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Background and Objective: Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm) is one of the most common intestinal nematodes in the world and is found in all developed and developing communities. Children are the most vulnerable group in this regard. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of E. vermicularis infection amongst kindergartens in Hamadan, Iran, in 2019. Materials and Methods:This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 98 active kindergartens in Hamadan, Iran. A total of 18 kindergartens were selected, followed by the random selection of a number of children from each kindergarten. The adhesive cello-tape is a standard method for examining this disease, and mothers were trained to use this method. Subsequently, the sampling was conducted by this method. Results: Out of 451 children from 18 kindergartens, the overall prevalence of E. vermicularis infection was obtained at 0.4% (n=2). The mean age of the children in this study was 5.45±0.93 years. Since the prevalence of the disease was not significant, the results were not analyzed. Conclusion:The results of this study show that the prevalence of this disease has decreased over a decade in Hamadan, Iran; however, this infection still exists. Therefore, specific measures should be taken to control the transmission cycle of E. vermicularis.

Malaria is one of the most important parasitic diseases worldwide, which is characterized by high morbidity and mortality in tropical and subtropical regions. The aim of this study was to evaluate epidemiology of malaria in East Azerbaijan province, Iran, from 2001 to 2013. During 13 years, blood samples were taken from all suspected malaria cases using lancet and then peripheral blood smear was prepared using one blood drop. The smears were stained by Giemsa's stain and were examined under a light microscope with 1000X of magnification. All demographic variables and epidemiological recorded data were obtained from Health Center and were analyzed by SPSS v. 16 software using descriptive statistical tests. Total of 133 cases were fined to be infected by malaria in 13 years that the highest rate (54.13 %) was observed in Kaleybar county. One hundred and fifteen (86.46 %) and 18 (13.54 %) out of 133 infected individuals were male and female, respectively. Mean age of the infected people was 31.57 years. The most affected age group was 30-40 years. One hundred twenty seven (95.48 %) and 6 (4.52 %) cases were infected by Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum, respectively. Based on the findings of this study, the incidence of malaria has been declined continuously over the past decade in East Azerbaijan province, Iran.

Background Chloroquine (CQ) is generally prescribed as the front-line antimalarial drug of choice to treat Plasmodium vivax infections; however, some clinical CQ-resistant P. vivax isolates have been indigenously reported around the world during the last decade. Methods In this study, P. vivax isolates (n=52) were obtained from autochthonous samples in southeast Iran during 2015–2017. The genomic DNA of samples was extracted, amplified (nested PCR) and sequenced by targeting the multidrug-resistance 1 gene. To verify the global genetic diversity of CQ-resistant P. vivax strains, the sequences of Pvmdr1 originating from Asia and the Americas were retrieved. Results A total of 46 haplotypes were grouped into three distinct geographical haplogroups. The haplotype diversity and occurrence rates of Pvmdr1 976F/1076L mutations indicate that the efficacy of CQ is being compromised in Mexico, China, Nicaragua, Thailand, Brazil (2016), Ethiopia, Mauritania (2012) and southwest India in the near future. The cladistic phylogenetic tree showed that Pvmdr1 sequences isolated from the southeast Asian clade has a partial sister relationship with the American clade. Conclusions The current findings will serve as a basis to develop appropriate malaria control strategies and public health policies in symptomatic imported malaria cases or plausible CQ-resistant P. vivax strains.

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