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
Background: Passive smoking and dental caries affect the integrity of the health of individuals and both of them affected by sociodemographic characteristics of those individuals. This research aimed to investigate the severity of dental caries in relation to salivary magnesium and zinc of stimulated whole saliva of a group of 10 years passive smokers in comparison with normal subjects. Materials and methods: the study group included 40 subjects (20boys and 20 girls), with an age of 10 years of passive smokers determined by a questionnaire. The control group included 40 normal subjects of the same gender and age of the study group. The diagnosis and recording of dental caries was measured by (D1-4MFS & d1-4mfs) index according to the criter
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Background: The occurrence of seizures in bacterial meningitis is important, as it has been reported to increase the risk of complications; however, its frequency and predictors are not well studied yet. Objective: To assess the frequency, clinical, and biochemical predictors of seizures in children with acute bacterial meningitis. Method: A cross-sectional study recruited confirmed acute bacterial meningitis cases based on positive CSF culture and sensitivity among children aged 2 months to 15 years admitted to the Central Child Teaching Hospital emergency department in Iraq. Patients were divided into two groups based on seizure at presentation time. Demographic characteristics [age, gender, residence, duration of fever and disease, prese
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Background: Intestinal infections are frequently occur among children with cancer who receive chemotherapy. On the other hand, diarrhea is especially common and severe among cancer patients that develop neutropenia, either due to the disease itself or due to the intensive chemotherapy. There are many causes of diarrhea among those patients, but intestinal infections still an important etiology among them.
Objectives: to study the frequency of diarrhea among neutropenic children, with its infectious etiologies, especially the bacterial, fungal and parasitic causes.
Type of the study:Cross-sectional study.
Methods: the study was done in the Oncology
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BACKGROUND: Enteric fever caused by Salmonella Typhi is an endemic disease in Iraq. Variations in presentations make it a diagnostic challenge. If untreated or treated inappropriately then it is a serious disease with potentially life-threatening complications. The recent emergence of drug resistant strains of S. Typhi is a rising public health problem and a clinical concern to the physician. AIM: The objectives of the study were to assess and describe the patterns of antimicrobial resistance, clinical characteristics, epidemiological distribution, and complications of typhoid fever. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty cases of typhoid fever (culture proven) were collected during the period from February 2019 to November 2019 in the me
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Objectives: The study aims to: (1) assess psychological distress in parents of autistic children, (2) identify the
relationship between psychological distress and parents' socio-demographic characteristics such as (age, marital
status, relationship with child, educational level and monthly income) and (3) identify the relationship between
parent's distress and some of children' socio-demographic characteristics such as (gender, age, birth order and
mean number of children).
Methodology: A descriptive–analytical study that was carried out from December 12th, 2011 to May 1st, 2012.
on a purposive (non- probability) sample of 120 parents (father and mother) who have children with autism and
send their children to the
Background: Mycotoxins have a significant impact on population health worldwide. Ochratoxin is a common mycotoxin that can be detected in the serum of healthy people due to its prevalence in food. Researches on ochratoxin and its metabolites in biological fluids can help us better understand the toxin's biological impacts. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether individuals in Baghdad, Iraq, were exposed to ochratoxin A. Methodology: Serum samples were obtained from 90 healthy persons (ages 14–40 years) and evaluated for ochratoxin A using the human Ochratoxin A ELISA Kit, an accurate, quantitative, and sensitive technique (limit of detection 0.34 ng/ml). Results: We detected Ochratoxin A in all serum samples, with a m
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KE Sharquie, MM Al-Waiz, AA Al-Nuaimy, Saudi medical journal, 2002 - Cited by 11
SUMMARY. The objectives of the present study were to assess the possible predictors of COVID-19 severity and duration of hospitalization and to identify the possible correlation between patient parameters, disease severity and duration of hospitalization. The study included retrospective medical record extraction of previous coron avirus COVID-19 patients in Basra hospitals, Iraq from March 1st and May 31st, 2020. The information of the participants was investigated anonymously. All the patients’ characteristics, treatments, vital signs and laboratory tests (hematological, renal and liver function tests) were collected. The analysis was conducted using the SPSS (version 22, USA). Spearman correlation was used to measure the relations
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Background: Saliva is one of the most important etiological host factors in relation to dental caries. It affects the carious process by its organic and inorganic constituents; in addition to its physiological functions as (flow rate, pH and buffer capacity). The aims of this study were to determine the concentrations of major elements (calcium and phosphorus) and trace elements (ferrous iron, nickel, chromium and aluminum) in saliva among a group of adolescent girls, and to explore the relation of these elements, flow rate and pH with dental caries. Material & Methods: The study group consisted of 25 girls with an age of 13-15 years old. Dental caries was diagnosed by both clinical and radiographical examinations following the criteria of
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