Parasitic diseases are among the most important infectious diseases and pose health problems in many countries, most especially in developing countries. Workers at food centers could transmit parasitic infections in the absence of sanitation. This is a descriptive study conducted to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in food clerks in the city of Tabriz in 2014. Data was recorded in the offices of the health center for all food handlers who were referred to the laboratory for demographic and stool tests to receive the health card. Parasitic infection was observed in 172 cases (3.73%) of 4612 samples. A total of 156 positive samples (90.69%) were related to protozoa and 16 (9.3%) were related to helminthes. Most of the parasitic infections were related to Giardia and Entamoeba coli and the lowest infection was related to H. nana. Also, there was a significant relationship between level of education and parasitic infection rate (P = 0.0044). But there was no significant difference between the type of infection and amount of intestinal parasites. The results show that the prevalence of intestinal parasites, especially pathogenic protozoa, is common in some food handlers. Therefore, more sanitary controls are required and increasing of education will play a crucial role in improving the health of these people.

Parasitic diseases are among the most common problems in developing countries. Various parasitic forms such as cysts, larvae and eggs of the parasite are transmitted orally through the consumption of vegetables. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate parasitic contamination of fresh vegetables consumed in the city of Tabriz. This cross-sectional study was conducted for 3 months in 2014 in Tabriz. In this study, 1620 samples from 10 kinds of vegetables (leeks, basil, mint, chives, radishes, parsley, lettuce, watercress, tarragon and coriander) were collected from 54 vegetable shops. After the washing process, centrifugation, sediment preparation and staining, each sample was examined for parasitic contamination. The parasitic infection was observed in 316 (19.5%) which 141 samples (8.7%) was related to metazoan and 175 samples (10.8%) was related to protozoan. the highest contamination was observed in leeks and the lowest in radish. Most parasitic contaminations were related to Ascaris eggs and E. coli cyst and the lowest parasitic contaminations were related to Heterophyes eggs. It can be concluded that vegetables sold in Tabriz are potential sources of human contamination with parasites. It is suggested that the use of fertilizers of human source in agriculture should be avoided.

BackgroundToxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite that exists worldwide. Various techniques have been developed for T. gondii detection.ObjectivesThe aim of this study was the detection of T. gondii in diabetic patients with RE and B1 genes and the comparison of these two genes for diagnosis using the nested-PCR assay method.Patients and MethodsDNA samples from 205 diabetic patients who had been referred to the diabetes center of Ali Asghar hospital in Zahedan, Iran, were collected and analyzed using the nested-PCR assay method. Toxoplasma antibody data gathered using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method from a previous study was used to group patients. The data were analyzed using SPSS 18. The chi-square test was used for comparison.ResultsOf the diabetic patients selected, the following results were obtained: 53 (IgG+, IgM+); 20 (IgG-, IgM+); 72 (IgG+, IgM-); and 60 (IgG-, IgM-). The nested-PCR detected the following: in the acute group, 21/53 (39.63%), 30/53 (56.60%) (IgM+, IgG+); in the chronic group, 40/72 (55.56%), 51/72 (70.83%), (IgG+, IgM-); in the false positive group, 18/20 (90%), 17/20 (85%) (IgM+, IgG-); and sero-negative samples of 38/60 (63.33%) and 60/ 41 (77.35%) for RE and B1 genes, respectively. The prevalence of toxoplasmosis showed positive in patients with diabetes in the B1 gene 139 (67.8%) and RE gene 117 (57.1%).ConclusionsOur study demonstrated that the B1 gene, more so than the RE gene, showed positive samples and can be used to detect toxoplasmosis, although the B1 gene, in comparison to the RE gene, did not show any superiority of molecular diagnosing capability. Results also showed that toxoplasma molecular detection methods can be used instead of routine serological detection methods in a clinical laboratory testing.

Background: Blood transfusion is one of the many ways, through which Toxoplasma Gondii (T. gondii), a protozoan parasite, can be transmitted to humans. Objectives: This cross sectional study aimed to evaluate the seroprevalence of toxoplasma infection and related epidemiological features among healthy blood donors. Materials and Methods: A total of 375 blood samples from donors were tested for specific T. gondii antibodies (IgG and IgM) by ELISA method, in Blood Transfusion Organization, Zahedan, Iran. Positive samples for T. gondii IgG were further tested for T. gondii IgM. A positive IgG test with a negative or positive IgM test was interpreted as a chronic or acute toxoplasmosis case, respectively. Results: From the total 375 blood donors, 94 samples (25%) were T. gondii IgG positive. No positive cases of anti-T. gondii IgM antibodies were found. The difference between age and presence of anti-Toxoplasma antibodies was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Other characteristics of blood donors, including male gender, ABO blood groups and having a history of blood transfusion showed no association with infection. Conclusions: Our results highlighted that 25% of blood donors were infected by Toxoplasma, prior to the sampling and it can relapse, when facing a decreased immunity level.

Background:Toxoplasma gondii is an important opportunistic parasite in immunocompromised people. On the other hand, diabetes is a systemic disease which affects the immune system and minimizes cellular and humoral immunity and thus diabetic patients have an increased susceptibility to protean infections. Objectives:The aim of the current study was to determine the serum levels of toxoplasma antibodies in diabetic patients. Patients and Methods:In this cross-sectional study, 205 serum samples were collected from diabetic patients referred to diabetes center in Ali Asghar Hospital in Zahedan (southeastern Iran). We evaluated the levels of IgG and IgM antibodies against T. gondii in the patients' sera using the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. Results: A total of 205 blood samples obtained from diabetic patients (42 men and 163 women with age range 13 -60 years) were examined for the presence of toxoplasma antibodies. Among patients, 60 cases (29.3%) were seronegative and 145 patients (70.7%) were seropositive, included 53.145 (36.6%) (IgG+, IgM+) acute phase, 72.145 (49.6%) (IgG+, IgM-) chronic phase and 20.145 (13.8%) (IgG-, IgM+) false positive. The relationship between diabetes and toxoplasmosis was evaluated using the chi-square test (P < 0.05). The difference between age, gender, meat consumption, Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS) and the presence of toxoplasma antibodies was statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was no relation between optical disease and abortion with infection. The highest seroprevalence rate of T. gondii IgM and IgG antibodies was observed in the group of women. Conclusions: Diabetes and consumption of half-cooked meats increase the chance of toxoplasmosis. Thus, it is recommended to study the serum level of antibodies against toxoplasmosis in diabetic patients and repeat it periodically.