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Golden Staphylococci is one of the most common factors in skin and systemic infection. About 30% of people are carrying this bacterium in their skin and nose. Increased drug resistance in this microorganism and consequent infection, has gained the attention of scientific organization. Therefore we decided to determine the prevalence of nose carrier of this bacterium in healthy children in Gorgan schools. During the winter 1998 to March 1999 the sample has been taken from 1193 student’s nose with sterile cotton swab. These results showed that in 194 samples (16.3%) Staphylococci Aureus has been isolated, from these samples 114 cases belong to girls (16.1%) and 80 cases were boys (16.4%) that there is not a meaningful variation between them. The number of bacteria isolated from the villages children was 109 cases (17.6%) and in town’s children were 85 cases (14.8%), also this difference didn’t show significant difference. The prevalence of carrier among the 6-12 years old was 12-25.3%, which has got a significant meaning (P<0.001). Antibiotic resistance in the isolated S.aureus were tested and result showed that 34.8% of samples are resistant to Methicilin and 1.7% were resistant to Vancomycin, only 4% were sensitive to Penicillin. Therefore with regard to the results of this investigation, further researches are recommended in relation between strain’s of S.aureus that isolated from carrier’s and strain’s that isolated from patients and to determine their drug resistance in this region.

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Background & Objective: Approximately one-third of the world’s population is infected with Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (TB), which is a indicator of high distribution of these bacteria in our environment. The only vaccine currently available against TB is the attenuated Mycobacterium Bovis strain bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), which used regularly for many years to prevent the Tuberculosis in Iran and many part of the world. The efficiency of this vaccine varies in different populations, and is a matter for discussion. On this basis, the present study has been set up to determine the level of Tuberculin reaction in 4.5 months and in 7 years old children that receive BCG vaccine at birth time, in Golestan province. Materials & Methods: 2700, 4.5 month infant and 2400, 7 years old children in Golestan province were chosen by cluster sampling after the proper permission from the parents, public health centers and educational authorities were taken. The presence of the BCG scar were assessed, and 0.1 ml of 5 tu Tuberculin were injected subcutaneously. The induration was measured 48-72 h after Tuberculin injection. The results were determined as present and compare with T-test. Results: In these study 2559 infants and 2193 child were taken part in the final evaluation. The BCG scar were present in 97.9% of infants and 87.8% of 7 years children, this difference was meaningful. The average induration in 4.5 months babies were 2.29 mm, and in 7 years child was 0.66 mm, this difference was significant (P<0.05). More than 44.7% of babies and 82% of 7 years children didn’t show any reaction after PPD test, this difference was also significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: The level of positive Tuberculin reaction in infants of this province in spite of vaccination was very low, and this level was reduced after 7 years time, this indicate that BCG vaccination at birth did not have any major role in positive Tuberculin reaction. Our results also indicate that the presence of scar can be a good indicator for previous vaccination. In regard to the negative Tuberculin reaction in majority of babies, it is suggested to evaluate the efficacy of BCG vaccine in preventing the TB disease itself, by other method such as studying the TB incidence among children in long term or by determination of cytokines level after Tuberculin injection.

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A 13 years old female caucasition admitted in 5 Azar General Hospital with a 3-day history of deteriorating vision. 2 weeks prior to admission she had received a Measles-Rubella vaccination at school (As a mass compain of MR vaccination in Iran). General & neurological examination except lung wheezing & ocular findings were normal. In visual exam she had questionable light perception in right eye & hand motion sensation in left eye. Funduscopy revealed moderate bilateral optic disc hyperemia. Investigations revealed normal full cell blood count, biochemistry profile, clotting studies & sputum. Brain CT scan & MRI were normal except pansinusitis. CSF examination revealed normal constituents. The patient treated with Methyl Prednisolone (1 gr/daily) for 7 days and patient had dramatic response to therapy. After 6 weeks of starting medical treatment ophthalmologic exam revealed 2 meters finger count vision in right eye & 6/10 visual aquity in Left side. This patient is a rare case of bilateral optic neuritis after MR vaccination.

