Comparative Study of Contagious Diseases and Their Related Risk
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ArchiveJ Compr Ped of. 2019 SID November; 10(4):e85771. doi: 10.5812/compreped.85771. Published online 2019 November 12. Research Article Comparative Study of Contagious Diseases and Their Related Risk Factors in the Children and Adults Pilgrims Referred to Educational and Treatment Centers in Ilam on the Day of Arbaeen in 2017 Ali Nazari 1, Masoumeh Shohani 2 and Hamed Tavan 3, * 1Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Iran 2Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran 3Student Research Committee, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran *Corresponding author: Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box: 69391-77143, Ilam, Iran. Tel: +98-8412227123, Fax: +98-8412227134, Email: [email protected] Received 2018 October 26; Revised 2019 June 23; Accepted 2019 August 31. Abstract Background: Travelling to places where the population density is high often causes the transmission of infectious diseases; thus, not complying with hygiene standards can result in an increase in infectious diseases. Objectives: The current study aimed at investigating contagious diseases and their related risk factors among the pilgrims admitted to Ilam educational and treatment centers on the day of Arbaeen in 2017. Methods: The study population consisted of 105 patients. The research instrument was a checklist including two parts: demo- graphic characteristics and information about infectious diseases; SPSS version 19 was used for data analysis. Results: The sample size consisted of 63 male and 42 female patients. The age groups highly affected by infectious diseases were above 60 and under 20 years including 28 patients (26.7%). The disease associated with the highest mortality rate was acute gas- troenteritis with severe dehydration, causing four deaths (30% of mortality rates). There was a significant correlation between age and gender of patients and WBC, urea, and creatin variables (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The study findings indicated that children and elderly were more prone to infectious diseases. Compliance with hygiene standards can help to control and prevent the spread of infectious diseases in communities. Keywords: Infectious Diseases, Risk Factors, Hospital 1. Background 1.1. Water and Foodborne Diseases Diarrhea is the most common symptom in such dis- eases. Acute gastroenteritis is considered as a major cause Ilam Province shares a border with Iraq. The land of of morbidity and mortality in pilgrims; therefore, if it is Karbala every year hosts a large number of pilgrims; they left untreated, it may result in death (5). are infected due to underlying diseases or population den- sity and refer to hospitals in Ilam for infectious and con- 1.2. Vector-Borne Diseases (e g, Arthropods and Insects) tagious diseases, weakness, and anxiety. Most of the pa- tients are elderly pilgrims (1,2) physiologically have poor Despite many efforts, the infectious diseases transmit- physical strength. Due to physiological changes and im- ted by vectors during travelling are still a major prob- mune system problems such as impaired immune system lem. Some examples of these diseases include dengue and humeral immunity, the elderly are at greater risk of in- fever in Haiti, malaria in Somalia and Afghanistan, and fectious diseases (3,4) such as herpes zoster, listeriosis, and coetaneous and visceral leishmaniasis in Iraq. The main urinary tract infection, which leads to a higher mortality to be mentioned include mosquitoes that spread malaria, rate among the elderly compared to the other age groups. dengue fever, yellow fever, viral encephalitis, and lym- The major reasons affirming that the population density phatic filariasis. Phlebotomies sand flies are vectors of bar- causes infectious and contagious diseases can be catego- tonellosis, leishmaniasis, and pappataci fever. Ticks trans- rized as follows: mit Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), encephali- Copyright © 2019, Journal of Comprehensive Pediatrics. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, providedwww.SID.ir the original work is properly cited. Archive of SID Nazari A et al. tis, relapsing fever, babesiosis, and rickettsials infections. 