Estimating human health risks associated with heavy metal exposure from bottled water using Monte Carlo simulation

Water is the most important non-organic compound for living cells, and the life of all living organisms depends on it. Water is not found purely in nature, but it always contains some solutes, suspended matters and soluble gases. In this study, 11 bottled water brands (500 mL) were sampled across the Kashan city market to determine the concentration of selected heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Pb, Ni and As) and evaluated their potential risks following consumption. The concentration range of Cr, Cd, Pb, Ni and As were 5-34 μg/L, 1.5-7 μg/L, 1-7 μg/L, 2-29 μg/L, Collapse

Key Words

• Bottled water
• Heavy metals
• Human risk assessment
• Kashan

Collapse

MESH Headings Collapse

Grants Collapse

Affiliation(s)

Nezam Mirzaei Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
Safa Kalteh Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Hakime Zamani-Badi Department of Health, Safety and Environment Management, Faculty of Health, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
Heshmatallah Moradpour Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
Zeinab Parmoozeh Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Social Determinants of Health (SDH) Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
Mansour Baziar Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Ferdows Faculty of Medical Sciences, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran

Collapse

Successful Isolation of Leishmania RNA Virus (LRV) from Leishmania major in a Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Focus in Central Iran: An Update on Cases

Purpose

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a major vector-borne disease that affects people globally, including Iran. Different factors are associated with leishmaniasis pathogenicity; recently, a link of the possible relationship between Leishmania RNA Virus (LRV) and disease severity was proposed, especially in the New World leishmaniasis (NWL). This study was aimed to investigate the presence of LRV2 in Leishmania isolates in Aran o Bidgol, Isfahan province.

Methods

Samples were collected from 110 CL-suspected patients referred to the health center. In this study, we aimed to investigate CL cases (parasitologically and clinically), identify Leishmania species (by ITS1-PCR–RFLP), and finally detection of LRV2 (by RdRp-semi-nested PCR).

Results

Parasitological methods showed 60 positive cases, based on the HaeIII enzyme restriction profile, 59 cases were caused by L. major and 1 case by L. tropica. Our project is the first study on LRV2 isolation in Aran o Bidgol city and the LRV was successfully detected from a single L. major isolated in a women’s hand lesion. Using BLAST, 94.8–100% similarity was observed in the RdRp sequence of current LRV isolate with those available in GenBank from Iran or overseas.

Conclusion

L. major was the main cause of CL in Aran o Bidgol, although L. tropica is also present in a much lower proportion in the area. This is the first report on the presence of LRV2 in Aran o Bidgol and the fifth in Iran.

Prevalence of intestinal parasites among food handlers in Kashan, central Iran, 2017-2018

The most important transmission path of intestinal parasites is the consumption of contaminated water and food. This survey was conducted to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasites among food handlers in Kashan, central Iran. This cross-sectional study was carried on 1018 food handlers who referred to the health centers in order to receive health certificate in 2017-2018. Stool samples of food handlers were collected and examined using direct and formalin-ethyl acetate methods. Results were recorded in information form along with some demographic data such as sex, age. The data were analyzed based on the tests of descriptive statistics by SPSS 16. Of the 1018 individuals examined 851 (83.6%) were men and 167 (16.4%) were female. Infection rate was 10.2% among the population and 9 types of parasites were diagnosed totally. Rate of infection to protozoan intestinal parasites were: Blastocystis sp. 7.17%, Giardia duodenalis 1.2%, Entamoeba coli 1.27%, Endolimax nana 1.08%, Dientamoeba fragilis 0.3%, Iodamoeba butschlii 0.3%, Entamoeba histolytica/E. dispar 0.2%, Chilomastix mesnili 0.1%. Hymenolepis nana (0.1%) was the only intestinal worm that observed. In this investigation, 8.9% of the individual were infected by one parasite, 1.08% by two and 0.2% by 3 or more parasites. This study showed that infection to intestinal helminthic is rare among food handlers in Kashan but the prevalence of protozoan intestinal parasites is high that similar to other regions of Iran. To reduce the rate of parasitic infections and inhibition of their transmission, continuing the process of promoting the health level is recommended.

Comparison of Molecular, Microscopic, and Culture Methods for Diagnosis of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis

Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is endemic in the northwest of Isfahan province, Iran. Increase in the incidence of the disease in Kashan has made it necessary to find out the best method for diagnosis and molecular characterization of Leishmania species. In the present study, 130 patients suspected to cutaneous leishmaniosis referred to health care centers of Kashan were examined. Serosity of lesion was collected for smear preparation and cultured in Novy-Nicolle-McNeal medium. DNA was extracted from serosity, and Leishmania species was determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and nested PCR using kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) specific primers. The diagnostic criteria of CL were based on the observation of amastigotes in the smear, promastigotes in culture, presence of expected bands in PCR, or nested PCR. Of 130 specimens, 87 (66.9%), 72 (56.2%), 98 (75.4 %), 96 (73.8%), and 99 (76.2%) were positive for microscopic culture, PCR, nested PCR, and combined PCR and microscopy (proposed method), respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of PCR were 99%, 100%, 100%, 96.9%, respectively, for microscopy 87.9%, 100%, 100%, 72.1%, for culture 72.7%, 100%, 100%, 53.4 %, and for nested PCR 97%, 100%, 100%, 91.2%, respectively. Based on the results of the study, kDNA-PCR was the most sensitive method for diagnosis of CL.

