Epidemiological Study of Endemic Relapsing Fever in Hamadan Province, Western Iran
Background: Endemic relapsing fever remains under diagnosed in our area according to a low index of suspicion among clinicians, as well as its difficult diagnosis. The goal of this study was to present the epidemiological aspects of the disease in western Iran. Methods: In this analytical-descriptiv...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Tehran University of Medical Sciences
2016-10-01
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| Series: | Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/view/374 |
| _version_ | 1818757002127474688 |
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| author | Mansour Nazari Ali Najafi |
| author_facet | Mansour Nazari Ali Najafi |
| author_sort | Mansour Nazari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Endemic relapsing fever remains under diagnosed in our area according to a low index of suspicion among clinicians, as well as its difficult diagnosis. The goal of this study was to present the epidemiological aspects of the disease in western Iran.
Methods: In this analytical-descriptive cross-sectional study, the epidemiological and clinical aspects of relapsing fever were investigated in Hamadan Province, western Iran from 1999 to 2013. A confirmed patient was defined as a person who had both febrile illness and detected spirochetes by Wright-Giemsa or dark-field microscopy in a peripheral blood smear. For the statistical analysis, the statistical software SPSS was used.
Results: During the study period, 276 cases of relapsing fever were recorded that 146 were male. Due to the age group distributions, most of the patients aged less than 20 yr. Patients noticed from April through March, most cases were reported in September (53 cases, 19.2%). Considering time trend of the mentioned disease between 1999 and 2013 showed an increasing trend of disease from 1999 to 2003 (from 2.5% to 21.0%), while the prevalence of disease had a decreasing trend after than from 21.0% in 2003.
Conclusion: The rate of endemic relapsing fever is similar in both male and female genders, but its prevalence reduced by increase of age. The trend of the changes in prevalence of the mentioned disease has shown to be downward in recent years probably due to improving health policies especially among children and adolescents and particularly in rural areas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:04:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aa55a8d510ff4a30b71ee6e4a18dbc49 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1735-7179 2322-2271 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T06:04:00Z |
| publishDate | 2016-10-01 |
| publisher | Tehran University of Medical Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-aa55a8d510ff4a30b71ee6e4a18dbc492022-12-21T21:18:35ZengTehran University of Medical SciencesJournal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases1735-71792322-22712016-10-01104304Epidemiological Study of Endemic Relapsing Fever in Hamadan Province, Western IranMansour Nazari0Ali Najafi1Department of Medical Entomology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sci-ences, Hamadan, IranDepartment of Medical Entomology, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sci-ences, Hamadan, IranBackground: Endemic relapsing fever remains under diagnosed in our area according to a low index of suspicion among clinicians, as well as its difficult diagnosis. The goal of this study was to present the epidemiological aspects of the disease in western Iran. Methods: In this analytical-descriptive cross-sectional study, the epidemiological and clinical aspects of relapsing fever were investigated in Hamadan Province, western Iran from 1999 to 2013. A confirmed patient was defined as a person who had both febrile illness and detected spirochetes by Wright-Giemsa or dark-field microscopy in a peripheral blood smear. For the statistical analysis, the statistical software SPSS was used. Results: During the study period, 276 cases of relapsing fever were recorded that 146 were male. Due to the age group distributions, most of the patients aged less than 20 yr. Patients noticed from April through March, most cases were reported in September (53 cases, 19.2%). Considering time trend of the mentioned disease between 1999 and 2013 showed an increasing trend of disease from 1999 to 2003 (from 2.5% to 21.0%), while the prevalence of disease had a decreasing trend after than from 21.0% in 2003. Conclusion: The rate of endemic relapsing fever is similar in both male and female genders, but its prevalence reduced by increase of age. The trend of the changes in prevalence of the mentioned disease has shown to be downward in recent years probably due to improving health policies especially among children and adolescents and particularly in rural areas.https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/view/374Endemic relapsing feverTickBorreliaEpidemiologyIran |
| spellingShingle | Mansour Nazari Ali Najafi Epidemiological Study of Endemic Relapsing Fever in Hamadan Province, Western Iran Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases Endemic relapsing fever Tick Borrelia Epidemiology Iran |
| title | Epidemiological Study of Endemic Relapsing Fever in Hamadan Province, Western Iran |
| title_full | Epidemiological Study of Endemic Relapsing Fever in Hamadan Province, Western Iran |
| title_fullStr | Epidemiological Study of Endemic Relapsing Fever in Hamadan Province, Western Iran |
| title_full_unstemmed | Epidemiological Study of Endemic Relapsing Fever in Hamadan Province, Western Iran |
| title_short | Epidemiological Study of Endemic Relapsing Fever in Hamadan Province, Western Iran |
| title_sort | epidemiological study of endemic relapsing fever in hamadan province western iran |
| topic | Endemic relapsing fever Tick Borrelia Epidemiology Iran |
| url | https://jad.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jad/article/view/374 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mansournazari epidemiologicalstudyofendemicrelapsingfeverinhamadanprovincewesterniran AT alinajafi epidemiologicalstudyofendemicrelapsingfeverinhamadanprovincewesterniran |