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Authors are the souls of any journal, and deserve much respect. To publish a journal manuscripts are needed from authors. Authors have a great responsibility for producing facts of their work in terms of number and results truthfully and an individual honesty is expected from authors in this regards. Both ways its true "No authors-No manuscripts-No journals" and "No journals–No manuscripts–No authors". Reviewing a manuscript is also a very responsible and important task of any peer-reviewed journal and to be taken seriously. It needs knowledge on the subject, sincerity, honesty and determination. Although the process of reviewing a manuscript is a time consuming task butit is expected to give one's best remarks within the time frame of the journal.
Salient features of the JCDR: It is a biomedical, multidisciplinary (including all medical and dental specialities), e-journal, with wide scope and extensive author support. At the same time, a free text of manuscript is available in HTML and PDF format. There is fast growing authorship and readership with JCDR as this can be judged by the number of articles published in it i e; in Feb 2007 of its first issue, it contained 5 articles only, and now in its recent volume published in April 2011, it contained 67 manuscripts. This e-journal is fulfilling the commitments and objectives sincerely, (as stated by Editor-in-chief in his preface to first edition) i e; to encourage physicians through the internet, especially from the developing countries who witness a spectrum of disease and acquire a wealth of knowledge to publish their experiences to benefit the medical community in patients care. I also feel that many of us have work of substance, newer ideas, adequate clinical materials but poor in medical writing and hesitation to submit the work and need help. JCDR provides authors help in this regards.
Timely publication of journal: Publication of manuscripts and bringing out the issue in time is one of the positive aspects of JCDR and is possible with strong support team in terms of peer reviewers, proof reading, language check, computer operators, etc. This is one of the great reasons for authors to submit their work with JCDR. Another best part of JCDR is "Online first Publications" facilities available for the authors. This facility not only provides the prompt publications of the manuscripts but at the same time also early availability of the manuscripts for the readers.
Indexation and online availability: Indexation transforms the journal in some sense from its local ownership to the worldwide professional community and to the public.JCDR is indexed with Embase & EMbiology, Google Scholar, Index Copernicus, Chemical Abstracts Service, Journal seek Database, Indian Science Abstracts, to name few of them. Manuscriptspublished in JCDR are available on major search engines ie; google, yahoo, msn.
In the era of fast growing newer technologies, and in computer and internet friendly environment the manuscripts preparation, submission, review, revision, etc and all can be done and checked with a click from all corer of the world, at any time. Of course there is always a scope for improvement in every field and none is perfect. To progress, one needs to identify the areas of one's weakness and to strengthen them.
It is well said that "happy beginning is half done" and it fits perfectly with JCDR. It has grown considerably and I feel it has already grown up from its infancy to adolescence, achieving the status of standard online e-journal form Indian continent since its inception in Feb 2007. This had been made possible due to the efforts and the hard work put in it. The way the JCDR is improving with every new volume, with good quality original manuscripts, makes it a quality journal for readers. I must thank and congratulate Dr Hemant Jain, Editor-in-Chief JCDR and his team for their sincere efforts, dedication, and determination for making JCDR a fast growing journal.
Every one of us: authors, reviewers, editors, and publisher are responsible for enhancing the stature of the journal. I wish for a great success for JCDR."
Thanking you
With sincere regards
Dr. Rajendra Kumar Ghritlaharey, M.S., M. Ch., FAIS
Associate Professor,
Department of Paediatric Surgery, Gandhi Medical College & Associated
Kamla Nehru & Hamidia Hospitals Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462 001 (India)
E-mail: drrajendrak1@rediffmail.com
On May 11,2011
Dr. Shankar P.R.
"On looking back through my Gmail archives after being requested by the journal to write a short editorial about my experiences of publishing with the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research (JCDR), I came across an e-mail from Dr. Hemant Jain, Editor, in March 2007, which introduced the new electronic journal. The main features of the journal which were outlined in the e-mail were extensive author support, cash rewards, the peer review process, and other salient features of the journal.
Over a span of over four years, we (I and my colleagues) have published around 25 articles in the journal. In this editorial, I plan to briefly discuss my experiences of publishing with JCDR and the strengths of the journal and to finally address the areas for improvement.
My experiences of publishing with JCDR: Overall, my experiences of publishing withJCDR have been positive. The best point about the journal is that it responds to queries from the author. This may seem to be simple and not too much to ask for, but unfortunately, many journals in the subcontinent and from many developing countries do not respond or they respond with a long delay to the queries from the authors 1. The reasons could be many, including lack of optimal secretarial and other support. Another problem with many journals is the slowness of the review process. Editorial processing and peer review can take anywhere between a year to two years with some journals. Also, some journals do not keep the contributors informed about the progress of the review process. Due to the long review process, the articles can lose their relevance and topicality. A major benefit with JCDR is the timeliness and promptness of its response. In Dr Jain's e-mail which was sent to me in 2007, before the introduction of the Pre-publishing system, he had stated that he had received my submission and that he would get back to me within seven days and he did!
