Role of Climate on Human - Concept of Ayurveda

Dual concept has been recognized in appreciation of Kaala or time employing the scholars of Ayurveda. Saambatsara or Nityaga Kaala denotes the year and climate changes throughout the year and Atura Avastha or Avastika Kaala stands for the health repute along with ailment prevalence and their control about the weather changes. The weather change can steer the earth’s biological structures. Developing countries with restricted assets are expected to face a host of health consequences because of weather change, along with vector-borne and water-borne diseases. The distribution of infectious ailment includes complex social and demographic factors. Global climate change is a phenomenon this is now taken into consideration strongly associated with health and hazards. The outcomes of climate change on exposed biological incidences, in addition to societies prone to expose with disease, are a challenge for the complete scientific community. Rising temperatures, warm waves, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, fires, lack of forest, and glaciers, in conjunction with the disappearance of rivers and desertification, can directly and circuitously concern with human pathologies which can be physical and mental.

Screening for thalassemia and other hemoglobinopathies in a tertiary care hospital of West Bengal: Implications for population screening.

Hemoglobinopathies are common genetic disorders of hemoglobin, which can be prevented by population screening and offering genetic counseling. In absence of population-based screening for hemoglobinopathies, the hospital-based diagnosis register provide idea about the extent of problem in the community. The present study was undertaken to find out the burden of hemoglobinopathies and spectrum of this disorders among the population who were screened in the hospital-based screening program. A record-basedanalysis of subjects who underwent screening for hemoglobinopathies in Burdwan Medical College and Hospital over a period of 3 years and 4 months revealed that overall 29.3% of subjects were positive for hemoglobinopathies. Beta thalassemia heterozygous was the most commonhemoglobinopathy in this region closely followed by hemoglobin E heterozygous. In view of high prevalence of hemoglobinopathies in this region, a routine premarital screening program is needed for identification and prevention of high-risk marriages.

Management of malaria in children: update 2008.

JUSTIFICATION: The first guideline on diagnosis and management of malaria in children was formulated by Infectious Diseases Chapter of IAP in 2005. In subsequent year WHO proposed artemisinin based combination therapy in all cases of uncomplicated falciparum malaria. The number of falciparum malaria as well as multidrug resistant falciparum malaria cases are constantly on the rise. So there was need to revise the existing guideline. PROCESS: The first recommendations on the diagnosis and management of malaria in children were formulated in 2005. The same protocol was revised on 12 October 2007 in NIMHANS, Bangalore in the light of various recommendations of WHO, where all the members of the Task Force Committee on Malaria in Children were present. OBJECTIVE: To revise and update treatment guidelines for malaria with special reference to artemisinin based combination therapy. RECOMMENDATIONS: The need for Artemisinin based combination therapy (ACT) is emphasized in chloroquine resistant falciparum malaria. Monotherapy with artesunate will further increase the resistance. Once malaria treatment is initiated it should be completed. In severe malaria the maintenance dose of artesunate is revised.

Controversies in rabies vaccination.

Rabies is a cent per cent fatal disease and there should not be any controversy in giving rabies vaccine to the victims. WHO has fixed schedules for doses for both pre and post-exposure in different category of cases, which also help us to avoid all controversies. But controversies arise in five main areas, which are related to the strategies of rabies prevention. These are: (i) Replacing use of NTV by MTCV. (ii) Intradermal schedule of MTCV, in place of Essen protocol of 5 i.m. doses to reduce the cost. (iii) Acceptability and inclusion of pre-exposure doses of MTCV in the immunization schedule of children as additional vaccine (iv) Schedule for re-exposure in already post-exposure vaccinated cases and schedule for exposure in pre-exposure vaccinated cases. (v) Uses of RIG in WHO category III cases. If these controversial issues are considered scientifically, rabies prophylaxis will see the light of success.