ABSTRACT
Introduction: Leptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by Leptospira interrogans and has been reported from various countries worldwide. As very few studies were conducted on leptospirosis from north India, this study was conducted to know the status of this disease in this region. This retrospective hospital Material & Methods: based study was conducted in the Department of Microbiology of a tertiary care super specialty teaching institute from north India for a period of two consecutive years. Blood specimens from acute febrile illness cases were tested for presence of IgM antibodies against Leptospira interrogans by rapid card (Leptocheck from TULIP) testing and ELISA (Leptospira IgM ELISA from PanBio). Out of total 216 samples Results: collected and included in this study, 40 were found to be positive for presence of IgM antibodies against Leptospira interrogans. Seropositivity for leptospirosis was observed to be 19%. Maximum number of patients were from economically productive age groups, 31-40 years of age group followed by 21-30 and 41-50 years of age groups. CONCLUSION: Leptospirosis was found to be a major cause of acute febrile illness from north India. It is neglected and under reported from most of the regions of India due to lack of clinician's suspicion. More studies with more samples are required on leptospirosis from this region to reach on final conclusion.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE- To study the knowledge of breast cancer, early detection methods and whomto consult after detecting abnormality among female tertiary health workers.METHOD- This is a descriptive cross-sectional study of 70 female health workers age groupmore than 20 years carried out at various hospitals after taking consent.RESULT- Being majority of young married doctor respondents, below the age of 40 years(81.4%) study was conducted, almost all the respondents are aware of breast cancer, 69(98.5%). Majority of them got information from media (77.1%), followed by seminars(64.2%) and books (62.8%). Only 15.7% of respondents had a positive family history ofbreast cancer. Most participants were aware of BSE and thinks its useful tool (74.3%) butdoesn’t know about proper timing and method for BSE. They have been taught BSE (58.5%)out of which majority were taught by teachers (51.5%). 41.4% and 60% of respondents knewthat BSE should be done monthly and should start after age of 20 respectively. Onerespondent has discovered an abnormality. Respondents are relatively less aware about BSE28 (40%). 45 (64.3%) and 16 (22.9%) think that BSE should be done by a doctor and trainednurse respectively. The level of awareness of sonomammography was high amongrespondents- 43 (57.1%), but only 8 (11.43%) had undergone sonomammography, because of‘not of proper age’ 27 (38.57%).CONCLUSION- Practice and attitude of breast cancer screening should be promoted amonghealth workers and the general population