronic arthritis. Uveitis was detected in 5.8% of our cases. The mean age was significantly higher in polyarticular group (6.04 year) in comparison to pauciarticular and systemic group (4.4 year in both groups) (P= 0.005). There was no correlation between sex and type of chronic arthritis. Conclusion: The prevalence of JRA subgroups was different in Iran comparing with western countries and polyarticular disease was the most common subgroup in this study. Uveitis was less common in this study in comparison to studies in other coun-tries. There is no sex predilection in each subgroup of JRA.
Epidemiology of Tuberculosis in south-west of Iran: a brief report
Reza Beiranvand , Shahnaz Ghalavandi , Ali Delpisheh , Kourosh Sayemiri , Shokrollah Salmanzadeh ,
Volume 72, Issue 4 (7-2014)
Abstract
Background: Tuberculosis is still one of the main causes of mortality and disability in developing countries. Despite of socio-economic development of communities and controlling majority of communicable diseases, With respect to importance and high incidence of Tuberculosis in marginal provinces, the present study was aimed to assess the epidemiology of Tuberculosis. Methods: In this Descriptive-Analytical Retrospective Study, documents of 6363 patients diagnosed with TB in the beginning of March 2005 to the end of the September 2012 in Khuzestan province, Iran, by used census sampling size, were used. Demographic variables and other necessity data were recorded by TB-Register software and then these data were analyzed by SPSS 16.0 software and Chi-square and independent t-tests with a significance level of less than 5%. For comparison Tuberculosis incidence in consecutive years used by Poisson tests (with a significance level of less than 5%). Results: mean age of patients and median age of patients were 39.3±18 and 35±6.5 years, for women mean age was older 2.1 years than men and there was significant relationship to age (P=0.0001). Of all patients 75.7% were pulmonary tuberculosis, 2.7% were infected with HIV and 91.2% were new cases. Cumulative incidence in province was 148.84/100,000. Most prevalent in Non-pulmonary TB was Lymphatic glands. Poisson test showed that changing trends of TB incidence in study years was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: Increasing concurrent of HIV infection and TB and decreasing patients mean age (39.3±18) and median (35±6.5) in southwest of Iran has high prevalence. Screening, training and preventive activities for controlling of disease is highly recommended for the whole country and in margin provinces in particular.
Epidemiology of orthopedic trauma in children and adolescent in a referral center in Tehran: a prospective study
Kamran Aghakhani , Ebrahim Ameri , Maryam Ameri , Seyed Ali Mohtarami ,
Volume 73, Issue 1 (4-2015)
Abstract
Background: Orthopedic trauma is a common type of injury in children and may cause deep and permanent psychological and physical damage both for the patient and the parents. This study aimed to analyze the epidemiology age, gender distribution and the mechanism of injury in patients presenting to a level I trauma center in urban population of Tehran. Methods: In this prospective descriptive study, the patients under 19 years old with orthopedic trauma who were hospitalized in Tehran Shafa University Hospital were entered. This hospital is the main orthopedic referral center in Iran. The patients were prospectively evaluated from April 2013 to March 2014. The data were collected and analyzed. Results: The study included 1081 patients under 19 years old. There was a male predominance (76.8% n= 830). The boys had a higher mean age 11.04±5.06 year, versus girls with mean age 8.67±4.63 year (P< 0.05). The peak age of boys was 18 and the girls had two peaks at three and nine. The fractures occurred in upper limb in 70.8% (n= 621) and 29.2% (n= 256) in lower limb of patients. There were 27 cases with joint dislocation, 5 cases with knee ligamentous injuries, 128 cases with soft tissue injuries and 44 cases with spine injuries. The most frequent mechanism in both gender were falls from standing position (48.5%). The most common fractures were foreman both bone fractures (n: 146 16.7%), elbow supracondylar fractures (n: 134, 15.3%) and distal radius fractures (n: 84, 9.6%). The most fractures occurred in summer (30.1%) and the least in winter (18.1%). Conclusion: Evaluation of epidemiologic factors can lead to the best prediction and treatment planning of trauma. Early recognition of injury, even minor, and expected care using specialized teams will help to improve outcomes for these patients. This study determines the most at risk children for trauma and fractures and may help the parents to prevent damage.
Epidemiology of prothrombin G20210A polymorphism in the Southern Iran
Mohadeseh Arabnejad , Mahboobeh Nasiri , Mehran Karimi , Mohamad Moghadam , Azadeh Khalili , Ahmad Ebrahimi ,
Volume 73, Issue 5 (8-2015)
Abstract
Background: There are many genetic and non-hereditary risk factors that are known to causes venous thromboembolic (VTE) disorders, Cardiovascular diseases and types of cancer. One of these is the Prothrombin G20210A mutation. Prothrombin mutation (guanine to adenine G→A) at nucleotide position 20210, which is present in the 3′ untranslated region of the prothrombin gene. Prothrombin G20210A mutation is present outside the coding region for prothrombin, and hence it does not affect the actual structure of the prothrombin molecule and it does not affect its function as a strong clotting factor when activated into thrombin. However, several studies have shown that, G20210A heterozygosity was associated with a threefold increased risk for VTE. Moreover, the association of PTH G20210A polymorphisms with cancer has been reported. The present study was designed to determine the frequency of PTH G20210A polymorphism in Southern Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 140 healthy women were from Southern Iran recruited among participants in Namazi Hospital, Shiraz, Iran, from March 2013 to February 2014. A total of 5 ml of peripheral blood was taken from individuals then Genomic DNA was extracted using blood DNA kit (Ron’s Blood and Cell DNA Mini Kit, BioRon, Germany). The amplification refractory mutation system- polymerase chain reaction (ARMS-PCR) method was used for the detection of PTH G20210A single nucleotide polymorphism in each subject. Results: The frequencies of the GG and GA genotypes were as 97.9%, 2.1% respectively. The frequency of G allele was and the frequency of A allele was 1.1%. Conclusion: Results of the present study might be important in understanding the distribution of PTH G20210A polymorphism in the Southern Iran. Minor allele frequency in this population is higher than in the Iranian and European population but similar to the prevalence in the Western Iran, Iranian Jews, American, Irish, Tunisian and Bahraini population.
A review on epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection
Zahra Esfandiari , Mohammad Jalali , Leila Safaeian, J Scott Weese ,
Volume 74, Issue 5 (8-2016)
Abstract