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Background&Objective: Both CD4+ type 1 helper (Th1) cells and CD8+ T cells play effective roles in protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. MPB51, a major mycobacterial secreted protein, induces humeral and cellular immune responses against mycobacterial infection. In addition, DNA vaccine encoding MPB51 can induce cellular immune responses and protective immunity upon challenge with M.tuberculosis. This study address to identify T-cell immunodominant epitopes on MPB51 in BALB/c mice. Materials&Methods: We cloned DNA encoding MPB51 molecule in pCI plasmid. After constructing MPB51 DNA-covered gold cartridge, BABL/c mice were immunized by using a gene gun system. Two weeks after the last immunization, the immune spleen cells were cultured in response to synthetic overlapping library peptides covering the mature MPB51 sequence or medium alone. Intracellular and cell culture supernatant gamma interferon (IFN-) production was analyzed by using flow cytometry and ELISA, respectively. Results: The findings of present study indicate that DNA vaccination can course strong mmune response only against the peptides contain 21-40 aminoacids. Further analysis with a computer – assisted algorithm permitted the identification of nine aminoacids of (P24-32) as immunodominant CD8+ T cell epitope. Conclusion: This study proved than the MHC class I-peptide (H2-Dd-P24-32) complex is recognized by (IFN-)–producing CD8+ T cells. We observed by using T-cell subset depletion that CD8+ T cells are the only P24-32-responded T-cells in BABL/c mice. The data obtained are useful for identifying cellular immune responses against TB and for designing a new vaccine against M.tuberculosis infection.

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Background & Objective: Vaccination is one of the most effective ways in preventing the hepatitis B viruse. This study was done to evaluate the response rate to hepatitis B vaccine in under one-year children in Gorgan, Iran. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on 215, children of 7-12 month of age (55.3% male, 44.7% female), in Gorgan, northern Iran during 2006. These subjects already had received the three-time vaccination against hepatitis B. Anti-HBs, Anti-HBc and HBsAg level of these children serum were determined, using ELISA technique. Results: In 30 (14%) subject's serum, there was not detected any antibodies against the viruses. Out of 185 children positive for HBS, 4 cases belong to HBC viruses. As a whole, 86% of the samples, had more than ten international unit of HBS. The meanSD of the titred antibodies in male and female were 158.8412 and 187.5513.83 respectively. The response not to three-times vaccination in male and female were 84% and 89.9% respectively. Conclusion: This study showed that in spit of vaccination, there are cases with virus-contamination. The reasons for absence of any response to the vaccination in some of this children can be due to deficiency in the immune system, improper genetic background which can not be stimulated by that vaccination, inadequate proper conditions for the preservation of vaccine, and the type vaccine used. Also the procedure of vaccine inoculation, the vaccine preservation condition and transportation should be taken into considertion.

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Background & Objective: Rubella vaccine is prepared with live virus thus if it injects during abstinence period, it can cause fetal risks. The aim of study was to evaluate rubella IGM among infants of women who were vaccinated against rubella during 3 months pre-or post-conception (abstinence period). Materials & Methods: This cohort study was done on 253 mothers, including 116 mothers as cases and 137 mothers as controls. The case group inadvertently had received MR vaccine (RA27/3) during abstinence period. The control group selected randomly from similar delivery center that admitted for delivery. The background and confounding factors was matched between the control and case groups. In both groups after delivery, cord rubella IGM was measured by ELISA for serological diagnosis of infant infection. Data was analyzed by Chi-square and T-student tests. Results: The findings showed that the number of positive IGM infant was similar in both groups (One positive IGM in each group). In spite of no significant difference between the case and the control groups, the maximum theoretical risk in this study was 4.392% (RR=1.091 95% CI=0.271-4.392). Conclusion: Although no significant difference was found from the point of infants with an IgM+ serology in two groups, according to the risk ratio obtained in this study, we still recommend vaccination should be avoided during abstinence period.

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Background and Objective: An increased risk of invasive infections with encapsulated bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae has been described among splenectomized patients. Pneumococcal vaccination has been recommended in these patients. In this study, the serum antibody response to pneumococcal polysaccharide antigens in splenectomized patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) or trauma who immunized with Pneumovax 23 was evaluated. Materials and Methods: This case - control study was performed on two groups of patients including fifteen cases of trauma patients (11 male, 4 female) and twenty patients with ITP (10 male, 10 female) along with 40 healthy volunteers as controls who were immunized with Pneumovax 23 to prevent pneumococcal infections. All patients received the pneumococcal vaccine before splenectomy. The serum antibody response (IgG and IgG2) to pneumococcal antigens was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique prior to vaccination and 4 weeks post-vaccination. Analyzing of data was performed using student t-test and linear regression test. Results: The mean of post-vaccination IgG or IgG2 titer to the pneumococcal antigens in ITP patient group was significantly lower than those in controls or in trauma group (P<0.05). No significant differences in IgG or IgG2 antibody titer increase were found between trauma group and healthy control group. Response to immunization was poor in 9 of 20 ITP patients. Conclusion: This study indicated that 45 percent of patients suffered from ITP who have undergone splenectomy responded poorly to pneumococcal antigens.

