Background: The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is increasing among adolescents all around the world. There may be differences in knowledge and attitudes among different cultures and ethnic populations. The aim of this study is to determine knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of Turkish Cypriot adolescents related to STDs. Objectives: To assess knowledge of STDs, attitudes towards sexual behaviour and STDs among the secondary school students. Methods: A cross sectional study, with a sample size of 423 students, was conducted by using a semi-structured questionnaire. Simple random sampling method was applied during the selection of the sample. Results: The mean age of all participants was 15.61±1.22, 211 (49.88%) of them were male and 212 (50.12%) female. The majority of students (91.25%) stated that they had some knowledge about STDs; hovewer, 8.75% of the participants did not have any knowledge at all. Most of them, 42.32% described school as a source of information on STDs, nonetheless, only 7.57% of the group cited health care professionals as the information source. The majority of students (97.64%) has never been treated for STDs. Among 423 applicants, 93.14% indicated that they would have appreciated information about STDs during the high school years. Conclusions: There is a general understanding that the students are willing to participate and are in need of seminars that will be held about STDs during high school attendance. Furthermore, awareness raising educational events on this matter should be reviewed and revised in order to come up with more powerful ways of fighting against STDs transmission in this young population group of Turkish Cypriot (TC) community.

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Pitted keratolysis is an acquired, superficial bacterial infection of the skin which is characterized by typical malodor and pits in the hyperkeratotic areas of the soles. It is more common in barefooted people in tropical areas, or those who have to wear occlusive shoes, such as soldiers, sailors and athletes. In this study, we evaluated 41 patients who had been diagnosed with plantar pitted keratolysis. The patients were of high socioeconomic status, were office-workers, and most had a university degree. Malodor and plantar hyperhydrosis were the most frequently reported symptoms. The weight-bearing metatarsal parts of the feet were those most affected. Almost half the women in the study gave a history of regular pedicure and foot care in a spa salon. Mean treatment duration was 19 days. All patients were informed about the etiology of the disease, predisposing factors and preventive methods. Recurrences were observed in only 17% of patients during the one year follow-up period. This study emphasizes that even malodorous feet among non-risk city dwellers may be a sign of plantar pitted keratolysis. A study of the real incidence of the disease in a large population-based series is needed.

Objective: Isotretinoin is known to be the most effective treatment of severe and persistent acne. However, one of the most important adverse effects of this drug is known to be teratogenicity. In this regard, tests are administered before initiating the treatment, to assure that an unknown pregnancy is not present and accordingly, patients are advised to take contraceptive precautions during their systemic isotretinoin treatments. On the contrary, many cases of unwanted pregnancies and relevant abortuses have been reported all over the world. In the Turkish literature, only a few reports have been identified about foetal exposure to isotretinoin. Materials and Methods:In this respect, a study was carried out on fifty-seven female patients, aiming to fulfil the gap of information mentioned above. Female patients, with ages ranging between 14 and 35 years, were recruited to the study and they were administered isotretinoin treatments (cumulative dose of 120 mg/kg) for an average period of 6 months. The patients were followed up during and after the treatment for a total period of 18 months. Results:As a result, it has been observed that none of the patients got pregnant during the treatment period and relevantly, no abortuses or foetal abnormalities were recorded. Moreover, none of the patients got pregnant 12 months after the termination of the treatment. Additionally, the socio-demographic analysis of the patients indicates that most of the patients were single and 81% of the patients were sexually inactive. Conclusion:Our findings suggest that the low reportage of teratogenicity due to isotretinoin usage in Turkey could be due to several reasons, such as the sociocultural profile of the female patients undertaking the isotretinoin treatment, and strict adherence to contraceptive methods, and/or underreporting of teratogenic incidents due to lack of studies held in cooperation with obstetricians.Keywords: Acne, isotretinoin, pregnancy, contraception, teratogenicity Özet Amaç: İzotretinoin şiddetli ve inatçı aknenin bilinen en etkili tedavisidir. Ancak bu ilacın en önemli yan etkilerinden biri teratojenik olmasıdır. Bu sebepten tedavi öncesinde bilinmeyen bir gebelik durumu olup olmadığını ortaya çıkarmak için testler yapılmakta ve beraberinde hastaların sistemik izotretinoin tedavileri boyunca kontraseptif önlemler almaları önerilmektedir. Buna rağmen dünyanın pek çok ülkesinden istenmeyen gebelikler ve bununla ilişkili düşükler bildirilmektedir. Ancak Türk literatüründe fetal izotretinoin maruziyeti ile ilgili yalnızca birkaç bildiri tespit edilmiştir. Gereç ve Yöntem:Yukarıda belirtilen bu veri eksikliğini gidermeye yönelik olarak 57 kadın hasta geriye dönük olarak değerlendirilmiştir. 14-35 yaş arası kadın hastalar ortalama 6 ay boyunca total kümülatif doz olarak 120 mg/kg izotretinoin tedavisi almıştı. Bu hastalar tedavi süresinde ve sonrasında toplam 18 ay boyunca izlenmişti. Bulgular: Sonuç olarak hiçbir hastanın tedavi sürecinde gebelik yaşamadığı ve dolayısıyla herhangi bir düşük ya da fetal ano...

The side-effects of antiretroviral agents have been widely reported in the literature. Lamivudine is an antiretroviral agent, and skin eruption because of this agent has been rarely reported. Previous reports regarding these few side-effects of lamivudine include angioedema, urticaria, anaflactoid reactions, allergic contact dermatitis and alopecia. There is no report of an ichthyosiform eruption associated with lamivudine. The authors present a case of 43-year-old female patient presenting with an ichthyosiform eruption during lamivudine therapy for chronic hepatitis-B for the first time.