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is an important factor in the development of the gastrointestinal diseases because of irrational antibiotic prescription and antimicrobial resistance. In the past, this bacterium was introduced as an agent of the infection in the hospitals called "hospital acquired Clostridium difficile infection". This infection is a main cause of morbidity and mortality internationally. But changing in the epidemiology of the infection was observed in recent years. People not taking antibiotics as well as any contact with the clinical system were hospitalized due to the infection named "Community-Associated Clostridium difficile infection". Furthermore, the hypervirulent strains of C. difficile were identified outside of the health care facilities in different sources such as environment, animals and food products. Today the role of C. difficile has not been confirmed as a zoonotic agent or foodborne pathogen. Taking into account, it should be taken attention to the sensitive individuals such as pregnant women, elderly and children for the consumption of the contaminated food products with C. difficile spores and probable cause of the infection in these individuals. For this purpose, presentation of the guidelines or the prevention strategies for the transmission of bacteria in the society as well as the healthcare facilities is important. In this review study, the history, the risk factors of disease and the reports of infection in the healthcare facilities and outside of this environment in Iran were discussed. Finally, we supposed that based on the isolation of C. difficile with different genetic profile in Iran in comparison with international ribotypes, the existence of native strains leading to the infection in the community and the healthcare facilities is possible. This hypothesis shows the significance of regional differences in the epidemiology and microbiology of disease. In addition, according to the present reports on the irrational prescription of the antibiotics in our country, it seems that C. difficile infection is increasing but any continuous monitoring is not being occurred for the supervision in Iran. Approving these hypotheses need to the careful and continuous assessment besides comprehensive examination of molecular epidemiology of disease in the organizations related to the health in Iran.