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Background and Objective: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) belongs to the retroviridae family and is the agent of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Treatment of HIV for the global health has made a special importance for the new antiviral drug discoveries in addition to HIV vaccine developments. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study single cycle replicable (SCR) HIV-1 virions with the capability of one cycle of replication were produced by the co-transfection of three plasmids of pmzNL4-3, psPAX2 and pMD2.G to the HEK cells and their replication capacity of the first generation SCR visions in HEK 293T, MT-2, and mouse spleen cells was examined by p24-capture ELISA, syncytium formation assay. The infectivity of the SCR-produced virions was also analysed on MT-2 cells. Results: Experiments showed the efficient production of SCR virions. Moreover, results indicated the replication potency of SCR virions on the investigated cells and the inactivity of the produced SCR HIV virions. Complete HIV antigens are expressed in their native forms by SCR virions, but this second viral particles lack the replication capacity. Conclusion: SCR HIV virions produced in this study are capable of one cycle of replication and will be inactivated thereafter.These features make SCR virions as a good candidate for HIV vaccine studies. Moreover, considering the one cycle replication, SCR virions do not need the severe biosafety concerns involved in retrovirus studies.

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Background and Objective: Oxidative stress is known as the one of the causes of neuropathic pain, reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been reported to be involved in this process. Coenzyme Q10 acts as an antioxidant and is able to reduce resulting oxidative damage. This study was done to determine the effect of Coenzyme Q10 on neuropathic pain in CCI (Chronic Crash Injury) rat model.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study 30 male rats (200-250g) randomizely allocated into 3 groups each 10 rat including CCI, CCI + CoQ10 and CCI + vehicle. Neuropathic pain, was induced by Chronic Crash Injury (CCI) model for sciatic nerve. IP injection of CoQ10 (200 mg/kg) or vehicle was done daily for 10 days. Behavioral tests were done before and after surgery on day 5 and 10 respectively. Paw withdrawal threshold was assessed by Randall Selitto test, Analgesy Metter and Von Frey filaments. Data was analyzed by SPSS-14, Independent T and Mean-whatney tests.

Results: Induction of nerve injury decreased pain threshold (P<0.05) and treatment with CoQ10 increased mechanical and thermal threshold in neuropathic rats compared to CCI animals (P<0.05). There was a significant difference in pain threshold between animals treated CoQ10 and vehicle injected animals (P<0.05).

Conclusion: This study indicated that coenzyme Q10 prevents deleterious effects following nerve injury in animal model.

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Background and Objective: The vaccination against hepatitis B is a front line defence for all at-risk groups. Conventional methods of hepatitis B vaccination (0, 1 and 6 months) is considered a long process. But vaccination at shorter intervals (0, 10 and 21 days) is suggested to achieve rapid immunity. This study was carried out to compare for the protective antibody level against hepatitis B in accelerated and conventional vaccination. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive and analytical study 160 health personnel of Imam Reza hospital of Kermanshah, Iran with no history of vaccination against hepatitis B were selected and divided into two groups during 2009. The volunteers were received vaccination according to accelerated (0, 10 and 21 days) and convetional (0, 1 and 6 months) methods. The antibody titer measured two years after the final dose of vaccination. The acceptable level of antibody was considered higher than 10 IU/ml. Results: After two years the acceptable level of antibody was observed in 94.5% and 97.9% of subjects in accelarated and conventional methods, respectivley. This difference was not significant. Conclusion: This study showed that there is not significant differences between accelerated and conventional methods in antibody production against hepatitis B antigen.

