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Objective: Non-specific cervicitis or inflammatory changes in a smear report are common which are usually unclear for clinical approaches. To investigate the frequency of inflammation and pathogenic vaginal microorganisms in cervical smears among an Iranian population sample. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on Pap smear samples of women referred to gynecological clinic of Taleghani Hospital in Tehran, Iran, between October 2008 and March 2009. This study was conducted on 528 conventional Papanicolaou cervical smears. The frequency and severity of inflammation and prevalence of bacterial vaginosis (BV), Trichomonas vaginalis (TV), and vaginal candidiasis (VC) was determined in the samples. Also co-infection of the microorganisms in Pap samples was evaluated. percentage, mean±standard deviation of the outcome parameters were calculated. The comparison between data was performed with the Pearson's chi square or Fisher's exact test. Results: The prevalence of BV, VC, and TV in Pap samples was 17%, 11%, and 0.4% respectively. Overall, the prevalence of these microorganisms in women of reproductive age was higher than menopausal women. There was a significant association between VC and the presence of inflammation in our samples. Conclusion: Based on our results, inflammation in the Pap smears can suggest an infection of VC and the patients should be considered for proper VC treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A knowledge, attitude and practice study on vaccination was undertaken among Iranian mothers in pediatric clinic of a university medical center in Tehran, between March and August 2005, and 668 mothers responded to a questionnaire-based interview. The results showed a favorable attitude towards children immunization in 95.5% of respondents. Nearly half (51.4%; 95% confidence interval: 47.6%–55.2%) of mothers knew the name of the diseases against which their children were being vaccinated. More than half (67%) of respondents gave disproportionate importance to mild intercurrent illness as a reason to defer immunization. About half of children (341=51.1%) experienced vaccination delay. Results of logistic regression analysis showed increase in: birth order, number of children in household, and mother's age significantly predicted vaccination schedule non-adherence (P=0.02, P=0.02 and P=0.04 to P=0.001 respectively) and increasing mother's age was the most significant factor for vaccination delay. Educating mothers about the vaccines and vaccine preventable diseases, and improving their performance are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An association between obesity and symptoms of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) has been frequently reported in western societies. A recent study indicated a consistent association between abdominal diameter and reflux-type symptoms in the white population, but no consistent association in the black population or Asians. It is unclear whether an association persists after adjusting for known risk factors of GERD among Asian populations. We did a population-based, cross-sectional interview study to estimate the strength of association between body mass and symptoms of reflux. During interviews, participants completed a valid gastro-esophageal reflux questionnaire. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI), calculated by logistic regression with multivariate adjustments for covariates, were the measures of association. Symptoms of reflux at least once a week over the past 3 months were reported by 522 (9.1%) of the 5733 interviewees. Among those who were overweight or obese (BMI> 25 kg/m2), the OR of having symptoms of reflux was 0.88 (95% CI: 0.66-1.16) compared with those who were not overweight or obese. Thus, among Asians, symptoms of GERD occur independently of body mass index.