Background: Syphilis is an infectious disease caused by Treponema pallidum and transmitted via sexual contact, infected discharge and blood as well as vertical transmission. It causes various impacts on women during pregnancy and their newborns which results in various complications. Thus, screening of syphilis is routinely performed during pregnancy. Choosing to perform a specific screening test is based on the prevalence of the disease in the target population which needs adequate information in this regard. The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of syphilis among pregnant women in Shiraz, South-west of Iran. Materials and Methods: in this 15 month prospective study, 1100 pregnant women aged between 15 – 42 years, referred to University affiliated hospital in shiraz, Iran were included Blood samples were obtained from all of our study population for performing RPR test. FTA-ABS Serologic test was carried out on positive cases of RPR test.Results: 15 suspicious cases with weakly positive RPR test were detected but in all of them FTA-ABS Tests were negative.Conclusions: The prevalence and incidence of syphilis was low in our area which may be due to variable reasons, such as reduction in the rate of unsafe and unprotected sex, improving knowledge, and adequate health care services. More studies are still needed to decide whether syphilis screening is beneficial in our area and should be considered as a routine test in pregnancy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Helicobacter pylori (HP) are one of the most important causes of chronic stomach infection, chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers and stomach cancer in men. Designing rapid, simple and less expensive techniques for its diagnosis lead to early treatment and preventing several complications due to H. Pylori infection. The aim of this research was to compare invasive (histology) and non invasive (serology) methods in HP detection in patients with dyspepsia.METHODS: This analytical study was performed on 150 patients with dyspepsia who referred to Yahyanejad hospital in Babol medical University. All of the patients underwent endoscopy and biopsy was taken from gastric antrum. For detecting helicobacter pylori histological examination by Giemsa staining was done in biopsy specimens and for Serologic study serum levels of IgG and IgA were measured by ELISA. Data were statistically analyzed.FINDINGS: From all 150 patients with dyspepsia, serology was positive in 80.7% (n=121) and histology of antrum specimen was positive in 90% (n=135). Positive histology was seen in 76 males (56.3%) and 59 females (43.7%). In our study, accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value and positive predictive value of serology technique were 78.6%, 82.9%, 40%, 20.6% and 92.5%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity were 77% and 40% for IgG and were 51.8% and 86.6% for IgA. Accuracy of serology in males was more than females (81.2% vs. 75.7%). CONCLUSION: According to the high sensitivity, low specificity, simplicity, rapidity and lower cost of Serologic examination in comparison with histological evaluation for Helicobacter pylori detection in our population, serology can be applied as the best major technique in screening and epidemiological evaluation of H. pylori detection. This report suggests that Serological examination must be employed with other standard assessments in diagnosis of H. pylori infection.

Background &Aims: Hydatid cyst is zoonosis disorder and is one of the global health problems, especially in the developing countries. There are different diagnostic methods for the hydatid cyst. In this study, sensitivity of Serologic and imaging methods has been studied comparatively. Materials & Methods: This study carried out cross-sectionally on the 45 patients with hydatid cyst. For all patients Serologic Tests (IHA, ELISA) were done and results of these Tests with imaging findings were studied.  Results: from 45 patients in this study, in the 16 patients with surgically established hydatid cyst, sensitivity of IHA and ELISA in the diagnosis of hydatid cyst of liver and lung was 85.7% and 55.5% respectively which showed no meaningful statistical difference(p-value=0.11). Sensitivity of imaging methods in the diagnosis of surgically established hydatid cyst was estimated 100% for hydatid cyst of lung and 85.7% for hydatid cyst of liver which showed meaningful statistical difference in comparison with Serologic methods(p-value=0.01)Discussion: This study showed sensitivity of imaging methods in the diagnosis of hydatid cyst is greater than Serologic Tests. So, it seems that imaging findings could be more useful in the diagnosis of hydatid cyst.    

Ocular toxocariasis is an uncommon worldwide infection caused by the nematode larvae of T. canis. This infection usually seen in children following consumption of eggs of parasites from stool of infected animals. In this study, we present a case of ocular toxocariasis in an 11 year old girl. The girl admitted to our hospital with impairment of visual acuity; visual acuity of 3/10 in involved right eye and no light perception in the left eye. Slit lamp examination revealed 2 positive cataracts in the right eye and 2 positive vitreal inflammatory. On fundoscopy, a granulomatous lesion along with scar in supranasal peripheral retina area was observed. Serologic Tests were positive for toxocariasis.Toxocariasis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with cornea, strabismus and blurred vision both in children and adults.Serologic Tests may often be useful in this regard.

