Antibiotic Therapy for Very Low Birth Weigh Newborns in NICU.

Background: Prolonged empiric antibiotics therapy in neonates results in several adverse consequences including widespread antibiotic resistance, late onset sepsis (LOS), necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), prolonged hospital course (HC) and increase in mortality rates.

Objectives: To assess the risk factors and the outcome of prolonged empiric antibiotic therapy in very low birth weight (VLBW) newborns.

Materials And Methods: Prospective study in VLBW neonates admitted to NICU and survived > 2 W, from July 2011 - June 2012.

Surveillance of Antibiotic Consumption Point Prevalence Survey 2014: Antimicrobial Prescribing in Pediatrics Wards of 16 Iranian Hospitals.

Background: Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in pediatrics. Due to lack of uniformity in pediatric antimicrobial prescribing and the emergence of antibiotic resistance, appropriate drug utilization studies have been found to be crucial to evaluate whether these drugs are properly used.

Methods: Data were collected between January 2014 and February 2014 in 16 Iranian pediatric hospitals using a standardized method.

Women's knowledge and attitude towards mode of delivery and frequency of cesarean section on mother's request in six public and private hospitals in Tehran, Iran, 2012.

Aim: The rate of cesarean section (CS) has been reported to be as high as 40% among Iranian women in the year 2009. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of cesarean delivery on mother's request (CDMR) and to determine maternal attitude and knowledge about various modes of delivery in private and public (university) hospitals in Tehran.

Material And Methods: All primiparous mothers delivering in six selected hospitals between April 2010 and March 2011 were included.

Screening of congenital CMV infection in saliva of neonates by PCR: report of a pilot screening study in Iran.

Background: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is a leading cause of congenital infection in neonates. Most infants with congenital CMV infection are asymptomatic at birth and not diagnosed on routine clinical examination. To identify these at-risk infants early in life, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays are done to screen large populations of newborn infants.

Serologic evidence of pertussis infection in vaccinated Iranian children.

Background: It seems that the incidence of pertussis-like illnesses is considerably increasing despite the wide coverage of immunization with the whole cell pertussis vaccine. We aimed to investigate the occurrence of pertussis in vaccinated children by measuring anti-pertussis antibodies.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, blood samples were taken from vaccinated children aged 2, 4, 6, 12, 18, and 72 months.

Detection of serum antibodies against measles, mumps and rubella after primary measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination in children.

Background: In Iran, the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine (MMR) is administered in a two-dose protocol where the first dose is scheduled at 12 months of age. This study aims to determine the efficacy of the MMR vaccine by testing IgM and IgG antibody levels 4 - 7 weeks after primary vaccination.

Methods: A single group cohort study was performed on healthy children, 12 - 15 months of age, who were vaccinated at health centers affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, from January to April 2009.

Assessment of a new algorithm in the management of acute respiratory tract infections in children.

Objectives: To assess the practicability of a new algorithm in decreasing the rate of incorrect diagnoses and inappropriate antibiotic usage in pediatric Acute Respiratory Tract Infection (ARTI).

Materials And Methods: Children between 1 month to15 years brought to outpatient clinics of a children's hospital with acute respiratory symptoms were managed according to the steps recommended in the algorithm.

Results: Upper Respiratory Tract Infection, Lower Respiratory Tract Infection, and undifferentiated ARTI accounted for 82%, 14.

Effects of miglustat on stabilization of neurological disorder in niemann-pick disease type C: Iranian pediatric case series.

Niemann-Pick disease type C is a rare neurodegenerative disorder with autosomal recessive inheritance that can be broadly categorized into different forms dependent on age at disease onset: pre-/perinatal, early infantile, late infantile, juvenile, and adolescent/adult. This study was conducted to define the age at onset, clinical manifestations, neuroimaging findings and response to treatment in 21 patients diagnosed with Niemann-Pick disease type C and managed in the neurology departments of hospitals in Tehran, Iran. The effects of miglustat on patient ambulation, fine and gross motor function, swallowing, hearing, speech, seizures, psychomotor development, and ocular movements were evaluated for up to 26 months of treatment.

ELISA Cut-off Point for the Diagnosis of Human Brucellosis; a Comparison with Serum Agglutination Test.

Background: Brucellosis is a world-wide disease, which has a diverse clinical manifestation, and its diagnosis has to be proven by laboratory data. Serum agglutination test (SAT) is the most-widely used test for diagnosing brucellosis. The enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) can also determine specific antibody classes against brucella.

Association of serum soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells levels in malignant febrile neutropenic patients with bacteremia and fungemia.

