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Article History

Received: 3 August 2024

Accepted: 26 December 2024

First Online: 5 February 2025

Declarations

:

: This study was approved by the Ethical Committee of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (IR.MUMS.MEDICAL.REC.1400.328), in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration and ethical guidelines. The project was part of the thesis titled “Thesis number: 992196.” During the study, we only accessed anonymized samples, with all personal identifying information, including names, addresses, and phone numbers, removed before the samples were provided to the research team. Consequently, we did not have access to any personally identifiable information either during or after data collection. The research adhered to strict ethical standards to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of all participants.

: In this study, we utilized daily and weekly archived stool samples from patients who attended our medical centers. These samples were provided with a coding system, and we did not have access to any identifying information, such as the patients’ names, addresses, or phone numbers. As a result, we did not obtain informed consent directly from the patients, as their personal identities were not involved in the research process. The ethical committee reviewed and approved the use of these anonymized samples, waiving the requirement for informed consent due to the absence of identifiable information.

: All participants and institutions involved in this study provided consent for the publication of the anonymized results.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.