Uniform-related infection control practices of dental students

Yazan Aljohani,1 Mohammed Almutadares,1 Khalid Alfaifi,1 Mona El Madhoun,1 Maysoon H Albahiti,2 Nadia Al-Hazmi3 1Internship Program, Faculty of dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, 2Department of Endodontics, King Abdulaziz University, 3Department of Oral Biology, King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Dentistry, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia Background: Uniform-related infection control practices are sometimes overlooked and underemphasized. In Saudi Arabia, personal protective equipment must meet global standards for infection control, but the country’s Islamic legislature also needs to be taken into account. Aim: To assess uniform-related infection control practices of a group of dental students in a dental school in Saudi Arabia and compare the results with existing literature related to cross-contamination through uniforms in the dental field. Method: A questionnaire was formulated and distributed to dental students at King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Dentistry in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, which queried the students about their uniform-related infection control practices and their methods and frequency of laundering and sanitizing their uniforms, footwear, and name tags. Results: There is a significant difference between genders with regard to daily uniform habits. The frequency of uniform washing was below the standard and almost 30% of students were not aware of how their uniforms are washed. Added to this, there is no consensus on a unified uniform for male and female students. Conclusion: Information on preventing cross-contamination through wearing uniforms must be supplied, reinforced, and emphasized while taking into consideration the cultural needs of the Saudi society. Keywords: cross-contamination, infection control, dental students, uniform

Current status of boron neutron capture therapy of high grade gliomas and recurrent head and neck cancer

Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a biochemically targeted radiotherapy based on the nuclear capture and fission reactions that occur when non-radioactive boron-10, which is a constituent of natural elemental boron, is irradiated with low energy thermal neutrons to yield high linear energy transfer alpha particles and recoiling lithium-7 nuclei. Clinical interest in BNCT has focused primarily on the treatment of high grade gliomas, recurrent cancers of the head and neck region and either primary or metastatic melanoma. Neutron sources for BNCT currently have been limited to specially modified nuclear reactors, which are or until the recent Japanese natural disaster, were available in Japan, United States, Finland and several other European countries, Argentina and Taiwan. Accelerators producing epithermal neutron beams also could be used for BNCT and these are being developed in several countries. It is anticipated that the first Japanese accelerator will be available for therapeutic use in 2013. The major hurdle for the design and synthesis of boron delivery agents has been the requirement for selective tumor targeting to achieve boron concentrations in the range of 20 μg/g. This would be sufficient to deliver therapeutic doses of radiation with minimal normal tissue toxicity. Two boron drugs have been used clinically, a dihydroxyboryl derivative of phenylalanine, referred to as boronophenylalanine or “BPA”, and sodium borocaptate or “BSH” (Na2B12H11SH). In this report we will provide an overview of other boron delivery agents that currently are under evaluation, neutron sources in use or under development for BNCT, clinical dosimetry, treatment planning, and finally a summary of previous and on-going clinical studies for high grade gliomas and recurrent tumors of the head and neck region. Promising results have been obtained with both groups of patients but these outcomes must be more rigorously evaluated in larger, possibly randomized clinical trials. Finally, we will summarize the critical issues that must be addressed if BNCT is to become a more widely established clinical modality for the treatment of those malignancies for which there currently are no good treatment options.National Institutes of Health (U.S.)United States. Dept. of Energ