Objective: Infections are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in febrile neutropenic patients with malignancy. Rapid diagnostic tests are needed for prompt diagnosis and early treatment which is crucial for optimal management. We assessed the utility of soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells (sTREM-1) in the diagnosis of bacteremia and fungemia in febrile neutropenic patients.

Surveillance of ventilator-associated pneumonia in a neonatal intensive care unit: characteristics, risk factors, and outcome.

Background: This study determined the incidence, characteristics, risk factors, and outcomes of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in newborns hospitalized in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Tehran, Iran.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was carried out in the NICU of Mahdieh Hospital over a period of one year, from December 2008 to November 2009, on all neonates mechanically ventilated for more than 48 hours. VAP was diagnosed in accordance with the CDC definition of nosocomial pneumonias for patients younger than 12 months.

Determination of integron frequency by a polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism method in multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli, which causes urinary tract infections.

The purpose of this study was to determine the presence of integrons in Escherichia coli, which cause urinary tract infections, and to define the association between integrons and antimicrobial susceptibility. Susceptibility of 200 isolates from urine samples of patients suffering from urinary tract infections to 13 antibiotics was determined by the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. The existence of class1 and 2 integrons in resistant isolates was assessed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequencing.

The use of polymerase chain reaction assay versus cell culture in detecting neonatal chlamydial conjunctivitis.

One of the most common bacterial infections that causes ophthalmia neonatorum is Chlamydia trachomatis, (C. trachomatis). Very few studies have been performed in Iran using both cell culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods to determine the prevalence of C.

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis in children: a case series.

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, (PAP) is a rare disease of unknown etiology, characterized by accumulation of intraalveolar proteinaceous material which is rich in lipid and positive on periodic acid-Schiff stain. Two clinically different pediatric types have been defined as congenital PAP which is fulminant and fatal, and a late-onset PAP which is similar to the adult form and less severe. Eight children with late-onset PAP were hospitalized from 1998 to 2005 in Mofid Children Hospital.

Survey of needle-stick injuries in paediatric health personnel of 5 university hospitals in Tehran.

Objective: To study the prevalence and correlates of needle-stick injury in the health personnel of the Paediatric Department of five university-affiliated hospitals in Tehran, from April till June 2009.

Methods: Cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Physicians undergoing paediatric training and nurses working in the paediatric departments filled up a pre-designed questionnaire.

Exposure to secondhand smoke in infants: declining trends from 2001 to 2008?

Objective: To define the trend in young children's exposure to parental secondhand smoke.

Methods: Secondary analysis of data was done on families of infants between the ages of 6 and 24 months that had been enrolled for 2 cross-sectional studies in 2001 and 2008.

Results: Data from 648 families were analyzed.

An assessment of the necessity of lumbar puncture in children with seizure and fever.

Objective: It is frequently thought that lumbar puncture (LP), is a mandatory procedure in all children who have fever and a seizure; because a convulsion may be the sole clinical manifestations of bacterial meningitis. To assess whether meningitis could be recognized using readily available clinical information.

Methods: This study was done during a 4 yr period from 2002-2006.

Smoking practices and risk awareness in parents regarding passive smoke exposure of their preschool children: a cross-sectional study in Tehran.

Background: Young children living with parents who smoke are exposed to unacceptable health hazards.

Aim: To determine patterns of parental smoking, the level of parental awareness about hazards of secondhand smoke, and the effect of risk awareness on smoking behavior.

Setting: Health centers affiliated with two teaching hospitals in Tehran.

Infant feeding and hospitalization during the first six months of life.

Objective: To compare the frequency of hospitalization during the first six months of life between breast-fed and bottle-fed infants.

Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted over twelve months, in hospital-based outpatient clinics. Mother-infant pairs, seen at the clinics during the study period, were enrolled.

Lumbar puncture in neonates under and over 72 hours of age.

Objective: To identify the criteria for performing a spinal tap in neonates with suspected sepsis and compare the findings in infants under and over the age of 72 hours.

Study Design: Analytical.

Place And Duration: Neonatal Ward of Taleghani Medical Centre, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Evin,Tehran.

A study of feeding patterns in young infants.

With the aim of studying the feeding patterns in infants under 6 months of age, 451 mothers attending the children's clinic in two university hospitals in the north of Tehran were interviewed. All babies had been born in hospital and > 98 per cent had been breastfed during the first few hours of birth. The rate of full breastfeeding at 6 months of age, with no introduction of the bottle, was 83 per cent; approximately 6.