The relationship between the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori and serum levels of vitamin B12 in women 10-49 years.

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between serum vitamin B12 and Helicobacter(H.) pylori prevalence in women between 10-49 years. METHODS: This cross-sectional (descriptive and analytical) study was conducted in the city of Samirom located in Isfahan, Iran in 2013. The population studied consisted of 100 women between 10-49 years and they were selected by convenience sampling. Data collection tools was checklist in which its content validity and reliability were confirmed. The data were entered into SPSS 16 software and were analyzed using descriptive statistics methods and univariate and multivariate inferential statistics methods. RESULTS: The mean age of the study population was 29.5 ± 1.04. Also 29% of the population studied was infected with H. pylori, and prevalence of serum vitamin B12 less than 160 was 47%. After adjusted the effect of confounder variables with multivariate logistic regression analysis, the odds of infected with H. pylori in peoples with vitamin B12 less than 160, was 4.8 times the peoples with vitamin B12 normal (Equal and greater than 160) that this different was statistically significant (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: The results showed that serum levels of vitamin B12 is a determinant factor in the prevalence of H. pylori.

Clinical and laboratory features of pertussis in hospitalized infants with confirmed versus probable pertussis cases.

BACKGROUND: The clinical presentations of pertussis infection have considerable variation. Many infections and illnesses can cause prolonged repetitive paroxysmal cough that could be confused with Bordetella pertussis infection. AIM: This retrospective study was designed to compare the clinico-laboratory findings between two groups of hospitalized infants with confirmed, and those who have clinical pertussis disease; to identify the possible additional diagnostic clues "for the diagnosis of confirmed pertussis disease". SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of infants ≤12 months of age with clinical diagnosis of pertussis that fulfilled the World Health Organization definition for pertussis or those diagnosed by physicians. Clinico-laboratory findings were compared between two groups of patients (confirmed vs. clinical cases). RESULTS: From a total of 118 infants admitted with a clinical diagnosis of pertussis, 16% (19/118) were confirmed by laboratory to have confirmed pertussis. Twelve of 19 (63%) and 71.99% of confirmed and clinical cases were younger than 6 months of age, respectively. For most patients, the duration of symptoms before hospitalization was <14 days. There were no significant differences between two groups of patients for paroxysmal cough and facial discoloration. However, whoop and apnea were more common among confirmed pertussis cases: P = 0.01, and P = 0.02, respectively. Leukocytosis (≥16,000/ml) (P = 0.01) and lymphocytosis (≥11,000) (P = 0.02) were reported significantly more frequently in confirmed pertussis cases. CONCLUSION: Given the unavailability of a highly sensitive diagnostic test, in every afebrile patient with paroxysmal cough lasting for ≥7 days associated with whoop and/or apnea, particularly if accompanied by leukocytosis/lymphocytosis, pertussis disease should be considered. In this situation, prompt administration of empiric treatment for cases, and providing control measures to prevent infection transmission to contacts are recommended.