International Research Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences

19-23

Authors: Gilbert G. Waria, Abel L. Lihweuli, Innocent J. Sanga, Elichilia R. Shao and Debora C. Kajeguka

Hepatitis B virus infection remains a major public health problem across the globe. Health care workers are at highest risk than other groups due to frequent contact with body fluids. Despite efforts made by the Tanzanian government since 2014 towards universal immunization of healthcare workers, still, the coverage has not been explored. The study was done to determine the prevalence of Hepatitis B surface Antigen carriage on Hepatitis B infection and associated factors among Health care workers in Moshi Municipality’s Primary Health facilities. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted in 30 primary health care facilities located in Moshi Municipality. The study included 197 Health Care workers who were present during data collection. A pre-tested and standardized questionnaire was used to assess the associated factors on Hepatitis B infection. Proportions and frequencies were used to summarize categorical variable while Measure of central tendency and associated measure of dispersion was computed for variables. The prevalence of Hepatitis B surface Antigen carriage was 3.6%. Factors such as education level, occupation, marital status, vaccination, surgery history, skin contact with body fluids seemed to have contributed to HBV seropositivity but none of them had a significant association. The prevalence of Hepatitis B surface Antigen carriage among healthcare workers in Moshi Municipals is relatively low. This low prevalence may be because primary health facilities are exposed to a smaller number of patients who are not critically ill, also may be a low sample size used. Therefore continued education on Hepatitis B control should be provided.

30-36

Authors: Navid Najafi, Mohammad Hadi Gharib, Nematollah Nematollahi and Fatemeh Mehravar

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of death in the world, accounting for 16% of all new cancer diagnoses. Patients with cancer should be closely monitored before making treatment decisions. Diagnosis of metastatic disease is especially important because it has a significant impact on the therapeutic approach. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is considered a superior method for preoperative evaluation in rectal cancer. Therefore, this study was performed to evaluate MRI findings in patients with rectosigmoid cancer in Golestan province in 2019 and 2020. This is a cross-sectional and descriptive study that was performed on 43 patients with rectal cancer for 2 years in Gorgan. Patients with other cancers, other metastatic cancer, and a history of surgery were excluded. Demographic information (age, gender and ethnicity) was obtained and recorded from patients 'electronic records and patients' MRI information through the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) of Gorgan MRI centers. Among 43 patients with rectosigmoid cancer, 65.1% of them were male and the mean age was 58.58 ± 14.73 years. The average mass length was 48.44 mm and the distance from Anal Verge was 69.81 mm. The tumor morphology of patients' rectosigmoid mass in imaging was related to Semi Circumferncial (62.72%) and Circumferncial (37.21%). T1/T2, N2a, and M0 with the percentages of 41.9%, 39.5%, and 90.7%, respectively, had the highest frequency in patients. TNM Staging was not significantly related to gender or ethnicity. Peritoneal reflection was also more common in Sistani and Turkmen ethnic groups. In conclusion, the results of this study showed that high-resolution MRI under the imaging protocol for obtaining quality images can help to accurately regional staging necessary for optimal treatment.