Treatment of head lice with dimeticone 4% lotion: comparison of two formulations in a randomised controlled trial in rural Turkey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dimeticone 4% lotion was shown to be an effective treatment for head louse infestation in two randomised controlled trials in England. It is not affected by insecticide resistance but efficacy obtained (70-75%) was lower than expected. This study was designed to evaluate efficacy of dimeticone 4% lotion in a geographically, socially, and culturally different setting, in rural Turkey and, in order to achieve blinding, it was compared with a potential alternative formulation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Children from two village schools were screened for head lice by detection combing. All infested students and family members could participate, giving access to treatment for the whole community. Two investigator applied treatments were given 7 days apart. Outcome was assessed by detection combing three times between treatments and twice the week following second treatment.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the intention to treat group 35/36 treated using dimeticone 4% had no lice after the second treatment but there were two protocol violators giving 91.7% treatment success. The alternative product gave 30/36 (83.3%) treatment success, a difference of 8.4% (95% CI -9.8% to 26.2%). The cure rates per-protocol were 33/34 (97.1%) and 30/35 (85.7%) respectively. We were unable to find any newly emerged louse nymphs on 77.8% of dimeticone 4% treated participants or on 66.7% of those treated with the alternative formulation. No adverse events were identified.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results confirm the efficacy of dimeticone 4% lotion against lice and eggs and we found no detectable difference between this product and dimeticone 4% lotion with nerolidol 2% added. We believe that the high cure rate was related to the lower intensity of infestation in Turkey, together with the level of community engagement, compared with previous studies in the UK.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN10431107</p

TURKDERM-TURKISH ARCHIVES OF DERMATOLOGY AND VENEROLOGY

Quality of life is a multidimensional measure that, besides personal health status, reflects personal well-being as well. A number of quality of life scales for children and adolescents have been developed. The measurement of quality of life in children is different from measuring quality of life of adults. Knowledge of the this difference related to child development stages is important for researchers who improve and use the quality of life scales. Most studied have been performed on the quality of life in children with dermatological diseases, such as atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, as well as alopecia areata, dermatomyositis, ectodermal dysplasia, photosensitivity disorders, molluscum contagiosum, neurofibromatosis, and vitiligo. In this paper, we reviewed the literature on the quality of life in children with dermatologic diseases

INDIAN JOURNAL OF DERMATOLOGY VENEREOLOGY & LEPROLOGY

Background: Pruritus is a common symptom of many dermatological and systemic diseases. It is a common complaint among patients with psoriasis of the chronic plaque type. Patients with pruritus suffer from more severe psoriasis although some authors did not find a significant relationship between pruritus intensity and psoriasis severity. Aims: In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between clinical features and symptoms among psoriasis patients. And also we aimed to evaluate whether the severity of disease, depression and quality of life scores could effect these symptoms or not. Methods: Eighty seven patients with psoriasis were enrolled in this study. Epidemiological data of patients were noted. Clinical symptoms, such as pruritus, pain, burning, exudation, bleeding, weakness, etc. were interrogated. The answers to these questions were classified as never, rare, sometimes, often and all the time. Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), Hamilton Anxiety-Depression Scale (HAD) were calculated for each patient. PASI and DLQI scores were classified as >= and 10. Results: We found that the most frequent symptom was pruritus (96.6). Other frequent symptoms were burning (56.3), exudation (56.3) and bleeding (49.4). Hurting, sensitiveness and bothering were more frequent in women. Percentages of hurting, pain, exudation and weakness symptoms had been increasing with age. Frequency of weakness was significantly high in PASI >= 10 patients. Conclusion: Pruritus is a very common symptom in psoriasis. Burning, exudation and bleeding are also common symptoms seen in psoriasis. New scoring systems including symptoms of psoriasis patients may be developed for evaluating the severity of the disease

CLINICS IN DERMATOLOGY

Chronic actinic damage of the skin manifests itself as extrinsic skin aging (photoaging) and photocarcinogenesis. During the last decade, substantial progress has been made in understanding cellular and molecular mechanisms of photoaging. DNA photodamage and ultraviolet-generated reactive oxygen species are the initial events that lead to most of the typical histologic and clinical manifestations of chronic photodamage of the skin. Chronic actinic damage affects all layers of the skin. Keratinocytes, melanocytes, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells are altered by ultraviolet radiation and can result in numerous changes in human skin, particularly the skin of fair-skinned individuals. These changes include actinic keratosis, thickening and wrinkling, elastosis, telengiectasia, solar comedones, diffuse or mottled hyperpigmentation, and skin cancers. There are many options in the treatment of changes caused by chronic actinic damage. The most effective measure of prevention of the photoaging and photocarcinogenesis is sun protection. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

TURKDERM-TURKISH ARCHIVES OF DERMATOLOGY AND VENEROLOGY

Scoring systems have been developed to interpret the disease severity objectively by evaluating the parameters of the disease. Body surface area, visual analogue scale, and physician global assessment are the most frequently used scoring systems for evaluating the clinical severity of the dermatological diseases. Apart from these scoring systems, many specific scoring systems for many dermatological diseases, including acne (acne vulgaris, acne scars), alopecia (androgenetic alopecia, tractional alopecia), bullous diseases (autoimmune bullous diseases, toxic epidermal necrolysis), dermatitis (atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, dyshidrotic eczema), hidradenitis suppurativa, hirsutismus, connective tissue diseases (dermatomyositis, skin involvement of systemic lupus erythematosus (LE), discoid LE, scleroderma), lichen planoplaris, mastocytosis, melanocytic lesions, melasma, onychomycosis, oral lichen planus, pityriasis rosea, psoriasis (psoriasis vulgaris, psoriatic arthritis, nail psoriasis), sarcoidosis, urticaria, and vitiligo, have also been developed. Disease severity scoring methods are ever more extensively used in the field of dermatology for clinical practice to form an opinion about the prognosis by determining the disease severity; to decide on the most suitable treatment modality for the patient; to evaluate the efficacy of the applied medication; and to compare the efficiency of different treatment methods in clinical studies