ABSTRACT
Background: Breast cancer is responsible for 13% of deaths among women globally. The present study aimed to assess adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in breast cancer patients receiving treatment in a tertiary care teaching hospital. Methods: This retrospective and descriptive study was conducted in the oncology department at sree mookambika institute of medical sciences, Kulasekharam, covering six months from May 2022 to November 2022. The study includes patients of any age diagnosed with breast cancer, treated with chemotherapy, and who developed at least one ADR during or after treatment. Patients who developed ADRs due to fresh blood or blood product infusion and had a history of drug abuse or accidental poisoning were excluded from the study. Results: Three hundred fifty-eight breast cancer patients were evaluated, of which 142 developed ADRs. The study revealed that breast cancer was most prevalent among women aged 41-50. Seven (4.92%) had a history of tobacco smoking, 129 (90.85%) patients were married, and only 13 (9.15%) were unmarried. The most commonly prescribed chemotherapeutic drug for breast cancer patients was docetaxel (19.01%), Cyclophosphamide (15.49%) and nab. paclitaxel (12.67%). The study found that the most frequent ADR observed among the patients was febrile neutropenia (18.30%), followed by nausea and vomiting 14.79%). Causality assessment reported that 61.27% (87) of the ADRs were probable, and 29.58% (42) were possible. Conclusions: Spontaneous adverse drug reporting and structured management are essential for monitoring the safe use of drugs. The findings suggest the need for effective pharmacovigilance programs and improved patient care in administering chemotherapeutic agents.
ABSTRACT
Background: Several COVID-19 vaccines have been approved against coronavirus disease and its distribution to, different countries. The study is mainly done to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practice among clinically, exposed medical students and interns toward COVID-19 vaccine., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2022 to August 2022 in a tertiary care hospital. Using, questionnaires, the knowledge, attitude, and practice among medical students and interns were assessed, and they were, then analysed and categorised accordingly. Then the students were given awareness regarding COVID-19 vaccine., Results: The questionnaires were distributed among students and interns, and responses were collected. A total number, of participants (n=300), out of which the majority of responders were second-year students 89 (29.6%). Overall, 39.75%, had high-grade knowledge, 43.5% had a positive attitude and 37.5% had good practice regarding the COVID-19, vaccine. The results show that 81.2% of interns had high-grade knowledge, 76.6% possess a positive attitude and 71.9%, of good practice and preventive measures towards COVID-19 vaccine., Conclusions: Our study concludes that there were certain gaps in knowledge, attitude, and practice among second and, third-year medical students when compared with final-year medical students and interns.
ABSTRACT
Background: Shoulder prosthesis should accurately mimic the proximal shoulder and glenoid anatomy to recreatethe shoulder biomechanics. There may be a mismatch in the sizes of the Indian native bone and the currentlyavailable western shoulder prosthesis, since the bony morphology of Indians may be different from that of thewestern counterpart.Purpose: To measure the average humeral head diameter and glenoid length and width, so that a proper implantselection may be done based on the knowledge of average Indian bony morphology.Methods: Twenty shoulders in ten fresh cadavers were dissected to expose the humeral head and glenoidarticular surface. The humeral head diameter was measured with the help of a digital vernier caliper in twoplanes: Supero-inferior diameter (D1) and antero-posterior diameter (D2). The glenoid length (l) and width (w)were measured with the help of a vernier caliper.Results: The average humeral head diameter (D1) ± S.D. in the Supero-inferior plane was 45±3.4 mm (range 40-50.6mm) and antero-posterior (D2) plane was 42.7±2.2 mm (range 40-46mm) with a mean difference of 2.2 mm.The average length of the glenoid (l) was 35.4±1.3 mm (range 32-37mm) and width of the glenoid (w) was 25.3±2.1mm (range 21-28mm). The shape of the humeral head was more ellipsoidal at diameters above 45 mm.Conclusion. We can conclude that the humeral head diameters and glenoid length and width in Indian populationare smaller than the western counterparts. The ellipsoidal shape of the humeral heads becomes more marked atdiameters above 45mm.
ABSTRACT
There has been a resurgence and prevalence of fever with symptoms of Chikungunya (CHIK) and increased death toll in Kerala, the southern-most state of India. The objective of this study was to develop a rapid detection method to determine the presence of CHIK- virus in the serum samples collected from febrile patients in Kerala, India. Serum specimens were analyzed for CHIK viral RNA by RT-PCR using primers specific for nsP1 and E1 genes. Five out of twenty clinical samples were positive for CHIK virus. The partial sequences of the E1 and nsP1 genes of the strain, IndKL01 were highly similar to the Reunion strains and the recently isolated Indian strains. A novel substitution, A148V, was detected in the E1 gene of the isolate, IndKL02. The detection procedure used in this study was simple, sensitive and rapid (less than 4 hr). This result suggests that CHIK viruses similar to the Reunion strains, which had resulted in high morbidity and mortality rates, may have caused the recent Chikungunya outbreak in India. The effect of the variant, E1-A148V, in the virulence and the rate of transmission of the virus deserves further investigation.