Epidemiology, etiology and outcomes of burn patients in a Referral Burn Hospital, Tehran
Mohammad Mehdi Soltan Dallal , Mohammad Kazem Sharifi Yazdi, Abbas Rahimiforoushani , Mohammad Reza Akhoondinasab ,
Volume 74, Issue 5 (8-2016)
Abstract

Background: Burns and its complications are regarded as a major problem in the society. Skin injuries resulted from ultraviolet radiation, radioactivity, electricity or chemicals as well as respiratory damage from smoke inhalation are considered burns. This study aimed to determine the epidemiology and outcome of burn patients admitted to Motahari Hospital, Tehran, Iran.

Methods: Two hundred patients with second-degree burns admitted to Motahari Referral Center of Burn in Tehran, Iran. They were studied during a period of 12 months from May 2012 to May 2013. During the first week of treatment swabs were collected from the burn wounds after cleaning the site with sterile normal saline. Samples were inoculated in blood agar and McConkey agar, then incubation at 37 C for 48 hours. Identification was carried out according to standard conventional biochemical tests. Treatment continued up to epithelial formation and wound healing. Results of microbial culture for each patient was recorded. Healing time of the burn wounds in patients was recorded in log books. Chi-square test and SPSS Software v.19 (IBM, NY, USA) were used for data analysis.

Results: Our findings indicate that the most causes of burns are hot liquids in 57% of cases and flammable liquid in 21% of cases. The most cases of burns were found to be in the range of 21 to 30 percent with 17.5% and 7% in male and female respectively. Gram-negative bacteria were dominated in 85.7% and among them pseudomonas spp. with 37.5% were the most common cause of infected burns, followed by Enterobacter, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter and Klebsiella spp.

Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the most cause of burns in both sex is hot liquid. Men were more expose to burn than women and this might be due to the fact that men are involved in more dangerous jobs than female. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most common organism encountered in burn infection.


Investigation of the outcomes and varieties of violent suicides during a period of twenty years in Ilam, Iran
Yosra Azizpour , Khairollah Asadollahi , Kourosh Sayehmiri , Satar Kaikhavani ,
Volume 75, Issue 7 (10-2017)
Abstract
Background: Suicide is one of the main health problems in different societies and is associated with different risk factors. The result of a suicide attempt is directly related to the selected method. Invasive suicides are known as violent methods of self-harm and are usually happened in different patterns of age and gender. The aim of this study was to investigate the outcome and varieties of suicide via invasive methods in a long-term period in Ilam province, Iran.
Methods: In this retrospective study, the required data, including demographic variables, outcomes and the kind of invasive method was extracted from a comprehensive registration system of suicide cases, recorded by Ilam University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), to investigate the invasive suicides during the 1993-2013 years. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Ilam University of Medical Sciences and based on this approval the permission to access the suicide data was issued. Data were entered into the SPSS 20 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and using descriptive statistical methods and chi-square were analyzed based on completed or attempted outcome of suicide.
Results: Among a total of 1516 cases of invasive suicide, 643 (42.6%) were attempted and 867 (57.4%) were completed suicides. Self-immolation method showed the highest frequency of suicide (both completed and attempted). The highest frequency of completed suicide was occurred in females (52.8%) but the attempted suicide was higher in males (63.6%). The age groups of 25-34 years and above 65 years indicated the highest frequencies of attempted and completed suicides respectively.
Conclusion: One of the main objectives of this study was identification of high risk groups who used the invasive methods for suicide commitments, based on their epidemiological characteristics such as gender and age. The results showed that women and elderly individuals were among the high-risk groups who committed completed suicide using the invasive methods and self-immolation attributed the most frequent method among invasive methods for suicide in Ilam province which resulted in death.

