The aim of this study was to examine the use of bleaching creams containing hydroquinone, corticosteroids and mercury for skin lightening among higher secondary school students in central Sudan. A cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted at 19 different girls' schools. A total of 1187 young students aged 16-19 years old were randomly selected and approached, using a well-structured questionnaire. The main outcome measure was a number of epidemiological factors per abusers. Results revealed that, 55.4% of the respondents misused this product, whilst 51.6% of girls used cosmetics to lighten their skin for 1-3 years with skin irritations prevalence of 3.3%, and the face was reported as main application site (35.4%). In conclusion, the lack of health awareness and ignorance was the main causative factor, whilst education, competent authorities awareness and prescriptions restrictions were highly recommended.

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<strong>Objective</strong>: To evaluate the adherence to American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) guidelines for antiemetic prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and assess the outcomes of the prescribed antiemetic drugs.<br /> <strong>Methods</strong>: This prospective, observational study enrolled chemotherapy-naive cancer patients who were admitted to the National Cancer Institute between May and July 2015 for intravenous chemotherapy. Patient’s demographic data, chemotherapy protocols and types of antiemetic drugs were collected by reviewing patients’ files, chemotherapy prescription forms and interviewing the patients.<br /> <strong>Results</strong>: The data revealed that 90% of pre-chemotherapy antiemetic prescriptions did not adhere to antiemetic guidelines. The trends of non-adherence included an overuse of ondansetron (14%), under-prescribing of dexamethasone (16%) and corticosteroid duplication (14%). Regarding antiemetic use for the prevention of delayed emesis, the data showed that 90% of antiemetic prescriptions were non-adherent with ASCO guidelines, with overuse of ondansetron (20%) and metoclopramide (37%) and lack of dexamethasone prescriptions (80%) on days 2 and 3 being the most frequently reported trends. The percentage of patients with complete response (no emesis or rescue therapy) over 5 days post chemotherapy was 36%.<br /> <strong>Conclusion</strong>: The study indicated an extremely low adherence rate to ASCO guidelines for antiemetic prophylaxis of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Non-adherence included a trend of both underuse and overuse of indicated antiemetic medications.

Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is a challenging disease with a high burden on society in developing countries. Information regarding CSOM in Sudanese patients is scarce. This study aimed to identify aerobic bacteria involved in CSOM and to determine their sensitivity towards commonly prescribed antibiotics. A multi-center prospective cross sectional study was conducted between June 2012 and October 2013 in private and public ENT clinics in Gezira State, Sudan. The study included 217 CSOM patients most of whom were males or had unilateral disease. The most common isolates were Staphylococcus aureus (42.6%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (14.7%), Pseudomonas aeroginosa (12.5%) and Proteus mirabilis (10.2%). The sensitivity of all isolates was highest towards gentamicin and ciprofloxacin while multiple drug resistance was prominent towards amoxyclav, cotrimoxazole, cefuroxime, cefaclor and ceftriaxone. Ciprofloxacin and gentamicin appear to be the best choices for empiric therapy in patients with CSOM. In contrast, the use of amoxyclav, cotrimoxazole, cefuroxime, cefaclor and ceftriaxone should be discouraged.