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Background and Objective: Musculoskeletal injuries are the common causes of disabilities among young patients. This study was done to establish the causes and clinical evidences of bone and joint injuries among young patients in Gorgan, Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 600 subjects with musculoskeletal injuries reffered to 5 Azar teaching hospital in Gorgan, north of Iran during 2009. Age, sex, type of initial treatment, location of injury and medical treatment for subjects were completed. Data were analyzed using SPSS-16, Chi-Square and student t-tests. Results: The mean age of subjects was 25±7 years. 83% of subjects were male. In 37% of injured people, time of accident was between 12 to 18 o’clock. The most common causes were car accident (49.7%), workplace injury (15.3%), falling down (10.3%), respectively. Street (38.3%) and road (18.7%) were the location with high accident. Fractures (71.7%), soft tissue injuries (48.3%) and dislocation (8.7%) were the most common injuries. Upper and lower limb were the most common in injury and fractur, respectively. Conclusion: This study showed that young men are more prone to accident and occupation injuries.

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Background and Objective: Infection with HBV is the most common chronic viral infection and mortality in children. Prevention of this infection with vaccination is vital. This study was done to compare the antibody level in post hepatitis B vaccination in children with 12-15 and 21-24 months age. Materials and Methods:This descriptive study was carreid out on 186 children with 12-15 (group I) and 21-24 (group II) months age who had not infected with hepatitis B infection in, Bandarabbas Iran during 2009. The parents were HbsAg negative, without immunodeficiency diseases and did not receive hepatitis vaccination, blood or blood products transfusion. Age, gender, birth weight, breast feeding duration and gestational age were recorded for each child. Hepatitis B antibody level was measured with ELISA method. Data were analyzed using SPSS-16 and student t-test. Results: Antibody level in group I (231 mIU/ml) was significantly higher than group II (142.9 mIU/ml) (P<0.05). There was not significant differences between males and females. Antibody level was not significantly corrolated with body weight, gestational age and breast feeding duration. Antibody level lower than 10 mIU/ml were observed in 4.34% of group I and 20.8% of group II. This differnce was significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that the protective effect of vaccination reduced after six months of final dosage.

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Background and Objective: Hepatitis B vaccination has been conducted in neonates in the routine vaccination in Iran since 1993. This study was carried out to evaluate the serum hepatitis B antibody level in vaccinated children after 14 years in Kashan, Iran. Materials and Methods: This prospetive cohort study was conducted on 200 fourteen-year-old children which were selected via a simple random sampling method in Kashan, Iran drung 2008-09. This subjects were have been vaccined according to the govermental guildline at 0, 2 and 6 months old. Two ml blood specimens were obtained from children and serum hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) and hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) were determined by ELISA method. Immunity was interpreted as anti-HBs≥10 IU/L. Data were analyzed using SPSS-13, Chi-Square and Fisher’s exat tests. Results: 92% girls and 95% boys, totally 187(93.5%) children had serum anti-HBs≥10 IU/L. Anti-HBc was positive in 3 (3%) girls and 5(5%) boys, totally 8(4%) which all of them had serum anti-HBS≤10 IU/L. No case of positive HBs Ag was detected. Immunity was detected in 11 of 18 (61.1%) children with birth weight<2.5 kg and in 176 of 182 (96.7%) children with birth weight≥2.5 kg (P<0.05). Conclusion: The immunity following the complete series (0, 2, 6 months old) of hepatitis B vaccination remained detectable after 14 years.