A review on Zika virus, a re-emerging arbovirus: review article
Farshad Khodakhah , Talat Mokhtari Azad ,
Volume 75, Issue 11 (2-2018)
Abstract
Before the recent outbreaks of Zika virus, few people have ever heard of its name. Even virologists had paid little attention to this member of the Flaviviridae family. Hence, up to January 2016, only 269 articles about Zika virus had been indexed in PubMed compared to the 9187 articles related to dengue virus. However, declaration of the World health organization (WHO) about the global Zika virus spreading, which has been associated with birth defects and some neurological problems, diverted more attention to this forgotten virus. Afterwards, the virus hit the headlines and became a research interest. Since then, up to 9 August 2017, the number of Zika related articles indexed in PubMed reached to 3214. Zika virus is a re-emerging arbovirus. The First detection of Zika virus was in Uganda in 1947. It belongs to the Flavivirus genus in the Flaviviridae family. Zika can typically cause a mild and self-limiting disease in a healthy person. However, in pregnant women, it might cause birth defects and occasionally it can be associated with peripheral neuropathy such as Guillain-Barre syndrome. Although many research have been conducted to find out the casual link between this virus and these disorders but this relationship is still dim and controversial. Considering its recent epidemics in 2015 and 2016 the geographical distribution of Zika virus seems to expand all over the world progressively. Interaction between virus and vector is dynamic. Variety of competent vectors and adaptability of virus to new arthropod vectors are the two major factors for this process. According to the last report published by WHO, 84 countries/territories in five continents have reported the circulation of Zika virus in their area. In the recent outbreak, WHO regional office in our region (EMRO) have reported no case of Zika virus transmission from this region. Nonetheless, because specific and competent vectors exist in some countries, this region has a potential of epidemic risk. Until now we have neither autochthonous nor imported case of Zika virus in our country but we should prepare for any unexpected situation. In this review, we will discuss new findings about the history, virological features, vectors, transmission routes and epidemiological aspects as well as laboratory diagnosis of Zika virus. In addition, the epidemiology of this virus in Iran will be discussed.

Epidemiologic study of fall-related head injury in Iran and its comparison with other countries: review article
Kamran Aghakhani , Seyyed Hossein Eslami , Afshin Khara , Mohsen Bijandi ,
Volume 76, Issue 7 (10-2018)
Abstract
Head injury is one of the most important types of injury and is responsible for most of the deaths due to trauma. Low-income and middle-income countries face with more risk factors, but they still lack adequate health-care capacity to deal with complications. Trauma literally means the damage and injury, and head injury was defined as physical damage to the brain or skull caused by external forces. Head trauma is an important event. Anyone can fall including toddlers, adults and elders. There are several mechanisms for head injury, including motor vehicle accidents, falls, assault and violence. After the motor vehicle accidents, fall is the second most important cause of head injury. Deaths from falling in countries with lower socioeconomic conditions are higher. To collect the information for this study, the PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar databases were used. Sixty-four related articles were reviewed from 1980 to 2018. The keywords including "head injury", "head trauma", "brain damage", "fall mechanism", "Iran" and "epidemiology" were used to search the articles. According to the findings of this review fall is the second most common head injury mechanism in Iran. The fall mechanism is more common in the age group of young children and elderly. Also, the incidence of fall mechanism is more in males with head injury than women. In most other countries in the world, fall is the first and the second head injury mechanism. Also, falling from lower altitudes is a more common mechanism than a fall from higher altitude in injury to the head. Falling from lower level is a more common mechanism than fall from higher level in head injuries. In addition, the outbreak of the fall mechanism in children and the elderly with head injuries is more. Despite the efforts that have been made in the past years to determine the pattern of epidemiology of head trauma and its results in Iran, there is not enough information on fall-related head injury. Considering that the head traumatic injury is one of the most common and most dangerous outcomes of fall, the purpose of this review study is to investigate epidemiologic fall-related head injury.

