Background: Mycoplasma pneumoniae (M. pneumoniae) is an important respiratory bacterial pathogen, especially among children. It causes acute upper and lower respiratory infections.Objective: This study was aimed to measure anti- M. pneumoniae antibodies among hospitalized children who were admitted to hospital diagnosed with acute respiratory tract infections.Method: Automated ELISA technique was performed to detect anti- M. pneumoniae antibodies (IgM and IgG antibodies) in serum from 108 children less than 5 years old. The children were admitted to the Pediatric Teaching Hospital in Suleimani city/Kurdistan Region/Iraq because of acute respiratory tract infections. A questionnaire was designed to collect demographic and clinical data from those children.Results: IgM anti- M. pneumoniae antibodies were positive in 15 (13.9%) out of 108 children. The highest seroprevalence was found in the age group 25-36 months while the lowest is in the age group 1-12 months. M. pneumoniae infections were more common among males than females though results were statistically not significant, and attendance of kindergarten or nursery, residency, history of chronic diseases, history of contact with similar conditions, and family history of chronic diseases, they were all statistically not significant. The IgMseropositive children were suffering from bronchitis, croup, pneumonia, or other respiratory infections, in frequencies of 7 (46.6%), 4 (26.7%), 3 (20%), and 1 (6.7%) respectively. Increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, diagnosis of croup, and diagnosis of bronchitis were more frequent in M. pneumoniae infected group and the results were statistically significant. The IgG anti- M. pneumoniae antibodies were positive in 31 (28.8%) out of the 108 children, and the greatest IgG seroprevalence was highest in age group 49-60 months.Conclusion: M. pneumoniae is an important respiratorypathogen among hospitalized children in Sulaimanigovernorate/Kurdistan/Iraq, and nearly one third of childrenhad experienced M. pneumoniae infection by the age of fiveyears
The records of Primary Health Care Centres (Al-Risafa section of Baghdad) were inspected for communicable diseases during the period January-April 2006. There were 8622 recorded cases (the diagnosis was based on a clinical examination and laboratory findings), which were distributed as 4782 (55.5%), 1430 (16.6%), 1604 (18.6%) and 806 (9.3%) for Sadar city, Risafa, A'adhamyiah and Mada'in, respectively. The highest frequency was reported for chicken pox (42.7%), followed by mumps and typhoid fever (20 and 13.7%, respectively), while diphtheria and cholera were not recorded. These three most frequent diseases were further analyzed, and their distribution showed a significant difference (P ? 0.001). April was the month of the highest recorded
... Show MoreBackground: There is a clear debate about the role of bad oral habits (thumb-sucking and biting nails) and on oral health and the state of the dental caries, but there is no doubt that continuing these bad habits until advanced ages will lead to deep and difficult problems to solve. Objective: The purpose of study was to evaluate the effect of bad habits, include finger sucking and nail biting on dental caries among children aged from 6 to 10 years old. Subjects and methods: In Al-Hilla city, Iraq, a comparative study was conducted in which (200) primary school students aged between 6 to10 years old were involved. A questionnaire filled out by their parents was used to gather information related to the bad oral habit, and then all the stude
... Show MoreBackground: Tooth wear is one of the most concerning problems of the current dental practice especially among older subjects. The aim of this study is to determine the severity of tooth wear and its relation with selected salivary variables (salivary pH and vitamin C level) among a group of older adults in Mosul city/Iraq. Materials and methods: All subjects (30 subjects) of both gender tookpart in the current study; sixteen of them were older adults (55-65 years) and compared with fourteen middle-aged adults (30-40 years) at Textile factory in Mosul city/Iraq. Unstimulated salivary samples were collected and salivary pH was immediately measured. Salivary vitamin C level was determined colormetrically. Severity of tooth wear was determined
... Show MoreBackground: pregnancy as a systemic condition causes changes in the functioning of human body as a whole and specifically in the oral cavity and it also is considered as a stressful condition. These changes may favor the increase of oxidative stress. Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the level of marker of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde) and antioxidant (uric acid) in saliva of pregnant compared to non-pregnant women and to assess the gingival health condition in both groups. Additionally, unstimulated salivary flow rate was determined in both groups. Subjects, materials and methods: The study group consisted of sixty pregnant women, they were divided into three equal groups according to trimester (20 pregnant women for each
... Show MoreBackground: One of the significant public health problems is the traumatic dental injury to the anterior teeth, it has a great impact on children’s daily. Physical and psychological disturbance, pain and other negative impacts, such as tendency to avoid laughing or smiling may be associated with traumatic dental injuries, that may affect the social relationships. To determine the occurrence of traumatic dental injuries in relation to quality of life, this study was established among children of primary schools. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among private (574) and governmental (1026) primary school children in Baghdad city. Dental trauma was assessed according to Ellis and Davey classification in1970
... Show MoreThe aim of the current research is to construct a scale of emotional adjustment for kindergarten children and to set a standard for its evaluation. To achieve this, a scale consisting of (19) items was prepared. The mother of the child answered by adopting the method of self-report, which is expressed in the form of reporting terms, as each item represents a situation in the child's life and each situation has three alternatives to answer that represent various responses to the mentioned situation. One of the alternatives represents the emotionally adaptive response, which is given a degree (3), the second response expresses the emotional adjustment partly that took the degree of (2), and the third response expresses the weakness of emot
... Show MoreAn epidemiological study in Al-Mahmmodiya (50 km south Baghdad) to investigate a possible vector of Leishmaniasis were applied .This region is considered as a foci of Leishmaniasisaccording to the health association statistics. CDC light traps were used to collect the insects nightly. Insects were collected by Indoor application as human dwellings and animal shelters and Outdoor application as rodent's barrows and field trees. Sand flies were transported to the laboratory, isolated and identified according to the identification keys in Tropical Biological Researches Unit at the Collage of Science / University of Baghdad. Must of the collected sand flies were belonging to three species PhlebotomuspapatasiScopoli(45%), PhlebotomusalexandriSin
... Show MoreABSTRACT Background: Dental caries is a most common social and intractable infectious disease in human. Saliva is critical for preserving and maintaining oral health and salivary elements had many effects on caries experience. Aim of study: This study was conducted to assess dental caries severity by age and gender and their relation to salivary zinc and copper among a group of adults aged (19-22) years. Materials and methods: After examination eighty persons aged 19-22 years of both gender. Caries severity was documented according to DMFS index. Stimulated salivary samples were collected and chemically analyzed under standardized condition to detect salivary elements zinc and copper. Concentrations of Zinc and copper were measured by using
... Show MoreBackground: Melanin pigmentation of the gingiva appears in all ethnicities. Excessive pigmentation is an esthetic concern that has increased awareness about depigmentation procedures. This epidemiological study aims to find the correlation between skin color and gingival pigmentation in Sulaimani Governorate, Kurdistan/Iraq.
Subjects and Methods: A total of 820 apparently healthy and non-smokers, including 338 males and 482 females with healthy gingiva, aged between (18-40 years old) were enrolled in this study. Clinical examination on the participants’ gingivae was performed to assess color, and the distribution of pigmentations. Afterward the of participants skin color were
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