Most of the manuscripts are published within 3 to 4 months of their submission if they are found to be suitable after the review process. JCDR is published bimonthly and the accepted articles were usually published in the next issue. Recently, due to the increased volume of the submissions, the review process has become slower and it ?? Section can take from 4 to 6 months for the articles to be reviewed. The journal has an extensive author support system and it has recently introduced a paid expedited review process. The journal also mentions the average time for processing the manuscript under different submission systems - regular submission and expedited review.
Strengths of the journal: The journal has an online first facility in which the accepted manuscripts may be published on the website before being included in a regular issue of the journal. This cuts down the time between their acceptance and the publication. The journal is indexed in many databases, though not in PubMed. The editorial board should now take steps to index the journal in PubMed. The journal has a system of notifying readers through e-mail when a new issue is released. Also, the articles are available in both the HTML and the PDF formats. I especially like the new and colorful page format of the journal. Also, the access statistics of the articles are available. The prepublication and the manuscript tracking system are also helpful for the authors.
Areas for improvement: In certain cases, I felt that the peer review process of the manuscripts was not up to international standards and that it should be strengthened. Also, the number of manuscripts in an issue is high and it may be difficult for readers to go through all of them. The journal can consider tightening of the peer review process and increasing the quality standards for the acceptance of the manuscripts. I faced occasional problems with the online manuscript submission (Pre-publishing) system, which have to be addressed.
Overall, the publishing process with JCDR has been smooth, quick and relatively hassle free and I can recommend other authors to consider the journal as an outlet for their work."
Dr. P. Ravi Shankar
KIST Medical College, P.O. Box 14142, Kathmandu, Nepal.
E-mail: ravi.dr.shankar@gmail.com
On April 2011 Anuradha
Dear team JCDR, I would like to thank you for the very professional and polite service provided by everyone at JCDR. While i have been in the field of writing and editing for sometime, this has been my first attempt in publishing a scientific paper.Thank you for hand-holding me through the process.
Dr. Anuradha
E-mail: anuradha2nittur@gmail.com
On Jan 2020
Original article / research
Full Version
Blastocystosis in Iran: Epidemiological characteristics and Clinical manifestations
Correspondence Address :
Gholamreza Roshandel, MD,
Golestan Research Center of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Golestan University of Medical Sciences. E-
Add:Number77,Qabooseieh passage,Valiasrstreet, Gorgan, Golestan province, Iran.
Tel: +98 171 2240835,Fax: +98 171 2269210
mail: roshandel_md@yahoo.com.
Context: Previous studies showed that blastocystis hominis may lead to some diseases and symptoms such as flatus, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and nausea. But in some others the disease causing effect of this organism has not been determined.
Aims: The goal of this study is to determine the clinical signs and some epidemiological characteristics of blastocystis in the West of Iran in 2004 and 2005.
Settings and Design: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional one.
Methods and Material: The stool samples of 274 cases from Hamedan province (west) of Iran were tested for blastocystis infection. The samples positive for blastocystis were selected. These patients were asked to fill in a questionnaire to gather clinical and socio-demographic information.
Statistical Analysis Used: Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between variables.
Results:This study has shown that 58 people (21%) were Blastocystis carriers. The most common clinical symptom was abdominal pain (84.5%). It was more common in primary and elementary schools students than in other educational levels. Diarrhoea was observed mostly in cases younger than 10 years and individuals between 11 and 20 years.
Conclusions: This study showed that the prevalence of blastocystis infection in Iran, like other developing countries, is quite high. So, it is recommended to conduct further studies to fully determine its characteristics and consider it as a potential disease- causing parasite in approaching gastrointestinal diseases.
Blastocystosis, Epidemiology, Iran.
Introduction
Categorically, the place of Blastocystis among unicellular has not been determined until now (1). Many believed this organism has only one species, but according to recent morphological and molecular studies, there were some instances that suggested the existence of different species of this parasite (2).For many years, scientists believed one species of Blastocystis infected humans, while other species of Blastocystis infected animals. So they called Blastocystis that affect humans Blastocystis hominis and named Blastocystis that affects other animals differently, for example Blastocystis ratti for rats. Genetic analysis performed in 2005 showed Blastocystis hominis does not really exist. There is no unique species of Blastocystis that infects humans. In fact, nine different species of Blastocystis can infect humans, including Blastocystis ratti. A tenth group was identified in China in 2007. As a result of this, in 2007 scientists proposed discontinuing the use of the term Blastocystis hominis. Their proposal is to refer to Blastocystis from humans and animals according to the genetic identity of the Blastocystis organism, rather than the host that was infected by it. The disease-causing effects of this parasite have not been determined yet(1). In many studies, blastocystis resulted in gastrointestinal problems (2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9),(10) but in other ones, no clinical manifestations were seen(11),(12). Blastocystis attack to the intestinal mucus may cause a kind of mucosal ulceration (1). Different unspecialized clinical symptoms such as diarrhoea, abdominal pain and nausea have been observed in patients affected by this parasite (1),(4),(5),(8),(9),(10). The prevalence of Blastocystosis in developing countries is more than the developed parts of the world. (12) In general in studies from developed countries its prevalence was reported approximately 1.5 up to 10% (13),(14),(15).