A review on Anaplasma phagocytophilum as a zoonotic agent: review article
Vahid Noaman,
Volume 76, Issue 12 (3-2019)
Abstract
Anaplasma phagocytophilum is a gram-negative intracellular bacterium that transmitted by hard ticks. A. phagocytophilum infect and multiply in the organs of ticks, in particular the salivary glands which enable the transmission to vertebrate hosts during feeding. The tick becomes infected by feeding on an infected host and there is transstadial but not transovarial passage of the organism. The majority of ticks are infected with the organism in enzootic areas. There are strains of A. phagocytophilum that have biological and ecological difference, including variations in host pathogenicity, vectors and geographical distribution. The organism has an interesting feature to grow in neutrophils by stopping the antibacterial activity of neutrophils. The bacterium is able to survive in the immune host, using complex mechanisms of antigenic variation. A. phagocytophilum infects humans and various animal species including dogs, sheep, cows, horses, wild deer and rodents. The disease is known as human granulocytic anaplasmosis in humans, canine granulocytic anaplasmosis in dogs, equine granulocytic anaplasmosis in horse and tick borne fever in ruminants. Cattle tick borne fever caused by A. phagocytophilum is characterized by high fever, reduced milk yield, inclusions in circulating neutrophils, leukopenia, abortions, reduced fertility, coughing, respiratory signs and swelling of the hind limbs. Clinical signs of human occur a week after the tick bites, the disease usually presents as an acute, sometimes fatal febrile syndrome, illness characterized by headache, chills, myalgias, arthralgia, malaise, and hematological abnormalities, such as neutropenia, lymphocytopenia, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, and elevated hepatic aminotransferase levels and may lead to death. In this review article the history, bacteriology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the disease caused by A. phagocytophilum is written based on the latest scientific findings. Several hard tick species are distributed in Iran and they are the most important ectoparasites of animals. A. phagocytophilum has been detected not only in Ixodes ricinus but also in cattle and sheep of Iran using molecular techniques. However, despite the zoonotic potential of the agent, there is no evidence in the identification of A. phagocytophilum in humans, and it seems necessary to research on the prevalence and epidemiology of the disease in the human population.

Statistical analysis of clinical and laboratory characteristics of systemic sclerosis
Elham Rajaei , Amin Hessam, Karim Mowla , Zeinab Deris Zayeri ,
Volume 77, Issue 9 (12-2019)
Abstract
Background: Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an autoimmune connective tissue disease characterized by vasculopathy and excessive collagen deposition in the skin and internal organs. Based on the skin damage we divide the patients into two groups: limited and diffuse SSc. In restricted type, the thickness of the skin is limited in the face and distal parts of the elbows and knees, with less involvement of internal organs, whereas in diffuse type, facial skin, organs, and trunk generally increase in thickness and internal visceral involvement is noticeable as renal failure, pulmonary artery pressure, and interstitial lung fibrosis. According to the prevalence studies, the prevalence of systemic sclerosis is estimated to be 15 cases per 100,000, of which the prevalence in women is 3 times more than men. Based on clinical evidence the prevalence of SSc is high in Khuzestan province. The aim of this article was to evaluate the demographic features of SSc in Khuzestan province, Iran.
Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted on two hundred SSc patients referred to Rheumatology Clinic of the Golestan University Hospital in Iran, from 2001 to 2015. Patients were selected based on the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for SSc and were divided into diffuse and restricted types based on the site of skin involvement. Individual characteristics and clinical symptoms were extracted from the information in the patient records which were carefully compiled by physicians. Data on age, sex, race, duration of illness, and family history of SSc were collected orally.
Results: 91.5% of the enrolled patients were female. The mean age was 44 years and the most common race in our study was Lor. The prevalence of the diffuse form of SSc was 68% and the limited form was 32%. The Raynaud's phenomenon was detected in 100% of patients. Sclerodactyly and interstitial lung disease were found in 88.5% and 54.5% of patients respectively. Laboratory features such as ANA (93%), Anti-Scl-70 (77.5%) and anti-centromere antibody (ACA) (70%) of SSc patients were reported.
Conclusion: According to the results of this article, the most systemic sclerosis patients in Khuzestan province were middle-aged Lor race females and the most common type was diffuse systemic sclerosis.

