RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Hepatitis B virus is a virus that creates significant hepatic and extra-hepatic complications, with widespread prevalence across the community and body systemic involvement, and can impact on hearing performance. This study aims to evaluate hearing loss among individuals with hepatitis B compared with healthy subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case-control study, 83 HBsAg-positive patients with a 1-year history of disease were selected for pure tone audiometry (PTA) testing, while 108 HBsAg-negative patients were selected as the control group. Subjects in both groups were aged 20-40 years. The threshold was set at 25 db for hearing loss. Final data were analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS: Significant differences were found between the case group and control group in average PTA and hearing loss. There was also a significant difference between the two groups in average PTA at frequencies of 250, 4,000, and 8,000 Hz, but not at speech frequencies of 500, 1,000 and 2,000 Hz, despite the difference in average PTA. CONCLUSION: According to significant differences in average PTA between patients with hepatitis B virus and healthy subjects in this study, hearing loss may be attributed to the presence HBV of in the patient group.
RESUMEN
Background. Adolescence is one of the most challenging periods for human growth and nutritional status. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional status and anthropometric indices in high school girls in Ilam. Methods. This cross-sectional study was performed on 360 domestic high school girl students chosen randomly by cluster sampling. Data were gathered through interviews performed by a dietitian to fill 24-hour dietary recall and food frequency and demographic questionnaires. Then we performed the anthropometric measurements and we compared the results with CDC2000 standards. We analyzed our data by N4 food analyzer and SPSS16 software. Results. The prevalence of obesity and overweight was 5% and 10.8%, respectively. Simultaneously, the prevalence of underweight was 20.2%. The prevalence of stunting was 5.8%. We also showed that 50% of high school girls in Ilam suffered from severe food insecurity, 14.7% suffered from mild insecurity, and 4.7% get extra energy from foods. Food analysis showed that micronutrients such as zinc, iron, calcium, folate, fiber, magnesium, and vitamin B12 were less than what is recommended by the RDA. Conclusion. Undernutrition and overnutrition are completely prevalent among girls studied in Ilam. This needs further acts and investigations in the field and more nutritional and health educations.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Hepatitis B is a disease that is prevalent worldwide and is responsible for 10% of the deaths that occur every year. The virus persists in 5% of infected adults and 90% of infected children and can cause chronic hepatitis. In addition to blood, the virus may also be present in other secretions. Transmission through saliva, sexual fluids, and urine has also been confirmed. OBJECTIVES: The main aim of this study was to compare viral DNA copies in the serum, cerumen, and saliva of patients with HBeAg levels in their sera. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study and subjects were selected by non-randomized methods. Serum, cerumen, and saliva samples were collected from 50 patients who were diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B about a year prior to the study. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to determine the presence of HBsAg and HBeAg in the gathered specimens. Viral DNA was extracted from specimens by using a Qiagen kit. The number of viral DNA copies was determined using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. The study was performed in Ilam province in western Iran. RESULTS: Twenty-eight percent of the patients were HBeAg positive. The average number of viral copies in serum, cerumen, and saliva was higher in women than in men, and a significant correlation was observed between the gender and average viral copies. However, no significant correlation was observed between viral copies present in the serum and cerumen with the age and gender of patients. In addition, no correlation was observed between serum HBeAg and viral copies present in serum, cerumen, and saliva. The correlation analysis confirmed a direct and definite correlation between viral DNA loads in the patients' serum and cerumen. CONCLUSIONS: A significant direct correlation was observed between the viral DNA copies present in patients' cerumen and serum. However, the correlation between saliva viral load with serum and cerumen viral load was very low and inverse. These findings suggest that the presence of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) in non-invasive specimens (such as cerumen and saliva) should also be evaluated when monitoring patients to determine the course of infection and disease.