Candidemia in patients with prolonged fever in Kashan, Iran

Background and Purpose:

Candida species are considered a common cause of fungal blood stream infections, which are associated with considerable mortality and morbidity rates, especially in the admitted and immunocompromised patients. Despite the increase in new and available antifungal agents, the emergence of resistant strains is growing. Regarding this, the aim of the present study was to assess the fungal epide­miology of candidemia and the antifungal susceptibility patterns against five current antifungal agents among the patients with prolonged fever, who were admitted to Beheshti Educational Hospital, Kashan, Iran.

Materials and Methods:

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 253 hospitalized patients with prolonged fever despite receiving broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy. Blood samples were collected aseptically, and then cultured using an automated blood culture system and conventional broth culture bottle. Candida isolates were identified at species level using morphological and physiological properties and produced color on the CHROMagar Candida. Furthermore, the antifungal susceptibility testing was performed using (CLSI M27-A3 and CLSI M27-S4) broth microdilution methods.

Results:

The most positive cultures were detected by the automated blood culture system. C.albicans (%50) was the most prevalent species, followed by C. glabrata (%40), and C. parapsilosis, (%10) respectively .The mortality rate was high (%60) and most patients with candidemia were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. All isolates were susceptible to amphotericin B, while the highest resistance belonged to caspofungin.

Conclusion:

In this study, high resistance was reported, especially for caspofungin, which can be regarded as the emergence of caspofungin-resistant strains. Regarding this, the establishment of a surveillance and prevention program for the reduction of the emergence of resistant species is necessary.

The Etiology and Clinical Evaluations of Neonatal Seizures in Kashan, IRAN

OBJECTIVE

Detection of seizure, its etiology, and clinical types is important for guiding therapy. This study was designed to evaluate the etiology and clinical evaluations of neonatal seizures in Kashan, Iran.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The data of 100 hospitalized neonates with a complaint of seizures in Kashan City, from January 2006 to January 2011 were evaluated. The pediatric neurologist made the final diagnosis. The gestational age, neonate admission age, type of delivery, and laboratory and radiological investigations were reviewed from the medical records. The relation of seizure etiology and other variables were compared using the Chi-square test. All the statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (ver 11.5).

RESULTS

A total of 100 neonates were hospitalized with a diagnosis of seizures. The overall incidence rate of seizures was 2.6 per 1,000 live births. A total of 59% of seizures happened in the first three days of life. The etiologies of seizures were hypoxicischemic encephalopathy (HIE) (36%), hyponatremia (12%), hypoglycemia (11%), intracranial hemorrhage (11%), infections (10%), hypocalcemia (8%), metabolic disorders (7%), the structural anomalies (5%), and hypomagnesaemia (4%). In 23% of neonates, no specific etiology was found and 23% had multiple etiologies. In 45% of neonates, the EEG was not recorded. The type of the seizures were focal-clonic (26%), tonic (25%), multifocal clonic (34%), subtle (11%), and myoclonic (4%). The types of the seizure were unrelated to the paraclinical findings.

CONCLUSION

Neonatal seizures are common and HIE was the main cause of seizures in this study. The clinical evaluation of neonatal seizures needs improvement.

Prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Isfahan Province

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a serious global health problem. It is estimated that 1.5-2.5 million people are suffering from this infection in Iran. A review on HBV infection prevalence in Isfahan, Iran is conducted in this article. It will help researchers for further studies and also will be helpful for control the infection. Medline, Embase, Ovid, Google Scholar, Scientific Information Database, Iranmedex, Magiran and Scientific Journal of Iran Blood Transfusion Organization and also students' thesis and projects of Isfahan and Kashan universities of medical sciences were searched for key words "HBV," "HBsAg," "prevalence," "Isfahan," "Esfahan," and "Kashan in titles and/or abstracts. Overall, 24 articles, including 4, 14, 5 and 1 were assessed in Isfahan province, and Isfahan, Kashan, and Foulad-shahr cities, respectively. The highest and lowest participants were 542705 and 73, respectively. The highest prevalence of HBsAg was reported in HIV-infected patients and the lowest one was seen in the thalassemic patients. We collected the articles about the prevalence of HBV in Isfahan to help researchers and determine prevalence HBV in Isfahan province. The similar studies in other province of Iran are necessary for marking decision.