Ten-year HIV/AIDS epidemiology in East Azerbaijan in Iran from 2004 to 2014: brief report
Homayoun Sadeghi Bazargani , Jafar Sadegh Tabrizi , Mohammad Asghari Jafar Abadi , Reza Yousefi , Mehdi Mohammadzadeh , Asad Ahmadi , Masoud Mohammadi ,
Volume 77, Issue 10 (1-2020)
Abstract
Background: AIDS is an emerging disease, and despite the fact that it has not been recognized for the first half-century since its inception, it has been known as a century-old disaster. This disease, by proliferation in immune cells and ultimately by weakening the immune system, makes people vulnerable to diseases. Our study seeks to examine existing cases of HIV/AIDS patients in East Azerbaijan province in Iran and provides useful guidance for patient diagnosis, treatment, and care.
Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic study in which the target group includes all HIV-positive or AIDS patients identified or reported from 2004 to 2014 in Tabriz Medical Sciences or Health Centers of East Azerbaijan province. The demographic information of all patients were recorded by a researcher-made questionnaire during visiting the disease-management counseling centers. All data including transmission of the illness (including all possible ways), the diagnostic date, the onset of treatment and the date of death were collected, and then entered into the software Stata, version 11.0 (Stata Corp., College Station, TX, USA). The information were imported in the ArcGIS software, version 10.7.1 (ESRI Inc., Redlands, CA, USA), maps were created, and geographic and spatial data were analyzed.
Results: According to the results of this study, most patients with 89.9% were male, 28.9% were under the age of 36 years, 32.3% had elementary education, and the most common way of transmission with 42.3% is through the shared infusion.
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the highest prevalence of AIDS in East Azerbaijan province was observed in men under the age of 36 years and primary and lower secondary education in Tabriz and Maragheh cities.

Characteristics of Guillain-Barré syndrome: brief report
Dariush Afshari Aliabadi , Nasrin Moradian , Elham Rahmanian , Masoud Mohammadi ,
Volume 78, Issue 3 (6-2020)
Abstract
Background: Guillain-Barré syndrome is an autoimmune inflammatory disease, which manifests itself as an acute motor weakness of the organs, diagnosed as affecting the motor spinal nerve roots generally and causing muscle and motor weakness, the cause of this disease is the presence of active antibodies against the myelin sheath around the spinal nerve roots. Guillain-Barré syndrome is the most common and most severe unpleasant neuropathy that affects about 100,000 people worldwide annually.
Methods: This is a descriptive analytical study, the data of 354 admitted patients were reviewed and 262 cases, which matched the criteria for entering the study, was included. The criterion for entering the study was clinical diagnosis.Required information were included age, sex, complaints of disease, and visitation period. Data was analyzed by using Microsoft Excel 2013 (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA) and study was performed on Imam Reza and Farabi Hospitals of Kermanshah in Iran, from March 1993 to February 2013.
Results: 59.5% were male and 40.5% female, and the mean age of the patients was 44.6±22.9. The most affected individuals were at the age of 30-50 and the highest prevalence was observed in spring. Acute inflammatory demyelinating poly-radiculoneuropathy with 53.4% was the most common backward disorder in patients and 5.7% among deaths among patients.
Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that Acute inflammatory demyelinating poly-radiculoneuropathy had the highest prevalence in patients and decreased with increasing age, and this syndrome was more prevalent in the spring.

Cost evaluation of chemotherapy and epidemiology of five most common cancers in Isfahan Province in Iran
Mohammadreza Amirsadri , Amir Houshang Zargarzadeh , Farimah Rahimi, Fatemeh Jahani,
Volume 78, Issue 4 (7-2020)
Abstract
Background: Cancer is the third leading cause of death in Iran. Cancer treatment is very costly and chemotherapy drugs are one of the main causes of the high cost of cancer treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cost of chemotherapy drugs of five most common cancers and identifying the factors might affect the costs of chemotherapy drugs in a one of the large provinces of Iran, located in the center of the country.
Methods: In a cross-sectional study, the data of all patients with five common cancer diagnosed from March 2015 to March 2016 in Isfahan Province in Iran were collected from the Cancer Registry Center of Isfahan, as well as the pharmacies which distribute chemotherapy drugs. The required information (including, patient characteristics, type of cancer, and the costs of chemotherapy) of patients was obtained by linking the information of patients registered in the distributor pharmacies with the patients registered at the Isfahan Cancer Registry Center through the national code of the patients.
Results: Breast, skin, colorectal, stomach and thyroid cancers were the most common cancers within the evaluated period of time in Isfahan Province. Colorectal cancer with an annual average total cost of 110,510,720 IRR (Rials) per patient was the most expensive cancer during the evaluated time period while thyroid cancer with an annual average total cost of 40,791,123 IRR per patient was the least costly cancer within the evaluated time period in Isfahan among the five most common cancers, considering the chemotherapy medicines cost. The highest cost in the colorectal cancer was due to the drug cetuximab distributed under the trade name Erbitux®. Regardless of the cancer type, the mean annual total cost of chemotherapy drugs per patient within the considered period of time calculated to be 96,307,145 IRR.
Conclusion: The chemotherapy cost of the common cancers was high with an annual average of more than 96 million IRR (Rials) per patient, within the considered time period. This was particularly true for colorectal cancer with an annual average cost of more than 110 million Rials.

