To the editor: As the world was preparing for a pandemic influenza of avian origin, in April 2009 a novel influenza A virus H1N1 strain of swine origin, now known as pandemic A(H1N1) 2009 virus (abbreviated as pH1N1), emerged in Mexico and spread quickly worldwide. On April 24, 2009, the World Health Organization announced a Public Health Emergency of International Concern caused by this new in...

BACKGROUND Recently there is a high tendency among exotic pet owners for keeping hedgehogs. This mammal can transfer some significant zoonotic pathogens to human. Hence, the present study was conducted for the first time to prepare a list of helminth parasites of hedgehogs (Erinaceus concolor) in North of Iran. METHODS Ten (four males and six females) road killed hedgehogs were collected duri...

A faunistic survey of Euphorinae (Hym., Braconidae) in southern Iran, as well as an updated checklist of the genera and species in Iran, are presented. Sampling was performed using Malaise traps at different locations of Hormozgan province and Qeshm Island in Persian Gulf during 2011-2013. In total, 38 species belonging to 10 genera are listed from Iran. The recorded species belong to the follo...

Background: Psychological capital with components of hope, self efficacy, optimism, and resiliency has been recently proposed to bring positive psychology to the workplace. Objectives: We investigated Psychological Capital states of employees of the Tehran university of medical sciences (TUMS) headquarter offices in Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive and analyti...

In a taxonomic survey on Cladosporium species in Iran, 35 specimens were collected from different substrates of various localities in Guilan (N. Iran) during 2011–12. Seven species viz. C. cladosporioides s. str., C. oxysporum, C. halotolerans, C. perangustum, C. pseudocladosporioides, C. sphaerospermum, and C. tenuissimum are identified and the latter five species are new records to Iran.

BACKGROUND Various studies have shown a seasonal pattern in suicide in the developed societies; however, this pattern is not taken into consideration in most countries including Iran. OBJECTIVES The current paper studied the seasonal pattern of committing suicide in Northern Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study was a longitudinal study with time series features. Subject included su...

BACKGROUND Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the most common cause of congenital infection, with increased morbidity and mortality at birth. The risk of intrauterine infection largely depends on the time of maternal infection during pregnancy. Currently, no national screening test for CMV infection is available during pregnancy in Iran. The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of CMV in...

BACKGROUND Scorpion sting is a common medical emergency in Iran. The epidemiological features and control of such cases vary from south to north. This review will provide new information about the epidemiology of scorpion stings in different provinces of Iran. METHODS In this descriptive retrospective study, data on scorpionism including incidence rates, mortality as well as locality from 200...

Background Avoidable mortality as an indicator for assessing the health system performance has caught the attention of researchers for a long time. In this study we aimed to compare the health system performance using this indicator in rural and urban areas of one of Iran’s southern provinces.   Methods All deaths (29916) which happened during 2004–2011 in Bushehr province were assessed. Nolte ...