The ongoing multi-country human monkeypox (HMPX) outbreak was declared as a public health emergency of international concern. Considering the key role of healthcare workers (HCWs) in mitigating the HMPX outbreak, we aimed to assess their level of knowledge and their confidence in diagnosis and management of the disease, besides the assessment of their attitude towards emerging virus infections from a conspiracy point of view. An online survey was distributed among HCWs in Jordan, a Middle Eastern country, during May–July 2022 using a questionnaire published in a previous study among university students in health schools in Jordan. The study sample comprised 606 HCWs, with about two-thirds being either physicians (n = 204, 33.7%) or nurses (n = 190, 31.4%). Four out of the 11 HMPX knowledge items had <50% correct responses with only 33.3% of the study respondents having previous knowledge that vaccination is available to prevent HMPX. A majority of study respondents (n = 356, 58.7%) strongly agreed, agreed or somewhat agreed that the spread of HMPX is related to a role of male homosexuals. Confidence in the ability of diagnosis based on the available monkeypox virus diagnostic tests was reported by 50.2% of the respondents, while the confidence levels were lower for the ability to manage (38.9%) and to diagnose (38.0%) HMPX cases based on their current level of knowledge and skills. Higher confidence levels for HMPX diagnosis and management were found among physicians compared to nurses. The endorsement of conspiracy beliefs about virus emergence was associated with lower HMPX knowledge, the belief in the role of male homosexuals in HMPX spread, and with lower diagnosis and management confidence levels. The current study highlighted the gaps in knowledge regarding HMPX among HCWs in Jordan as well as the lack of confidence to diagnose and manage cases among physicians and nurses. Raising the awareness about the disease is needed urgently considering the rapid escalation in the number of cases worldwide with reported cases in the Middle East. The attitude towards male homosexuals’ role in HMPX spread necessitates proper intervention measures to prevent stigma and discrimination among this risk group. The adoption of conspiratorial beliefs regarding virus emergence was widely prevalent and this issue needs to be addressed with proper and accurate knowledge considering its potential harmful impact.

In forensic medicine, it is important to identify whole or fragmented bodies. This aim can be particularly challenging in mass disasters. Palatal rugae patterns can be used as a surrogate parameter in forensic medicine. This stems from the difficulty in falsifying these patterns, their resistance to trauma, to decomposition for several days postmortem, and to combustion under high-temperatures, as well as being distinguishable among different races. The present study aimed to analyze the differences in the palatal rugae patterns among three Iranian ethnicities (Fars, Turkmen, and Sistani). This retrospective study involved the use of archived materials. The study casts were selected from the database of patients who visited a private orthodontics clinic. A total of 309 dental casts (103 Fars, 103 Turkmen, and 103 Sistani) were assessed, which belonged to 181 females and 128 males aged between 12 and 30 years (mean: 16.86 ± 3.18 years). The difference in the mean number of palatal rugae in women between the three ethnicities was statistically significant. Also, the differences in the total number of straight rugae were significant between the three ethnic groups. The most common rugae shapes in the three ethnic groups were the straight and wavy shapes. The length of the palatal rugae in the primary and secondary rugae among the study subjects younger than 18-years-old was significantly different between the three ethnic groups. Thus, the present research highlighted the differences in palatal rugae patterns among three Iranian ethnicities. Therefore, palatal rugae can be used in forensic medicine as a complementary approach to human identification.

Early childhood caries (ECC) is a serious public health concern in the world. Motivational interviewing (MI) has been used to prevent ECC as a scientifically tested method for advising patients. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of MI on prevention of ECC and identify factors shaping outcomes. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted using MI as the intervention and the decay-missing-filled index (dmfs) report as result. Databases including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO and Cochrane Library were systematically searched to recognize relevant RCTs evaluating the effects of MI on prevention of ECC from the beginning of 1989 to April 2020. Mean difference and 95% confidence intervals were summarized using a fixed-effect model. Visual inspection of Egger's test was used for potential publication bias in this study. Six studies comprising 2776 contributors showed that MI had a significant effect on preventing ECC. There was no significant publication bias in the meta-analysis. A sensitivity analysis demonstrated that deleting any of the studies could not affect the significance of pooled results. This meta-analysis showed that MI might prevent ECC. MI will be effective at any age, whether it is a baby or a child, and more than the number of interview sessions, the quality of the sessions should be considered. Moreover, follow-up for at least 3 years will be very effective.

Background: Oral cancer is one of the most prevailing neoplasms globally, and human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the risk factors for this condition. Knowledge and awareness about HPV-related oral cancer can lead to a better diagnosis and prognosis of this disease. This systematic review aimed to evaluate knowledge and awareness about HPV-related oral cancer among dentists and dental students. Methods: We searched Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, and ProQuest databases with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and non-MeSH keywords to find related articles. Our eligibility criteria were: 1) cross-sectional studies including knowledge and awareness about HPV-related oral cancers, 2) publication date up to August 18, 2021, 3) studies containing dentists or dental students as the main participants, or as part of the participants. The Joanne Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist was used for quality assessment. Results: A total of 10 studies were included in this systematic review. Five studies have shown that over 80 percent of dental students know HPV can cause oropharyngeal cancer (OPC). More than three-quarters of dentists reported HPV as a cause of oral cancer. Less than half of patients in two studies mentioned biopsy for adequate diagnosis. Conclusion: HPV-related oral cancer knowledge and awareness need to be improved through focusing on academic and public education. For dental students, it is necessary to identify HPV as a risk factor for oral cancer. Moreover, the significance of routine checkups should not be ignored.

Mucormycosis has a significant impact on patients' standard of living and, therefore, a high clinical suspicion, prediagnosis, and rapid treatment are critical in easing patients' suffering and fast recovery. Our focus is to conduct an organized review based on various variables on the patients' characteristics having mucormycosis in severe novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). We examined Embase, PubMed-Medline, LitCovid, Web of Science, Scopus, and the reference lists of included case reports up to September 20, 2021, using the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) phrases and other keywords related to this topic. Subsequently, we investigated associated comorbidities, patient characteristics, position of mucormycosis, steroids use, body involvements, and outcomes. Overall, 77 studies were conducted and among these, 72 studies mentioned that the patients' age to be 48.13±14.33 (mean±standard deviation [SD]) years. Diabetes mellitus (DM) was reported in 77.9% (n=60) of cases. Studies showed that central nervous system (CNS) and bone involvement were reported in 62.3 (n=48) and 53.2% (n=41), respectively. More fatalities were observed in patients with mucormycosis with the active form of COVID-19. Also, men infected with mucormycosis significantly affected by COVID-19. In the end, mortality was higher in males with mucormycosis. As a result, a solid investigation into the root cause of mucormycosis, especially in COVID-19, should be included in the study plan. If the patient is COVID-19-positive and immunosuppressed, this opportunistic pathogen diagnostic test should not be overlooked.