Journal of

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Background and Aim: Head louse, pediculosis capitis, is a major health problem in the world. Head louse infestation is still common in many countries including Iran. It causes serious health problems in many communities particularly among the school-age children. The aim of this study was to determine the major factors in an outbreak of pediculosis capitis in students of Bahar in 2011. 

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Background and Aim: Hirsutism is defined as male pattern hair growth in females which affects 10% of women. Our aim was to compare free salivary and free serum testosterone levels in women with hirsutism and healthy controls.
Methods: This study was a case-control study in which 30 hirsute women in child bearing age were recruited and compared with 10 healthy controls. For each patient, a questionnaire containing demographic, clinical and laboratory information was completed. The salivary and serum total and free testosterone plus free androgen index were measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) method. The collected data were described and analyzed using SPSS software version 11.5. Significance level was determined at 0.05.
Results: No significant correlation was seen between salivary and serum free testosterone and in free androgen index with free testosteron in patients and control groups. Comparing the results between case and control groups, except for mean serum total testosterone level (P<0.05), the other results were not significantly different. No significant correlation was seen between hirsutism severity and free serum or salivary testosterone levels. Significant correlation was seen with total serum testosterone (P<0.001). Investigating correlations between these hormones with serum free androgen index, only salivary free testosterone was correlated with this index (r=0.01, P<0.05).
Conclusion: In our study, we find no correlation between free serum and salivary testosterone, so it seems that this evaluation method is not an appropriate alternative for serum evaluation of this hormone.

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Background and Aim: Lack of information on how to protect and prevent cutaneos leishmaniasis plays an important role in the susceptibility to the disease. Therefore, preventive measures will be effective if the parents have awareness about the disease. This study was aimed to invetigate the effects of educational interventions on mother’s knowledge and attitude towards cutaneous leishmaniasis.

Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 120 married women who were 15 years of age or older and were referred to Ab-o-Bargh Health Center in Mashhad were recruited. The participants were divided into three groups: participation in an educational lecture, participation in an educational group discussion session, and a control, non-intervention group. A researcher-developed questionnaire including questions on demographic data, and developed knowledge and attitude towards cutaneous leishmaniasis were used for data gathering. The evaluation of educational intervention effects were assessed before, immediately after the interventions, and one month after the educational interventions.

Results: Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in the mean of awareness scores between the three groups (P=0.71). However, there was a significant difference in awareness scores between the three groups immediately after the intervention. The observed scores did not change significantly after one month (P=0.001). Also, there was there was a significant difference in the rate of attitude score towards cutaneous leishmaniasis after the intervention between three groups (P=0.001).

Conclusion: Individual and group educational interventions regarding cutaneous leishmaniasis were effective to increase the knowledge and improve the attitude of the participants towards the disease. We recommend to apply effective educational interventions like group discussions to improve the mothers' knowledge and their insights about cutaneous leishmaniasis.

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Onychomycosis is a nail infection caused by dermatophyte and non-dermatophyte molds and yeasts. The nail involvement is a feature of psoriasis, although skin manifestations are the most principal findings in psoriasis. Onychomycosis and psoriasis are both common disorders in communities. It is possible that in some patients these two diseases are present at the same time. A review was performed using the keywords including nail psoriasis, onychomycoses, dermatophytes, non-dermatophyte molds and yeasts in valid medical databases, such as PubMed, Google scholar, Scopus and Science direct. Articles that were most relevant to the purpose of the study were selected and studied. We investigated the incidence and pathogenic function of fungal agents in causing fungal infections in psoriasis nails.