Masoumeh Bagheri; Hamzeh Alipour; Ali Keshawarz
Abstract
Background: Scorpion sting is one of the serious and major medical problems in the world. Shiraz is a tourist city and one of the high-risk areas where a number of scorpion sting occurs annually.
Objectives: The present research aimed to conduct an epidemiological study of scorpion sting in Shiraz County.
Methods: ...
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Background: Scorpion sting is one of the serious and major medical problems in the world. Shiraz is a tourist city and one of the high-risk areas where a number of scorpion sting occurs annually.
Objectives: The present research aimed to conduct an epidemiological study of scorpion sting in Shiraz County.
Methods: The is a cross-sectional study performed using a checklists to collect data about scorpionism in Shiraz health center during 2014-2018.
Results: The results of the study showed that the total number of scorpion stings was 844 cases. generally, 336 cases (39.8%) were female and 508 s (59.3%) male. The results from the residential area revealed that 817 cases (96.8%) were urban and 27 (3.1%) were rural. The highest frequency of scorpionism happened in the 25-34 years old group (286,33.8%) and after that 15-24 year old (165,19.4%), 35-44 year old (157, 18.6%), 45-54 year old (108, 12.7%) groups, and the least frequency awas seen in the 0-4 year old group. The time periods between the sting and injection of anti-venom were less than 6 hours for 822, (85.5%) of cases, 6–12 hours for 101, (11.9%) of cases and, more than 12 hours for 21 (2.4%) cases. A total of 844 cases were recovered; 690 (81.7%) of them recovered with anti-venom and 154 (18.2%) injured individuals recovered without any anti-venom, the sting site was 27.6% in the foot, 57% in the hand, and 20% in the head and trunk.
Conclusion: Shiraz is a major tourist city, and most cases of scorpion-sting occur in summer and spring, when the tourist population is high, so health care providers must carry out an integrated program in those months.
Leila Izadpanah; Hamzeh Alipoor; Marzieh Shahriari-Namadi; Kourosh Azizi; Mohsen Kalantari; Abouzar Soltani; Masoumeh Bagheri
Abstract
Background: Sandflies are the vectors of at least eight different diseases, the most important of which is cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). CL is a major public health problem in Iran, with annual cases increasing to more than 20,000 in 2019. Fars Province has the second-highest number of cases with more ...
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Background: Sandflies are the vectors of at least eight different diseases, the most important of which is cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). CL is a major public health problem in Iran, with annual cases increasing to more than 20,000 in 2019. Fars Province has the second-highest number of cases with more than 3000 cases in 2019 in Iran. This study aimed to survey the fauna and different species of sandflies (Diptera: Psychodidae: Phlebotominae) in Fars Province, southwest Iran. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. Sandflies were collected in urban and rural regions using the sticky-traps method, and then they were cleared and fixed in puris medium and identified using the pictorial key. Results: A total of 1071 of sandflies were collected. The dominant species consisted of 5 species of Phlebotomus (Ph. papatasi 55.4%, Ph. alexandri 17.4%, Ph.sergenti 5.6%, Ph. caucasicus 1.4%, Ph. ansari 0.46% and 6 species of Sergentomyia (Ser. sintoni 10.8%, Ser. antennata 5.4%, Ser. tiberiadis 1.4%, Ser. tobbi 1%, Ser. baghdadis 0.5%, and Ser. halepensis 0.09%. Conclusion: This investigation showed that Ph. papatasi was the most prevalent species playing a crucial role in the transmission of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Fars Province. Species of Ph. papatasi and Ph. sergenti are the main vectors of CL in Iran. The healthcare system must take steps to control cutaneous leishmaniasis, raise awareness of the disease, and apply effective ways to prevent it.