Studying the epidemiological and clinical features of neck masses in Kerman, Iran
Mohammad Ali Damghani , Fatemeh Fani Molky , Soheil Motamed ,
Volume 79, Issue 6 (9-2021)
Abstract
Background: Neck mass is one of the most common clinical findings in all age groups. Differential diagnosis of masses includes a range of pathologies from congenital to infectious or neoplasm. Understanding the risk factors of neck masses can help us to assess them properly. The purpose of this study is to obtain the epidemiological and clinical features of different neck masses in Kerman, Iran.
Methods: This research was a descriptive, retrospective and cross-sectional study. 120 Patients that have been biopsied from neck masses during March 2014 to March 2018  in the otorhinolaryngology department of Shafa hospital of Kerman (referral center of otorhinolaryngology disease of southeastern Iran), were the participants of the study. Data regarding age, sex, history of addiction, smoking and definite pathologic diagnosis were collected and analyzed with SPSS 20th version.
Results: Of 120 cases, 57.5 % were male and 42.5% were female. In the malignant masses group, the male to female ratio was 4.1 to 1. The average age of patients was 39.44 years old. From them, 20.83 percent had a history of smoking but 79.17 percent had never experienced smoking. In addition, 77.5% of the patients have not experienced opium consumption and 22.5% were addicted to opium regularly. There was a significant relationship between smoking and opium consumption and the incidence of malignant cervical masses (P<0.05). In the pathological study, inflammatory and infectious masses with 48.33 percent were in the head of pathology; malignant neoplasm with 25 percent, benign neoplasms with a prevalence of 12.5 percent and congenital masses with a prevalence of 9.7 percent were in the next ranks.
Conclusion: In this study, we investigated the epidemiological and clinical features of neck masses in Kerman. It is obvious that smoking is an important risk factor for neck mass malignancies. Also, the present study revealed that the incidence of malignant tumors increased with age.

Epidemiological investigation and clinical findings of various types of vasculitis in children of eastern Iran
Abdolreza Malek, Mahdieh Vahedi, Nafiseh Pourbadakhshan,
Volume 81, Issue 4 (7-2023)
Abstract
Background: Vasculitis is a heterogeneous group of diseases that means an inflammatory process in blood vessels. Diagnosing vasculitis in children is challenging due to the variety of symptoms. Classification of childhood vasculitis is usually based on clinical phenotypes, size of affected vessels (small, medium, or large), and pathology of inflammatory infiltrates. The aim of this study is to investigate the epidemiological information on types of vasculitis and their clinical symptoms in children in eastern Iran.
Methods: This 3-year descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on all male and female patients with any vasculitis referred to the outpatient clinic and rheumatology department of Akbar Children's Hospital from the beginning of September 2017 to the end of September 2020. Has been. This study was based on information obtained from the checklist (information from the inpatient and outpatient records and information in the HIS). Checklist information included age, gender, drug history, history of surgery, clinical symptoms in different systems, season of disease onset, etc.
Results: Out of 263 children, 135 (51.33%) had Henoch-Schonlein and 100 (38/02%) of them had Kawasaki. The numbers of Behcet, Takayasu and Churg-Strauss patients were 20, three and two, respectively. In most subgroups, female patients were more common than male patients. Kawasaki and Takayasu had the lowest and highest age of onset, respectively. The most common seasons of appearance for Henoch-Schonlein and Kawasaki were autumn and summer respectively. In most subgroups, skin rashes are the most common clinical symptom, with, the most common types being petechiae and purpura.
Conclusion: In the present study, the most common type of vasculitis diagnosed in children in eastern Iran was reported by Henoch-Schonlein and Kawasaki respectively, which was completely different from the most common types of vasculitis in adulthood and indicated the importance of age in diagnosing the type of vasculitis. The necessity of clinical suspicion of these two diseases in children with skin rashes, along with matching with other clinical findings, is undeniable.

