Background: Nowadays, parasitic infections are a major health problem throughout the world, particularly in the developing countries. Objectives: Considering the high susceptibility of children against parasitic infections, the current study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of intestinal parasitic infections among children less than 10 years old in urban and rural areas of Hamadan district. Patients and Methods:The current study was conducted on 395 children (214 males and 181 females), referred to urban and rural health centers in Hamadan district in 2013. Stool samples were examined by formalin-ether concentration technique, and trichrome and modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining methods. The results were analyzed by chi-square test. Results: Of the 395 studied children, 112 (28.4%) were infected with intestinal parasites. Blastocystis hominis was the most frequently detected parasite with the prevalence of 18.5%, followed by Giardia lamblia (10.9%), Entamoeba coli (2.8%), Dientamoeba fragilis (0.8%), Iodamoeba buetschlii (0.8%), Chilomastix mesnili (0.5%), Cryptosporidium spp. (0.5%), Endolimax nana (0.3%) and Entamoeba hartmanni (0.3%). No cases of infection with helminth parasites were found. Conclusions:The results of the study showed a high prevalence of Giardia lamblia and Blastocystis hominis in rural areas compared to urban regions. Therefore it is necessary to promote the public health awareness in the rural population, in order to reduce the frequency of parasitic infections.

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Introduction: Here, we are sharing our second report about children affected by Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C). The aim of the present study was to update our knowledge about children with MIS-C. Furthermore, we tried to compare clinical manifestations,

Background: Kawasaki Disease (KD) is an acute febrile vasculitis of early childhood and the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children. The most important complication of KD is coronary artery aneurysm that may lead to thrombosis and myocardial infarction, occurring in 25% of untreated cases. Fortunately, timely treatment decreases it to 2 -4%. There is no specific test for the diagnosis of KD, which is entirely based on clinical and laboratory criteria. Objectives: Since KD is very common in Iran and other Asian countries, it is necessary to get a clear picture on the frequency of KD related anomalies in the clinical and laboratory findings as well as the frequency of coronary aneurysms in our region. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively studied the medical records of all children discharged from the Besat Hospital, Hamedan, Iran, with a final diagnosis of KD, from 2004 to 2013. Outpatient documents were also studied. Demographic data, clinical features, laboratory and echocardiographic findings were also recorded onto the forms. Results: Seventy four patients, 43 (58.1%) males and 31 (41.9%) females, were discharged with a final diagnosis of KD, 77% of which were less than 5 years old. No seasonal variability was noticed in the study population. Among all cases, 44 (59.5%) were diagnosed as complete and 30 (40.5%) as incomplete KD. Conjunctivitis, considered as the most common clinical finding, occurred in 79% of patients, whereas peripheral erythema was the least common, corresponding to 23% of cases. Finger desquamation and leukocytosis occurred in 54% and 49.3% of cases, respectively. Amongst the timely-treated patients, 11 (14,8%) developed coronary artery aneurysm. Conclusions: Sex, age, and seasonal patterns of KD in Hamedan Province, IR Iran, are similar to other regions. However, finger desquamation is less prevalent, diminishing its value as a measure for patients' follow up. The most common supplementary laboratory criteria were leukocytosis, thrombocytosis and anemia, which were determined by a complete blood count. Coronary artery aneurysm in timely-treated patients was far more common compared to other studies, which may indicate the need for revising the golden time for initiating the treatment.