This study was designed to determine the colonization of the in-use hand washing soaps in hospital settings. It is a comparative cross-sectional research in a surgical specialties and Baghdad teaching hospital in Baghdad, Iraq. Swabs from surfaces of bar soaps and from liquid soaps via their applicator tips; at the sinks of toilets of hospital staff and working rooms of the wards were taken in January 2008. Conventional microbiologic methods were used for culture of the swabs and identification of the isolates. Colonization was detected 60% and 15.9% in bars and liquid forms respectively. And this lead to the conclusion that bar soaps could be colonized with microorganisms excessively. Liquid hand washing soaps are more appropriate in hospital environments. Proper using conditions of the hand washing items should be defined in health care settings. Keywords: Bar soap, liquid soap, pseudomonas aeruginosa, nosocomial infections.

Background: Colonic cancer is a very common disease world-wide being fourth most common cancer characterized by abnormal proliferation of the inner wall of colon then taking full colon wall thickness then spreading to surrounding lymph nodes and tissues and finally distant metastasis. It is one of most complicated diseases with debilitating symptoms which becomes more sever , prominent and specific with advancing stage with high percent of fatality and relatively short survival if diagnosed late or if left untreated.

Background: Antibiotics Resistance can be the main problem faced by the specialists in the medical fields. The main reason of such resistance is the improper prescribing of antibiotics. In dentistry this problem must be in concern for 2 reasons, first, limited and outdated knowledge of many dentist in Iraq with recent modalities in the field of therapeutics, so they keep prescribing penicillins, for every odontogenic infection (rationale prescribing), second, the patient who keeps prescribing the same drug for himself every time (i.e. dealing with antibiotic as over-the-counter drug). Aim of the study: This review will clarifies the use of amoxicillin (most prescribed drug in Iraqi dental clinics) vs the use of third generation quinolones (levofloxacin) in an important field of dental practice which is periodontology, with focusing on levofloxacin as it took a privileged position in medical researches. Conclusion: levofloxacin was superior to amoxicillin since it is applied once daily, few nonhazardous side effects, nearly 100 % bioavailability in spite of different rout of administration, and can be applied topically as gels and intra-pocket films. Perhaps this can change a lot among practitioners' and non-practitioners' prescribing (habits).

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Background: Thalassemia is a form of inherited autosomal recessive blood disorder characterized by abnormal formation of hemoglobin.Objective: Determine frequencies & association of HLA class II alleles (DRB1& DQB1) in Iraqi β-thalassemia major patients.Patients: seventy unrelated randomly selected β-thalassemia major patients, and one hundred unrelated randomly selected healthy individuals, composed the control group.Methods: low resolution PCR-SSO (Sequence Specific Oligonucleotide) technique was used for HLA typing.Results: HLA DQB1*5 give significance importance as an etiological risk factor for β-thalassemia major; HLA DQB1*3 give significance importance as a preventive risk factor for β-thalassemia major.Conclusion: The positive association of HLA DQB1*5 and DQB1*3 with β-thalassemia major may have the possibility that these antigens, or the genes encoding them, are closely linked with other possible susceptibility genes.

Background: Colonic cancer is a very common disease world-wide being fourth most common cancer characterized by abnormal proliferation of the inner wall of colon then taking full colon wall thickness then spreading to surrounding lymph nodes and tissues and finally distant metastasis. It is one of most complicated diseases with debilitating symptoms which becomes more sever , prominent and specific with advancing stage with high percent of fatality and relatively short survival if diagnosed late or if left untreated.Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of serum CEA & sAPRIL levels in the diagnosis and screening of colon cancer and their validity for this.Patients and methods: This study was applied on 35 patients with colonic cancer, 35 patients with benign polyps and 15 negative controls. All individuals were subjected to blood sampling for measuring their serum CEA & sAPRIL using ELISA technique.Results: In this study, majority of patients with colon cancer were presented at ages between 53-82 years of age (mean 68.5±6.4 years). Serum levels of sAPRIL & CEA were significantly elevated in those patients with advancing stages (C & D) compared with stages (A & B) and lower levels were found in patients who had surgical removal of tumor or received chemotherapy. Also a positive relation was found between sAPRIL & CEA with alcohol intake and smokingConclusion: according to this study sample it was found that sAPRIL and CEA together are strong indicators for colon cancer screening & diagnosis, and by this will reduce the need for more invasive screening & diagnostic tools.