Background: Brucellosis is a common infection among humans and animals that called zoonosis. The disease is common especially in Middle East countries such as Iran. The aim of this study was to investigate of demographic characteristics, clinical signs and results of Serologic Tests in brucellosis hospitalized patients in Kermanshah, 2006-2011.Methods: In this descriptive cross sectional study, 305 hospitalized patients were investigated. A questionnaire about demographic characteristic clinical signs and laboratory findings was filled in. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20.Results: Of 305 patients, 163 cases (53.4%) were male. The mean age of patients was 36.66 years old. The most of common age group was 11-20 (20.3%). The most contagious seasons were summer and spring (64.6%). 16.1% of patients had a history of animal contact and consumption of unpasteurized dairy products. The most common sign were skeletal pain, myalgia and arthralgia (81%). Disease was more common among housewives (37.1%). According to results of Serologic Tests, the majority of the patients had wright test titer ≥1.80 (93.4%) and 2ME test titer ≥1.40 (88.2%), respectively.Conclusion: Prevention and education programs are necessary to reduce the economic and social problems resulting from brucellosis.

Background: Non-invasive evaluation of hepatic fibrosis, especiallyserumbiomarkersandultrasound elastography, has vigorously developed during the past decades. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the latest generation of ultrasound elastography-two-dimensional real-time shear wave elastography (SWE) in accessing liver fibrosis progression in comparison with Serologic Tests in a rat model. Materials and Methods: Liver fibrosis was induced in 108 rats (control group: 18 rats, experiment group: 90 rats) by intraperitoneal injection of thioacetamide (300mg/kg, twice a week for 12 weeks). SWE examination was done by two operators. Hyaluronic acid (HA), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) to platelet (PLT) ratio index (APRI), AST to alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio (AAR) were used for serology Tests. Histological fibrosis stages (F0-F4) according to the Scheuer scoring system were referred as the gold standard. Diagnostic performance of elastography and serology methods were determined by the areas under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Results: Liver stiffness values increased with the progression of hepatic fibrosis. Liver stiffness assessed by SWE exhibited a strong positive correlation with histological fibrosis stages (r = 0. 849, P < 0. 001). SWE showed a better diagnostic performance than the selected Serological biomarkers HA, APRI, and AAR (AUROC for SWE, HA, APRI, and AAR were 0. 933, 0. 707, 0. 714, and 0. 691 in diagnosing F F2 and 0. 986, 0. 807, 0. 870, and 0. 770 in diagnosing F = F4, respectively). Conclusion: Ultrasound elastographySWEtechnique is a reliable method for noninvasive evaluation of liver fibrosis in comparison with the Serological biomarkers, HA, APRI, and AAR.

Background: To achieve preventive and controlling activities of Brucellosis, we aimed this study as the first prospective cohort survey on brucellosis in Iran. This cohort in different phases from 2016 until 2020 going to investigate about brucella infection in the selected population of Famenin, a city located in Hamadan province, west of Iran. Study design: A prospective cohort study. Methods: At the first phase of the study, Famenin inhabitants including urban and rural people were studied from September to December in 2016. All identified household’ s people referred to specified health centers and clinically visited. Blood sampling was done, then these subjects were joined and the follow-up was initiated. At the next step, the blood samples were examined using Wright kits and 2ME test for diagnosis the seroprevalence of brucellosis. Participants will be followed up for next years to examine clinical profiles of brucellosis and complete investigation about the main risk factors to reach strategies to control and reduce human and animal brucellosis. Results: In the first phase, according to statistical analysis, 3363 persons including 47clusters were enrolled and considered for future studies. All participants were interviewed and demographic questioners were successfully completed. Finally, 2367 blood samples were entered in serology analysis. The seroprevalence of brucellosis based on Serologic titers of Wright and 2ME test was 6. 59% (95% CI: 5. 62%: 7. 66%) and 3. 46 %( 95% CI: 2. 72%: 4. 20%) respectively. Conclusions: In the first phase, an extensive range of data and information were collected as the basic data for the following phases of the cohort.

Background: One of the most common reasons for mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) is lung infections, among which Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) infection has the largest share. Diagnosis of Pa can be assessed by various methods such as sputum culture results and IgG antibody level via measuring the specific anti-Pa antibodies. This study aimed to select the best predictive technique in the diagnosis of Pa in CF patients through spirometry, sputum culture, and serum IgG antibody levels. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, blood and sputum or pharyngeal samples were taken from 68 patients with cystic fibrosis. Because spirometry was not possible in all patients, 34 patients could do the spirometry. The samples were studied concerning Pa infection. The data including variables such as age, sex, and spirometry results were obtained. Then, in the Serologic method, 3 serum-specific antibody levels were determined by enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The average age of children was 7.4 ± 5.6 (ranging from 0.5 to 23) years. Generally, the percentage of Pa infection increased in CF patients with higher ages. A statistically direct significant relationship was observed between the concentration of serum IgG antibodies in patients with CF and Pa-positive sputum culture results (p<0.05). Conclusion: Serum IgG antibodies against specific Pa antigens could be a diagnostic method against Pa infection, especially in patients who cannot expectorate. However, because of the positive and negative predictive value of both serum IgG antibody levels and the results of the sputum culture, we suggested that utilizing the combination of these methods could be beneficial in earlier diagnosis of Pa.