Back ground: Visceral leishmaniasis is endemic in the
middle and south of Iraq, it involves mostly infants. The
disease is observed mainly among rural areas that are far
from equipped medical centers. Therefore, there is a need
for anon- invasive, cost- effective, reliable, easily
available and fast method of diagnosis of this dngerous
disease.
Objective: The aim was to compare the validity and
predictive values of the recombinant K39 antigen (rK39)
test with that of the indirect fluorescent antibody test
(IFAT) test (the usual laboratory method) in the detection
of visceral leishmaniasis.
Methods: A Cross-sectional study was done in ALMansour Pediatric Hospital (in AL-Rusafa), and Central
Pediatric Hospital (in AL-Karkh) in Baghdad for 6
months duration (from the 1st of December 2004 to 30th of
May 2005). Children less than five years who suspected to
be infected with visceral leishmaniasis were selected and
investigated by IFAT test and rK39 dipstick strip.
Results: The validity of rK39 test when evaluated with
the standard methods IFAT test showed a sensitivity of
90.5%, specificity of 90.7%, predictive value positive of
77.9%, predictive value negative of 96.4% and 90.7%
accuracy.
Conclusions: The rK39 antigen strip test is valid in the
diagnosis of suspected children with visceral
leishmaniasis as the test is rapid, sensitive, and specific
Background: One of the significant public health problems is the traumatic dental injury to the anterior teeth, it has a great impact on children’s daily. Physical and psychological disturbance, pain and other negative impacts, such as tendency to avoid laughing or smiling may be associated with traumatic dental injuries, that may affect the social relationships. To determine the occurrence of traumatic dental injuries in relation to quality of life, this study was established among children of primary schools. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among private (574) and governmental (1026) primary school children in Baghdad city. Dental trauma was assessed according to Ellis and Davey classification in1970
... Show MoreSocial risks posed a great challenge to the development path in Iraq, which resulted in widening the development gaps, whether these gaps were between rural and embargoed areas, or between Iraqi governorates, and the gender gap. Besides, the nature of the reciprocal relationship between the social risks and the development process requires the adoption of development trends that are sensitive to the risks that take upon themselves the prompt and correct response to these risks, away from randomness and confusion that Iraq suffered from for decades. However, currently, the situation has differed a great deal. This is because the size and types of such gaps have widened and become more complicated than before; a matter which has led to hav
... Show MoreBackground: The present work investigated the profile and biodiversity of the pathogenic streptococci species isolated from local and imported mozzarella soft cheese in Baghdad City from October 2022 to January 2023. The study aimed to examine the molecular characterization of 16Sr RNA gene in some streptococcus species isolates from mozzarella soft cheese in Baghdad city Methods: From 50 samples, 8 isolates in all were found and identified based on the VITEK, molecular, and sequencing of the 16SrRNA gene. The eight isolates represented Lactococcus cremoris. Streptococcus alactolyticus, Streptococcus sanguinis, and Streptococcus thoraltensis. The isolates were subjected to conventional PCR and electrophoresis to detect the 16SrRNA gene usi
... Show MoreA total of 54 out of 67 (80.59%) of burn wound swab showed growth of one, or two, or three bacterial pathogens. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the commonest pathogen, isolated in 48.14% of swab samples, followed by Klebsiella pneumoniae (31.48%), Staphylococcus aureus (27.77%), Acinetobacter baumanii (14.81%), Escherichia coli (7.40%), and Citrobacter freundii, Providencia stuartii, Enterobacter cloacae, with 1.85% isolation percentage for each. All bacterial isolates were tested against 19 antibiotics, and showed multi-drug resistance to 10 antibiotics, or more. The most effective antibiotics were the fifth-generation cephalosporin, ceftobiprole, and and antibiotic combinations, as Ceftazidime / clavulanic acid, and Cefoperazone /sulbactam, an
... Show MoreThis paper aims to evaluate large-scale water treatment plants’ performance and demonstrate that it can produce high-level effluent water. Raw water and treated water parameters of a large monitoring databank from 2016 to 2019, from eight water treatment plants located at different parts in Baghdad city, were analyzed using nonparametric and multivariate statistical tools such as principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). The plants are Al-Karkh, Sharq-Dijlah, Al-Wathba, Al-Qadisiya Al-Karama, Al-Dora, Al-Rasheed, Al-Wehda. PCA extracted six factors as the most significant water quality parameters that can be used to evaluate the variation in drinkin
Sediment accumulated in sewers is a major concern source as it induces numerous operational and environmental problems. For instance, during wet weather flow, the re-suspension of this sediment accompanied by the combined sewer overflow may cause huge pollutant load to the receiving water body. The characteristics of the sewer sediment are important as it shapes its behaviour and determines the extent of the pollution load. In this paper, an investigation of sewer sediment and its characterization is done for a case study in Baghdad city. Sediment depth covers more than 50% of the sewer cross-sectional area; several operational causes are comprised to cause this huge depths of sediment depositions. The testing and analysis of the s
... Show MoreThe aim of this research is to identify the level of health services provided in the health centers operating in the family medicine system in Baghdad, and to determine the extent to which these health centers are applied to the internationally recognized standards , "Defining the quality of service gap between health care centers operating in the family medicine system and the standards adopted by the corresponding international centers (Al-Shabab Model Family Medicine Center, Al-Jahad Family Health Center, Al-Adhamiya Family Health Center, Al-Zawiya Family Health Center), and in view of what our health institutions are facing. The family of primary health care centers has difficulties, obstacles and challenges such as the diffi
... Show MoreChemical Methodologies (CHEMM)