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 Background & Objectives: Regarding the admitted cases at early infancy in Tabriz Pediatrics Medical Center, this research was carried out to determine the role of Hep.B. vaccination in the incidence of ITP.

 Methods: We studied all patients’ admission files in Tabriz Pediatrics Center from 1993 to 2002. The patients were under 6 months of age and hospitalized with the impression of ITP. There were 25 infants whose ITP was diagnosed upon their clinical findings, blood counts and bone marrow aspiration and confirmed by exclusion of other causes of thrombocytopenia. Hep. B. vaccination has been included in routine immunization in Iran since 1993. In order to compare the incidence rate of ITP before and after 1993, we also sought all ITP patients’ files at the same age group who had been admitted to Tabriz Pediatrics Center during the decade before the beginning of routine Hep.B. vaccination (i.e. 1982 to 1992).

 Results: This study shows a considerable increase in incidence of ITP in infants under 6 months of age between 1993 asnd 2002 compared to the decade before the beginning of Hep.B.vaccination, which is statistically significant (P=0.0029).

 Conclusion: Although there is no facility to measure antibodies in Iran and many other countries, and this is one of the reasons for lack of proof for existence of a relationship between vaccination and ITP incidence, the study of cases in two different periods may strengthen the role of Hep.B. vaccination in the occurrence of ITP at early infancy.

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Background & Objective: Many factors interfere in liver fibrosis one of which is hepatitis B.The aim of our study was to determine the parameters serum iron, TIBC and ferritin of patients with hepatitis B and fibrosis of the liver

Methods: Study involved 50 cases with liver fibrosis and viral hepatitis type B (2002-2004)
and 26 controls. Iron concentration, Total iron-binding capacity and Ferritin concentration were measured by standard biochemical methods. To compare the results of the two groyps a student t-test was used and considering p< 0.05 the difference between two groups was significant.

Results: The results showed that serum ferritin increase 243.7±16.7 micro gr/L and 238.7±13.9 micro gr/L in man and women patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection compared to the control group, 198.5±14.3 and 182.7 ±14.3 mg/L in man and women, respectively. No significant difference was found between serum Iron and TIBC in both groups. there was a significant relationship between them.

Conclusion: Increased serum ferritin concentration and liver fibrosis induced by hepatitis B virus infection. Also, determination of serum ferritin could help in diagnosis of liver fibrosis.

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Background & objectives: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a globally widespread infection that spreads mainly through sexual contact, mother to child and intravenous drug use. The disease can vary from an asymptomatic state to advanced immune deficiency and AIDS-related opportunistic infections and complications. Patients may be diagnosed at different stages of the disease. In this study, we aimed to analyze the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of patients with HIV and its consequences during the past 10 years (2005-2014) in Ardabil city.
Methods: In this descriptive and case series study, patients with HIV (including live and dead patients) referring to the Ardabil behavioral counseling center were included during 2005-2014 years. The checklist containing demographic data, modes of transmission, time of diagnosis, clinical and therapeutic problems during this period, etc. was prepared for each patient. In dead patients, the causes of death as well as the interval between diagnosis and death were investigated.
Results: In this study, 60 patients with HIV were evaluated, the mean age was 42.96 years, 76.7% of patients were male and 48.2% were intravenous drug users. In 39.7% of cases, patients have probably been infected through intravenous injection and 33.3% by sexual contact. The mean CD4 + lymphocyte cell count of patients was 252 cells per ml. The most common early symptoms of the disease were fever (63.33%), aphthous stomatitis (35%) and diarrhea (28.33%). In 7 cases (50%), tuberculosis was the most common opportunistic infection. 6 patients (10%) had coinfection with hepatitis B or C. 28 patients (46.6%) died within the time of study. The median time from diagnosis to death was 44.84±39.65 months and cardiorespiratory failure was the most common cause of death among patients.
Conclusion: This study showed that most patients were middle-aged and intravenous drug use was the most common risk factors for HIV. The most common way of transmission was intravenous injection and hepatitis C and tuberculosis were the most important comorbidities, respectively. Raising community awareness about the disease, early diagnosis and appropriate care during illness are basic measures to deal with this global problem.

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Background & Objective: Hepatitis B virus [HBV] infection is one of the most important public health concerns. The present study was conducted to provide a descriptive analysis of detected HBV infection in Ardabil province.
Methods: In this retrospective longitudinal study, the hepatitis B surveillance database of Ardabil province was examined from 2014 to 2018. The frequency of hepatitis B virus infections was presented based on age, gender, marital status, place of residence, primary symptoms, and reporting sources. Also, the trend of changes in the number of detected cases over time was investigated using time series analysis.
Results: A total of 817 positive cases with a mean age of 43.1 years were reported. Most of them were male [n=503, 61.5]. The Frequency of identified positive cases decreased over time. Most of the infections were asymptomatic [87.5%]. Almost 90.0% of patients with HBV were married and the majority of the identified patients were resided in urban settings [n=598, 73.2%]. Most diagnostic tests were done voluntarily [n=219, 26.8%] or during prenatal care [n=109, 13.3%]. Most cases were identified and reported by the health network [n=292, 35.7%] and blood transfusion organization [n=190, 23.2%].
Conclusion: Decision-makers of the health sector of the province can use this information as a source for evidence-based decision-making in the effective management of the disease.

Corresponding Author:
Eslam moradi-Asl, Department of Public Health, School of Health, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran.
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