ABSTRACT
Hepatitis A is often asymptomatic in children, however it can become a serious disease in adults. For countries that do not have a universal vaccination strategy targeted vaccination for high risk groups is recommended. Health workers could be at a higher risk of infection with hepatitis A virus [HAV] compared to the general population. The aim of this study is to investigate the seroprevalence of hepatitis A among enrolled students in Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2011. This study included all students enrolled in Tehran University of Medical Sciences during 2011. We checked serum samples for anti-HAV antibody and participants completed a simple questionnaire. From 1864 health sciences students enrolled in Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 1813 samples were analyzed for anti-HAV IgG antibody. The results showed that 970 [53.5%] were seronegative, 722 [39.8%] were seropositive, and 121 [6.7%] were equivocal. There were significantly higher seropositive results for males [54%] compared to females [37%; RR = 1.46; 95% CI: 1.31-1.62]. The seroprevalence of HAV among enrolled medical science students is considerably lower than previous reports from Iran. Targeted vaccination for health sciences students prior to exposure should be seriously considered
ABSTRACT
To compare the pathogenicity differences in two susceptible Balb/c and resistant C57b1/6 mice infected with Leishmania major MRHO/IR/75/ER as a prevalent strain of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis in Iran. Mice were assigned into four groups as control and infected BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Experimental leishmaniasis was initiated by [s. c] injection of the 2x10[6] L. major promastigotes into the basal tail of infected groups. The development of lesions was determined weekly by measuring the two diameters. After 10 weeks, all mice were killed humanly, target tissues including lymph node, spleen and liver from each mouse were removed, weighted, and their impression smears were prepared. Proliferation of amastigotes inside macrophages, pathogenicity signs in two susceptible, resistant hosts was varied, and these variations were depended on mice strain. Host immunity may modify clinical signs and could affect the proliferation of amastigotes inside macrophages, the size of lesions, the survival rates, the degree of hepatomegaly and splenomegaly and the percentage of amastigotes in lesion, liver, spleen, lymph node and brain smears