Investigation of epidemiological and histopathological features of central nervous system tumors in the samples referred to the pathology department of a referral hospital in the east of iran in a 10-year period
Yasser Hasanzadeh, Zahra Sagheb Movafagh , Atena Sahrabeygi , Hamid Heidarian Miri , Masoumeh Gharib ,
Volume 81, Issue 10 (1-2024)
Abstract
Background: Identifying the epidemiological aspects of central nervous system (CNS) tumors is the first step in implementing management protocols to control the condition of these tumors. We aimed to examine the epidemiology and histopathology of both benign and malignant tumors of the CNS in one of the referral and university centers in the east of Iran.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on all files of patients admitted to Qaem Hospital in Mashhad City, Iran, in a period of 10 years from March 2009 to February 2018 with a definitive diagnosis of benign or malignant tumors of the CNS, including tumors of the brain, cerebellum, spinal cord, or meningeal membranes. Information sources included the patients' physical files and the hospital information system (HIS). The statistical software SPSS version 28.0 for Windows (IBM SPSS, Armonk, New York, USA) was used for the statistical analysis.
Results: In total, 775 patients with benign and 771 patients with malignant CNS tumors were included in the study. Regarding epidemiological aspects of benign tumors, the incidence rate of women was almost twice that of men (68.47% versus 31.53%), with an overall average age of 45.31±19.81 years. The most common benign tumors were meningioma (72.77%), followed by schwannoma (13.67%). Regarding malignant brain tumors, the mean age of affected patients was 36.64±19.67 years, with males accounting for 53.04% of cases and females for 46.96%. The most frequent type of tumor was glioblastoma (32.68%), followed by diffuse astrocytoma (16.47%). Both benign and malignant CNS tumors were associated with significant hospital mortality; in-hospital mortality rates for benign and malignant tumors were 10.1% and 17.5%, respectively. Tumor type and its grade were the main determinants of early death in malignant CNS tumors.
Conclusion: The epidemiological characteristics of benign and malignant tumors in our study community were similar to the reports presented in other communities. Knowledge of these characteristics provides the possibility of managing patients and reducing morbidity and mortality related to these tumors.

Seasonal impact analysis on COVID-19 severity: insights from homogeneous epidemiological hospital data using the jaccard correlation coefficient
Ameneh Javanmard, Alireza Salehan,
Volume 81, Issue 10 (1-2024)
Abstract
Background: Coronaviruses were discovered in 1960. Large-sized living organisms from the Coronaviridae family, with single-stranded RNA of animal origin. Coronaviruses in humans can cause mild respiratory illness or severe respiratory illness. In 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The aim of this study is to use the Jaccard similarity coefficient to determine the similarity of COVID-19 behavior patterns in different seasons of the year.
Methods: This study used machine learning systems and similarity metrics to determine the behavior pattern of COVID-19 in different seasons of the year. The location of research was the Mousa ibn Ja'far Hospital in Mashhad, and the time was from May 2020 to August 2021. The symptoms of affected patients were compared with the compiled dataset, and the similarity of patients was prepared in a similarity matrix, and the Jaccard correlation coefficient was calculated on the data. Finally, the analysis of strains from the beginning of emergence to the latest strain was examined. The performance indicators of the algorithm in the Jaccard similarity method showed a recall metric with a value of 0.94, a precision metric with a value of 1, an F1 score with a value of 0.86, and remove accuracy metric with a value of 0.76. The most important factors in the investigation include white blood cells, platelets, RT-PCR, CT SCAN, shortness of breath, fever, SPO2, and respiratory rate.
Results: The transmission of the COVID-19 virus depends on several factors, including human interaction. The evidence of the collected data shows that people with COVID-19 have low lymphocyte count and it is very consistent with the results of recent studies. Due to the lack of a dataset, a comparative study was conducted and a dataset was collected.
Conclusion: This study, leveraging machine learning algorithms, identified a clear seasonal correlation in the spread of COVID-19. Considering geographical and seasonal variations among patients, distinct symptoms were observed in each season corresponding to the prevalent strain during that period.

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