Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: The deficiency of enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is among the most common genetic diseases in human. The deficiency of G6PD enzyme is one of the most common encountered enzymes, affecting about 400 million people and causing a wide range of undesirable clinical complications worldwide. The performed studies have reported a variety of statements about the relationship between malaria and survival of people with defect, but these kinds of studies are limited in Iran. This study aimed to estimate the incidence of G6PD deficiency among newborns in malarious areas of Fars province.
Methods: The present study was conducted ecologically and descriptively-analytically on 59745 neonates with G6PD deficiency in Fars province, Iran from April 2011 to March 2015. To determine the defect, a point fluorescence test and Kimia commercial kit (KimiaPajoohan Co., Tehran, Iran) were used. To determine the areas with malaria, factors associated with malaria-causing cells in Fars province, including the presence of carriers, the presence of malaria, the incidence of new malaria and the presence of malaria activated sites were studied. The incidence of defect was calculated using the statistical method of estimating the annual incidence rate. ArcGIS software, version 10.3 (ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA) was used to provide geographic mappings and distribution patterns in malarious areas.
Results: The total incidence of G6PD deficiency in newborns was estimated as 15.58 per 100 live births, including 16.25 for boys and 14.85 for girls. The incidence of this defect in malaria-prone areas was higher than other areas. As a region was more malaria-prone, the incidence of G6PD deficiency increased too, which was statistically significant (P= 0.039).
Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, Fars province is among areas with high incidence of G6PD deficiency. The incidence of G6PD deficiency in malaria-prone areas of Fars province, Iran, is higher than other regions, which indicates better survival of patients against malaria in the past.
 

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.