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Background and Objective: Continuous antigenic variation of Influenza a viruses causes a major concern to develop Influenza vaccine. Conserved antigens are suitable candidates for vaccine production due to its non-requirement to match the designed strains with circulating strains. The M2 gene is conserved among Influenza a viruses and has potential to be considered as a universal vaccine. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of aqueous Echinacea purpurea extract on immunogenicity of DNA vaccine encoding M2 gene of Influenza virus. Materials and Methods: This interventional study was carried out on female BALB/c mice with 3-4 week age (250-300 gr). Plasmid DNA encoding M2 gene (pcDNA-M2) of Influenza virus A/New Caledonia/20/99 (H1N1) was transformed into E.coli top10 f' and cultured in LB broth media. Large scale plasmid preparation was done and the concentration was measured by spectrophotometric method. Mice were divided into eight groups and immunized three times with fifteen days apart. Vaccine groups received inactivated Influenza virus or pcDNA-M2, alone or in combination with Echinacea extract. Control groups were injected pcDNA, Echinacea extract, and phosphate buffer. All animals were left to bleed before immunization and at 21 days after the last vaccination and specific anti-M2 antibodies were measured by indirect ELISA. Then the mice were intranasally challenged under an aesthesia with mouse-adapted PR8 Influenza virus and monitored for 3 weeks to evaluate the vaccine regimen efficacy in reduction of mortality rate compared to control groups. Data were analyzed using SPSS-16, One-way ANOVA and Kaplan–Meier tests. Results: The highest specific immune response was obtained in mice received inactivated virus plus extract (P<0.05). Immune responses in mice inoculated with pcDNA-M2 were significantly higher compared to all control groups mice (P<0.05). In addition the specific immune responses in group inoculated with pcDNA-M2 and aqueous extract was higher compared to the group receiving only pcDNA-M2 (P<0.001). The highest survival rate was observed in mice injected with inactivated virus or pcDNA-M2 plus extract. Conclusion: This study showed that pcDNA-M2 induced specific immunity and protected mice against lethal challenge with PR8 Influenza virus. Furthermore, application of Echinacea extract with M2 gene vaccine increased vaccine efficacy.

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Background and Objective: Enterococci is gram positive bacteria which is the inhabitants of gastrointestinal tract. Hospital infections and antibiotic resistance to enterococci is increased. This study was done to determine the molecular evaluation of vanA and vanB genes of enterococci isolates resistant to Vancomycin and Teicoplanin.

Methods: In this descriptive study, 113 isolates samples were collected and identified according to biochemical test and cultural characteristics in Ali ibn Abi Talib hospital in Zahedan, Iran. Antibiogram test was done to determine antibiotic resistance pattern. E-test strip was used to evaluate the minimum inhibitory of concentration (MIC). PCR was used to detect the vanA and vanB genotype in Vancomycin and Teicoplanin resistance enterococci.

Results: 92%, 6.2% and 1.8% of isolated samles collocted from urine, blood culture and pleura fluid, respectively. According to phenotype, 18.6% and 17.69% were resistance to Vancomycin and Teicoplanin, respectively. Resistance was observed in strains of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium. VanA genotype was seen in all of the resistance isolated species.

Conclusion: This study showed that strains of Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium have more antibiotic resistance to the Vancomycin and Teicoplanin, morever vanA genotype precence in all of resistance isolated samples.

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Background and Objective: Helicobacter pylori infection is one of the most common chronic bacterial infections all over the world, particularly in the developing countries. LeoA gene plays an important role in pathogenesis, and the main role of this gene is to increase the bacterial toxin secretion. This study was conducted to isolate and clone the leoA gene in a pEGFP-C2 expression vector and evaluate its expression in eukaryotic system.
Methods: In this laboratory study, the leoA gene was amplified from the standard strain of Helicobacter pylori genome (ATCC 43504) by PCR method. It was then inserted into the pTZ vector by cloning T/A. Sub cloning of this gene was performed in a pEGFP-C2 expression vector with a ligase enzyme. The final structure of pEGFP-C2-leoA was transformed by electroporation in CHO (Chinese hamster ovary) cells and the expression of the leoA gene was evaluated by SDS-PAGE and RT-PCR.
Results: The results of PCR indicated that the 1758 bp fragment was amplified from the leoA gene. Cloning of this gene was performed successfully in pTZ and pEGFP-C2 vectors, respectively. The enzyme digestion with two KpnI and SacII enzymes, as well as sequencing, confirmed the accuracy of gene cloning. The observation of the protein product of the leoA gene in CHO cells indicated the successful expression of the LeoA gene in the eukaryotic system of Helicobacter pylori.
Conclusion: The final construct of pEGFP-C2-leoA had a successful expression of the leoA gene in animal cells.

