The results of the present study show that the course of MS in Iraqi children and adolescents is more aggressive than in children from other countries. This finding needs to be evaluated by further studies.

Background: Detection of alcohol in postmortem blood and body fluids is of extreme importance in medico-legal investigation as it may affect and change the decision of the court in legal hearing. It can be a cause death or sharing a role in different modes of death. Objectives: To evaluate the problem of alcohol intake in general and its relation to age,sex and its contribution in different causes of death. Method: A prospective study within 6 month period on postmortem blood samples referred to the lab. For detection and measurement of alcohol. Five to 10 ml of blood of each sample was tested using Head Space GC with flame ionization detector (FID) from Agilent 7890A. Result: In general traumatic death was predominant among all victims.From total 1275, only 112 (8.8%) sample were positive. Males were more than 5 times than females. There was a significant relation of alcohol intake with traumatic causes of death, yet only in 13 victims the concentration was fatal. Conclusion: Alcohol drinking is a minor problem as it was detected in a small group of all cases yet its association with traumatic death was significantly higher than natural death and its consumption was more than 5 times in males. Only in limited number of cases the concentration was fatal.

. Among all other viruses, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most frequent cause of congenital infection worldwide. Strain variation in HCMV may predict severity or outcome of congenital HCMV disease. Previous studies have associated a particular genotype with specific sequelae or more severe illness, but the results were contradictory. There are no previous studies addressing the genotype of HCMV in Iraq. Therefore, the present study is aimed at molecular detection and genotyping of HCMV isolated from symptomatic congenitally/perinatally infected neonates. This prospective study comprised 24 serum samples from symptomatic neonates with congenital/perinatal infection. Viral DNA was extracted from these serum samples; nested polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify the HCMV gB ( UL55 ) gene. Polymerase chain reaction products of the second round of amplification were subjected to direct Sanger sequencing. Bioedit and MEGA5 software (EMBL-EBI, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, UK) were used for alignment and construction of a phylogenetic tree. Human cytomegalovirus DNA was detected in 23 of 24 samples (95.8%). According to the phylogenetic analysis, three genotypes of the virus were identified; gB1, gB2, and gB3 genotypes. However, the gB4 genotype was not detected. Human cytomegalovirus gB3 was the most frequent genotype: 14 of 24 (58.33%) among symptomatic infected infants, followed by gB1 (6/24; 25%) and gB2 (4/24; 16.67%). A mixed HCMV infection with gB3/gB1 was detected in only one case. Human cytomegalovirus gB3 was the most predominant genotype among symptomatic congenitally/perinatally HCMV-infected neonates. No association was found between B3 genotype and specific clinical presentation. Jaundice was the most common clinical feature among symptomatically infected neonates, followed by hepatosplenomegaly.

The purpose of this article is to examine and analyse the incidence of violence against women in Iraq. Until recently, gender‐based violence has been viewed in this country as a private or family matter. Nevertheless, there gradually has been a shift in thinking in the past few years on this phenomenon, and it is now viewed as both a public health problem and a violation of human rights. As a first step toward understanding this problem, the authors conducted an experimental analysis of women in Iraq, focusing on gender‐based violence. The results show that violence against women is principally carried out by their husbands and by brothers. The article explains the reasons behind this violent behaviour by analysing a sample survey of 1,000 women and 100 men. The findings show that gender‐based violence is a prevalent medical and social problem in Iraq that requires prompt and in‐depth intervention so as to prevent or at least control it. This study was undertaken in order to understand the possible solutions to prevent gender‐based violence and to change the accepted norms of gender‐based social roles and social tolerance.

Down syndrome (DS) is one of the most common congenital d isorders associated with intellectual d isability and social stigma. Co mmunity attitudes and knowledge of this condition are important for inclusion of people with DS into the community and improving their quality of lives. Results from surveys from the world showed that people still hold negative attitudes towards inclusion of people with DS. Studies in the Arab world are sparse and there are no data exp loring these attitudes in Iraq in the absence of formal awareness programs; hence, this study was done to report and analyse the Iraqi co mmun ity attitudes towards people with Down syndrome. A survey questionnaire of the attitudes from a samp le fro m the co mmunity was done. Results showed that Iraqis still hold negative thoughts towards inclusion of people with DS, however they are less negative than their counterparts in Europe and United States. Female gender was the most common factor associated with positive attitudes. The results of this study underscore the importance for organized campaigns and programs to increase awareness towards DS and inclusion in the co mmunity. Further research is required to exp lore the factors underlying these attitudes.