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Background: Supplementary Immunization Activities (SIAs) have been considered as a strategic key towards elimination of measles and rubella. This study aimed at identifying the coverage of vaccination in target population children. Methods: The study was carried out in South-East of Iran on a total of 6838 randomly selected children. Information was collected by trained interviewers using a validated questionnaire. The data was analyzed through descriptive statistics (i.e. frequencies and percentages) and 95% confidence interval. Results: Overall, 98.7% of children were vaccinated during SIAs campaign. Vaccination cards were available for about two-thirds of the participants at the time of home visits while 95.3% of them reportedly received an immunization card. Refusal to vaccinate (31%), not informed (24.2%), children being sick (22.4%), and travel (20.2%) were the main reasons for not vaccinating children (n = 86) during the campaign. The main sites for vaccination were school (46.5%) and health centers (46.4%). Fever (44.8%) and severe pain at the injection site (36.2%) were reported as the most frequent complications by the study participants. Prevention of measles and rubella (66.6%) and health staff recommendations (31.4%) were the main vaccination incentives. Conclusions: To sum up, Supplementary Immunization Activities (SIAs) are a good approach towards high coverage of immunization and attain measles and rubella elimination.

Background: Metabolic syndrome is an important cause of cardiovascular disease. Mortality from cardiovascular disease is 12.82 deaths/100 000 population in Zahedan, south-east Islamic Republic of Iran. Aims: This study aimed to determine the incidence of metabolic syndrome and its predicting factors in Zahedan city. Methods: All participants without metabolic syndrome in a 2009 study in Zahedan, available in 2017, were included in this study. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed based on the criteria of several organizations. Anthropometric indices and blood pressure were measured and blood tests were done. Age-standardized incidence of metabolic syndrome was calculated and its predictors were evaluated in a logistic regression analysis. Results: Mean age (standard deviation) of the participants was 45.46 (12.63) years in 2017. The incidence of metabolic syndrome varied from 17.21% to 27.18% depending on the criteria used and it was higher in women. High age-standardized incidence was associated with large waist circumference (55.81%) and high blood pressure (25.32%). The highest adjusted odds ratios (OR) for metabolic syndrome were for high triglycerides (OR = 23.75; 95% confidence interval (CI): 9.92–56.84%), large waist circumference (OR = 22.42; 95% CI: 9.03–55.70%), high blood pressure (OR = 16.91; 95% CI: 8.54–33.50%) and high fasting blood sugar (OR = 13.22; 95% CI: 6.74–25.94%). Waterpipe smoking, sex, low-density lipoprotein and wrist circumference were also associated with metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: The incidence of metabolic syndrome has increased in Zahedan. Effective, interventions, including to promote healthy diet, physical activity and avoidance of waterpipe smoking, are needed to control this condition.

AbstractIn this study, the basal diet was supplemented with ethanolic extract of purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) and the possible effects on growth performance, anti-oxidative, and immune activities of grass carp were evaluated. Fish with initial weight 1.23 ± 0.11g were randomly divided into four groups (triplicates) and fed purslane extract at 0% (T0), 0.5% (T1), 1% (T2), and 1.5% (T3) for 56 days. At the end of the feeding trial, the results showed that growth parameters were enhanced in T1 groups compared to the control group (P<0.05). Lipase activity in T1 and T2 groups increased, whereas no significant changes were noticed in cases of amylase and protease activities (P>0.05). Catalase and superoxide dismutase activities were enhanced in all groups fed the supplemented diets in comparison with the control group (P<0.05). However, no significant alteration was noticed in the case of glutathione peroxidase activity following the administration of purslane extract (P>0.05). A significant increase in total immunoglobulin level was noted in the T1 group, but lysozyme activity was higher in T1 and T2 groups compared to the control group (P<0.05). In conclusion, supplementation of grass carp diet with the purslane ethanolic extract, especially at 0.5%, can improve growth performance, lipase activity, the antioxidant enzyme activities as well as the immune response of grass carp fingerlings.