The aims of the current study were to determine the prevalence and clinical manifestations and some epidemiological characteristics of Blastocystis infection in Iran.
The stool samples of 274 cases from Hamedan province (west) of Iran were collected during 2004 and 2005. An informed consent form was signed by each participant (in cases under 18 years old, it was signed by parents). The samples were transferred to the parasitology department of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences for testing. They were tested by direct and formol–ether methods. They were also cultured on the bacterial medium for rejecting bacterial and viral agents in diarrhoea. The samples positive for blastocystis were selected. Patients from these cases were asked to fill in a questionnaire to gather clinical and socio-demographic information. It was a structured one and was filled by educated health-care personnel. In case of children, their parents were asked to provide the required information. Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between variables. P-values of less than 0.05 were considered as significant.
Among 274 participants, 148 (54.1%) were males. Fifty eight cases (35%) were positive for Blastocystis and 35 (39.7%) of them were females.
In (Table/Fig 1) we can see that abdominal pain and diarrhoea were the two most common digestive manifestations in blastocystis infected individuals and constipation was the least one. From an educational point of view, prevalence of blastocystosis in the primary and elementary schools students (45%) was higher than among the University students (6.4%). According to (Table/Fig 2), abdominal pain was more common in 11-20 year old cases (34.5%). Diarrhoea was seen mostly in participants younger than 20 years old. (Table/Fig 3)shows that in both sexes, Blastocystosis was more frequent in cases below 10 years old and the lowest prevalence was seen in people who were older than 30 years of age.
Blastocystis attack on the intestinal mucus may cause a kind of mucosal ulceration. Different unspecialized clinical symptoms such as diarrhoea, abdominal pain and nausea have been observed in patients affected by this parasite. The aims of the current study were to determine the prevalence and clinical manifestations and some epidemiological characteristics of Blastocystis infection in Iran.
The prevalence of blastocystosis in our study was 21%. Previous studies reported that its prevalence in developed countries is less than 10%. (16),(17),(18). The results from some other studies suggested a prevalence between 11 to 20 percent for this infection (19),(20),[21). But the prevalence of blastocystosis in developing countries and in areas with poor hygienic conditions is high. (12), (22). Kevin (9) and Mohammad et a1 (10) also in their studies showed that the prevalence of this parasite in areas with low hygienic conditions is high. In two studies from Jordan and Paraguay the prevalence of blastocystis infection was higher than 20%. (23),(24) Koutslavlis et al (16) describe this parasite common between humans and animals and coming from water and suggested that its prevalence is high in tropical and semi-tropical areas. Our result was in line with the above mentioned study. In other words, the prevalence of blastocystosis like some other intestinal parasites such as ascaris and giardia infection in Iran is high. The reason is probably due to the low level of individual and public hygienic conditions and too much use of herbs (especially because there is a likelihood of contamination as in most market-gardens there is an active use of manure or irrigation by sewage). Blastocystis infection was more in individuals between 1-10 years old (46.5%) than the others. This result is in accordance with the results of some other studies(12),(22). The prevalence of blastocystosis in men is usually more common. (12) Similarly, we found a higher prevalence in men (60.3%) but the difference was not significant. In the current study, abdominal pain (84.5%) and diarrhoea (17.5%) were the most common intestinal manifestations. Similar results were reported in pervious studies. (4),(12),(25) In this study abdominal pain was the most common problems in age groups of 11-20 years (34.5%) and 1-10 years (32.7%). This may be due to relative immunodeficiency in these ages. Horiki et al (15) showed a significant relationship between immunodeficiency and gastrointestinal manifestations of blastocystosis. On the other hand, it has been shown that in normal adult population with good economic and social status, the prevalence of infection with this parasite and also its clinical manifestations are considerably low (26).
In conclusion, our study showed that the prevalence of blastocystis infection in Iran, like other developing countries, is quite high. So, it should be considered as a pathogenic agent in approaching gastrointestinal diseases.
Blastocystis should be considered as a potential pathogenic agent in approaching gastrointestinal diseases.
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