ABSTRACT
Background: Dengue fevers (DF), transmitted by Aedes aegypti, is an arboviral disease endemic in the Asian subcontinent. It has emerged as a notable public health problem in recent decades. Rapid urbanization, environmental changes and neglected (rural and slums) areas results in vector breeding causes rise in dengue outbreaks. Aims & Objective: To study the knowledge, awareness and practices regarding dengue among rural and slum communities in Chandigarh City. Materials and Methods: This community based cross sectional study was conducted in Chandigarh city, India during June-July 2011 among 800 respondents.The sample area was the two rural (villages) and two slums of the city. Each 200 respondents from each village and slum area. The aim was to assess the knowledge and awareness, preventive measures and most prevalent source of information regarding dengue. Simple random sampling method was used for interview by using structural questionnaire. Results: Results showed that knowledge and awareness about dengue fever was generally inadequate. It was more in rural (48.5%) as compared to slum (30%). Only 72.62% of the respondents answered that mosquito was responsible for the transmission of dengue. They had insufficient knowledge that dengue mosquito bites at day time and breeds in clean water. 70.87% don’t know the dengue symptoms. Most prevalent preventive method was coils, liquid vaporizers. Health professional and television /radio were the important source of information for dengue. Conclusion: There is a need to make villages and slum people aware of different preventive practices and reduce this knowledge application gap. Thus, understanding people perception and practices could help in identifying the targets areas to control outbreaks.
ABSTRACT
Childhood asthma, often associated with atopy, is more common in boys and may persist throughout life in 50% of cases. This case-control study was carried out to examine if any association of paediatric bronchial asthma with human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I antigens. Thirty-six children with bronchial asthma diagnosed on basis of Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) criteria and an equal number of healthy controls without history of bronchial asthma were studied. Low resolution HLA- ABC typing was performed by sequence specific primers (SSP) and the frequency of HLA–ABC antigens in the two groups was compared. Total serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) estimation was done as a marker of atopy by ELISA. The study included 24 boys and 12 girls aged 13 months to 11 yrs, of which 16 (44%) had positive family history. Serum IgE levels were elevated in 20 (55%) of the cases and 33% of controls with peak values of 4877 and 627 IU/ml, respectively. No statistically significant correlation was observed between childhood asthma and HLA class I antigens, however, a statistically significant correlation was observed between serum IgE levels and asthma, which was elevated in cases, as compared to normal population. Serum IgE levels did not show a linear trend, in that a direct correlation with the severity of disease was not observed.