1.7. Soil-Borne Diseases Some insect vectors can transmit parasitic diseases (6). Human exposure to contaminated soil or its ingestion is associated with the infection risk of anthrax, ascaria- 1.3. Respiratory Tract Infections sis, trichuriasis, hookworms, strongyloidiasis, and coeta- Due to psychological conditions of the body, close in- neous larva migrants (11). teractions between a host and a susceptible individual, and loss of personal hygiene, airborne diseases transmit- 1.8. Physical Injuries and Trauma ted through airways and respiratory secretions are com- Injuries and damages caused by encountering power- mon in such travels. Among these diseases, upper respi- ful or low-speed weapons, small mortars, mines, and im- ratory tract infections, tuberculosis, Q fever, and meningo- provised explosive devices (IEDs) can lead to diseases such coccal infections can be pointed out. In such cases, a clus- as tetanus and bacterial infections (12). ter of person-to-person transmission is caused by aerosols or droplets dispersed from the mouth or nose. Recently, 2. Objectives eosinophilic pneumonia is observed in the pilgrims to Iraq, but its causes and mode of transmission are uniden- Based on the foregoing, the present study aimed at tified (7). scrutinizing the contagious diseases and related risk fac- tors among the pilgrims admitted to medical-teaching 1.4. Zoonoses hospitals on the Day of Arbaeen (the 40th day) in 2017. Zoonoses are infectious diseases transmissible from animals to humans; therefore, this group of diseases can 3. Methods differently cause a reduction in strength in bad weather. For example, following bites by animals, rabies may be 3.1. Study Setting and Sample transmitted. Moreover, human contact with urine of ro- The current cross sectional study was conducted in dents and inhalation of respirable droplets of rodents’ Ilam University hospitals in Arbaeen (September 2017). The urine can lead to leptospirosis, Lassa fever, and hantavirus source information was manipulated by a list of the pa- pulmonary syndrome. The consumption of food contam- tients who were referred to the hospitals in Ilam. The sam- inated with animal feces is associated with hydrated cyst ple size and the population under study were determined infection (echinococcosis). The consumption of raw and by census. unpasteurized dairy products and also uncooked or half- cooked meat may lead to brucellosis and trichinosis in the 3.2. Instrumentation pilgrims, respectively. Contact with birth products of in- The required data were collected from the teaching- fected animals is associated with Q fever and the transmis- medical hospitals of Ilam at the time of hospitalization of sion of brucellosis. Exposure to infected animal products the patients. Based on the selected sample size, 105 pa- such as skin and wool may cause anthrax infection (8). tients were enrolled in the study. After obtaining written permission from the hospital authorities and formal writ- 1.5. Blood-Borne Diseases ten consent of patients, sampling was started. A check- Such diseases may be transmitted through direct con- list consisting of two sections of demographic and in- tact with blood and other body fluids, and the transmis- fectious diseases information was used for data collec- sion intermediaries include contaminated needles, blood tion. Pathogens included Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella transfer, and cosmetic procedures such as tattooing etc. pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Pseudomonas aerug- Hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, and hemorrhagic viruses such inosa, Streptococcus pneumoniae, hospital-acquired infec- as Ebola and Marburg are examples of pathogens causing tions, and multi-pathogens. The information related to the blood-borne diseases (9). infectious diseases included the time of diagnosis, final diagnosis, type of treatment, hospitalization period, and 1.6. Water-Borne Diseases overall survival rate. After crossing the irrigated areas, bathing, boating, swimming or floating on the water, and the exposure of the 3.3. Ethical Consideration gastrointestinal mucus and normal or injured skin to con- The protocol of the project was approved by the Ethics taminated water, diseases such as leptospirosis and schis- Committee of Ilam University of Medical Sciences (code tosomiasis are caused (10). number A-10-2298 and IR. Medilam.REC.1396.62). 2 J Compr Ped. 2019;www.SID.ir 10(4):e85771. Archive of SID Nazari A et al. 3.4. Statistical Analysis Table 1. Demographic Information of the Pilgrims with Infectious Diseases Hospi- talized in the Teaching Hospitals of Ilama SPSS version 19 was used for data analysis. The results Demographic Information Results were reported using descriptive statistics (i.e., frequency, Gender mean, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics Male 63 (60) (chi-squared test, t-test, and one-way ANOVA). P values less Female 42 (40) than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Decla- Age, y ration of Helsinki was observed in all procedures and pa- < 20 28 (26.7)