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Background and Objective: Anxiety disorder (AD) is one of the most common children disorders. In last two decades, several studies conducted to determine the mechanisms of child anxiety disorder specifically in base of neural mechanisms. However, studies about the electrophysiology of child anxiety disorder particularly in the quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) are less than imaging studies. This study was performed to compare the quantitative EEG between children with anxiety disorder and normal subjects.
Methods: This case- control study was done on 30 children with anxiety disorder and 30 normal healthy children with 6-7 years old. Electroencephalography was recorded for each subject. Power of 19 channel and 5 frequency bands delta, theta, alpha, beta and high beta (25-30 Hz) in the frontal, central and occipital area were recorded, respectively.
Results: There was significant  difference in delta absolute power in frontal lobe, theta and beta2 absolute power in central and high beta wave in occipital area between AD and normal children (P<0.05). In other words, the delta absolute power in frontal lobe and theta and beta2 absolute power in central area of brain was less in AD children in compared to normals. Also, the high beta absolute power in occipital lobe was more in AD children in compared to normals.
Conclusion: Recorded QEEG in relax time is a proper index of brain cortex metabolic activity. Therefore, low metabolic activity in particular parts of brain is determined by increasing slow waves power (delta and theta) or decreasing fast waves power (alpha and beta).

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Adjuvants are an essential component of modern vaccines. An adjuvant is an entity added to a vaccine formulation to ensure that robust immunity to the antigen is inoculcated. The adjuvant is typically vital for the efficacy of vaccines using subunit (pepdids, proteins and virus like particles) and DNA antigens. Furthermore, these components are used to reach the current new goals of preventing and/ or treating chronic infectious diseases and cancers. This review focuses on formulation aspects of adjuvants, safety considerations, progress in understanding their mechanisms of action and also their side effects with using 97 articles are acceceble in pubmed central and google scholar indexing which published during 1980-2016. Adjuvants can be broadly divided into two classes, based on their principal mechanisms of action; the first class are vaccine delivery systems that generally particulate and mainly function to target associated antigens into antigen presenting cells. The others are immunostimulatory adjuvants that predominantly derived from pathogens and often represent pathogen associated molecular patterns which activate cells of the innate immune system. Adjuvants induce cellular and humoral responses, in particular neutralizing antibodies that able to inhibit the binding of pathogens to their cellular receptors. Efficient Th1-immunity-inducing adjuvants are highly in demand. The adjuvants promote good cell-mediated immunity against subunit vaccines that have low immunogenicity themselves. However, attempts to develop a new generation of adjuvants, which are essential for new vaccines, is important, but their use is limited because, little is known about their mechanisms of action and health risks.

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Background and Objective: Car accidents are one of the most common causes of traumatic mental disorders. This study was done to evaluate the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in patients with lumbar spinal dislocation fractures caused by road accidents.
Methods: This case-control study was performed on 100 patients with lumbar spine dislocation fractures due to road accidents. After the seventh day, they were admitted to the orthopedic and trauma wards of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Sari. It was done six months after hospitalization. Data collected from 100 non-injured individuals using the Marmar and Weiss Revised Event Impact Questionnaire (Impact of Event Scale - Revised: IES-R) were compared.
Results: There was no statistically significant relationship between PTSD and age, sex, marital status, education of the two groups. In all subscales related to the effect of the event, ie avoidance, disturbing thoughts, and over stimulation indices, the mean score of the participants in the case group was significantly higher than the mean scores of the individuals in the control group (P<0.05). The mean in case group was significantly higher than the mean in the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate the important role of road accidents in the formation of PTSD symptoms.

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Background and Objective: COVID-19 is a rapidly spreading acute respiratory syndrome worldwide. COVID-19 vaccination has been widely used as a means to control the disease. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between demographic characteristics and COVID-19 vaccination in patients with COVID-19.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 1124 patients with a definitive diagnosis of COVID-19 in Minoodasht, Iran, in August 2021. The instruments used in this study included a demographic data questionnaire and a checklist assessing patient characteristics.
Results: The majority of COVID-19 patients were men (51.8%), aged between 35 to 45 years (26%), and married (76.5%). COVID-19 vaccination was administered to 26.6% of the patients. Patients who received vaccination (27.1%) used masks less than unvaccinated patients (72.9%) (P<0.05). Of the patients with COVID-19, 8.2% were hospitalized. The mean duration of hospitalization for vaccinated patients (7.8±6.4 days) was lower than that for unvaccinated patients (8.3±5.9 days); however, this difference was not significant. Age, education, underlying disease, and mask usage were associated with COVID-19 vaccination (P<0.05). With an increase in underlying disease and age, vaccination rates increased, while vaccination rates decreased with the use of masks and lower education.
Conclusion: Attention to demographic factors and certain characteristics of individuals is necessary to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates. Previous COVID-19 vaccination does not decrease the number of hospitalization days in patients with COVID-19.