Bacterial contamination of different components of the waterpipe.

SETTING: Waterpipe smoking is an emerging topic in tobacco research that may have unrecognised health hazards. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether waterpipes are a source of bacterial contamination. METHODS: A total of 15 restaurants and waterpipe cafés were randomly selected from the list of locations serving waterpipe tobacco in Kerman city, Iran. Different parts of the waterpipe devices were sampled, including the disposable mouthpiece, the mouthpiece of the hose and the water in the bowl of the waterpipe. The samples were smeared onto bacterial culture media, including eosin methylene blue, blood agar and MacConkey agar growth media, and incubated at 37°C. After 24-48 h, they were examined for colony growth. RESULTS: Of 285 samples from different parts of the waterpipes, 236 (82.8%) showed positive cultures; the rate of contamination ranged from 69% in the fixed mouthpiece to 96% in bowl water. Coagulase-negative staphylococci (32.9%), Streptococcus spp (26.9%), Neisseria spp (13.7%) and Escherichia coli (9.4%) were the most frequent contaminants. CONCLUSION: Waterpipes are frequently contaminated with microorganisms. This study revealed potential microbial hazards in waterpipes that may contribute to respiratory tract colonisation.

Preliminary reliability and validity of Persian version of the Family Dermatology Life Quality Index (FDLQI).

PURPOSE: Family Dermatology Life Quality Index (FDLQI) is an instrument for assessing the quality of life of family members of dermatologic patients. The aim of this study was to describe the cultural adaptation of this questionnaire and to assess psychometric properties of the Persian version. METHODS: At first, the questionnaire was translated into Persian, and then back-translation was performed. The whole cycle was repeated until a consensus was reached about the optimal translation. In the next step, cognitive debriefing was performed, and after approval of the Persian version by FDLQI developers, it was distributed among 100 family members of dermatological patients in order to evaluate its validity and reliability. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 37.1 years (±12.3). Mean score of FDLQI was 15.4 (±5.5) with maximum and minimum scores of 30 and 6, respectively. The quality of life of studied participants showed no significant difference based on age-group, sex, educational level and the family relationship. Cronbach's alpha was calculated as 0.87. Exploratory factor analysis revealed a one-factor solution that accounted for 40.7 % of the variance. The unidimensional model was supported by confirmatory factor analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study showed that the Persian version of FDLQI has acceptable factorial validity and internal consistency reliability.

Quality of life in Iranian patients with acne.

Acne is a chronic inflammatory disease of pilosebaceous units. Although the acne isnot a life threatening disease, studies have revealed that it has significant effect on self-image and quality of life. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the health-related quality of life in patients with acne in an Iranian context. Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) were used for measuring quality of life, and severity of acne was measured by Global Acne Grading System (GAGS). The mean (±SD) of DLQI and CADI scores was 6.42 (±4.77) and 5.97 (±2.97), respectively. Acne influenced the quality of life in 51.8% of patients from moderate to very much, and the quality of life was affected by the severity of acne (P < 0.01). Since acne has significant effects on patient's quality of life, the management of patients with acne requires more attention to different aspects of quality of life.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis in bam: a comparative evaluation of pre- and post-earthquake years (1999-2008).

BACKGROUND: The recent devastating earthquake of December 26 in Bam, 2003 created various risk factors; caused a sharp increase in incidence of anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) cases and reached to an epidemic proportion. The objective of this study was to evaluate the status of ACL cases five years before the earthquake compared to the cases occurred five years after the earthquake (1999-2008). METHODS: Status of disease was assessed retrospectively for the five years before the earthquake and prospectively for the five years after the earthquake. Identification was confirmed by smear and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: The mean annual incidence of ACL for the period from 1999 to 2003 was 1.9 per 1000 comparing to post earthquake period, which was 7.6 per 1000. Most of the infection was in individuals of <20 years, more frequently in females before the earthquake, whilst in contrast, there was a progressive rise in the number of cases, significantly in male individuals of >20 years (P< 0.0001) in post earthquake era. The anatomical distribution of lesions considerably changed during the two periods. Most of the cases were limited to three zones within the city prior to the earthquake, whereas it was spread throughout different zones after the earthquake. PCR indicated that the CL was due to Leishmania tropica in the city. CONCLUSION: The results strongly suggest that in natural disasters such as earthquakes various precipitating factors in favor of disease will be created, which in turn provide a suitable condition for propagation of the vector and the transmission of the parasite.