Knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome among higher secondary school teachers in Goa

Background: The vulnerability of young people to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a major public health issue in India. While many factors contribute to this increased vulnerability, lack of knowledge is one of the leading issues. It is of utmost importance that the teachers involved in educating the students are adequately trained to clear any misconceptions that may be prevalent among them. Objectives: The objective of the study was to assess the knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and attitude toward people living with HIV (PLHIV)/AIDS among higher secondary school teachers in Goa. Materials and Methods: A total of 165 teachers teaching various streams of Class XI and Class XII were interviewed using a self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire to obtain details regarding personal characteristics and their knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding HIV/AIDS. Results: Of the 165 teachers, 78 (47.3%) were male and 87 (52.7%) were female. As much as 45 (22.3%) of the teachers felt that HIV and AIDS are the same. About 158 (95.8%) said that HIV/AIDS does not spread by casual contact and by living or working together with a person with HIV. However, 24 (14.5%) teachers believed that HIV/AIDS spreads by mosquito/insect bite. On inquiry about the attitude toward PLHIV/AIDS, 127 (77%) of the teachers would not hesitate in sitting next to a person with HIV/AIDS, whereas 54 (32.7%) would not share food with a person with HIV/AIDS. Conclusions: The level of knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention among higher secondary school teachers is satisfactory. However, some misconceptions about HIV/AIDS transmission as well as discriminatory attitudes were observed among these teachers that call for concern and must be addressed promptly.

Prevalence of dyslipidemia in young adult Indian population.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in our society with dyslipidemia contributing significantly to atherosclerosis. Thus measurement of plasma lipids would help in identifying people at risk for CVD. The goal of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of Dyslipidemia among young adult population in urban India. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted for a period of one year--from 1st January 2006 to 31st December 2006. Around 1805 subjects with > or =40 age group were selected from a population of approximately 9000 urban dwellers who had attended annual general health check ups in P. D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical research Center. Health status was evaluated by physical check ups, complete fasting lipid profiles and blood glucose levels. Dyslipidemia risk and impaired blood sugar levels were determined as per National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) - Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III guidelines and American Diabetes Association (ADA) respectively. RESULTS: The prevalence of dyslipidemia was observed to be higher in males then in females. Among participants who had a total Cholesterol (TC) concentration > or = 200 mg/dl, 38.7% were males and 23.3% were females. High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was abnormally low in 64.2% males and 33.8% in females. The increase of prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia was more prominent in 31-40 age group than in < or =30 age group. CONCLUSION: The low percentage of adults with controlled lipid concentrations suggests that there is a need for awareness programs for the prevention and control of Dyslipidemia and impaired blood sugar levels.

A comparative study of the treatment techniques for controlling THM-precursors in raw and drinking water.

Silica gel adsorption, strong base anion exchange IRA 400-OH form resin were evaluated for the treatment of trihalomethane precursors present in raw and drinking water. A powdered silica gel having 60 to 120 mesh size and a previously dried IRA 400-OH form resin having 20-50 mesh size have been applied to artificial water samples and a specific analytical approach was used for selective removal of humic acid present in the water. This study aims to evaluate the role of contact time, pH, adsorption dose, concentration of humic acid (H.A.), flow rate on the reduction of THM-precursors as a result of adsorption of H.A. while passing raw water through silica gel and IRA 400 OH form resin column. Freundlich adsorption isotherm constants K for silica gel and IRA 400-OH form resin were determined as 1.13 x 10(-3) and 4.2 x 10(-3) mg/g respectively and l/n were found to be 0.9927 and 1.069 respectively.