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Introduction: Microbial keratitis is predominantly an opportunistic, serious ocular infectious disease that can lead to significant vision loss and ophthalmic morbidity.1 The fungi are significant pathogens causing ocular infections due to their frequent involvement and difficulty in establishing definitive diagnosis.. Material and Methods: We prospectively analyzed 106 cases of keratomycosis in our tertiary care hospital. Corneal scrapings were collected, processed and fungal pathogens were identified by standard laboratory techniques. Results: Out of 106 suspected cases, culture was positive in 31 cases. Aspergillus species were the most frequent isolates (51.61%). Next to this were Candida spp. (19.35%) followed by Fusarium spp., Alternaria spp., Mucor spp , Penicillium spp, Drechslera spp and Exserohilum spp . Males were more affected than females and trauma was the most common predisposing factor. Conclusions: This study highlights important risk factors and organisms responsible for mycotic keratitis.
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Background: Short birth interval adversely affects the maternal and neonatal health. The use of contraceptive methods is still one of the biggest challenges in developing countries despite various programs. Janani Suraksha Yojana was started with aims to achieve national targets for contraception. Methods: The present study was a cross sectional study conducted in Lucknow district amongst the women admitted in three blocks of rural area health centers. The blocks were selected by simple random sampling method. A total of 400 women who delivered in the labor wards of the health centers were interviewed and enrolled. Results: In the present study, out of 400 mothers, 39(9.8%) mothers had their first delivery below the age of 18 yrs. According to modified Udai Pareek Scale, 56.3% of the mothers belonged to 5th socio-economic status. Birth spacing was the purpose to use family planning (FP) methods among 121(55.5%) of the mothers. The use of FP method was significantly associated with occupation of mothers and their husband and education of mothers. It was also found that the use of FP method was significantly (p=0.001) higher among those beneficiaries who had birth interval > 3 years (72.1%) in contrast to 2-3yrs (68.8%), 1-2yrs (60.2%) and < 1yr (36.4%). Conclusions: JSY is a promising program for promotion of contraception. Knowledge about the family planning methods should be provided to the beneficiaries during their ANC visits as during this period they are more receptive to family planning methods.
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To analyze the prevalence of syphilis in apparently healthy population in Madhya Pradesh during last 6 years. Methods: Serum samples were collected from Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Skin and Venereal diseases, Medicine, Surgery, etc., of the period of 6 years. All the serum samples were screened for syphilis by rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test using standard methods. Results: Out of 21,742 samples, 133 (0.62%) serum samples were found to be positive. The highest seroprevalence was observed in the group aged 25-31 years (0.89%) and lowest in 18-24 years (0.31%). Conclusion: RPR testing in this populations group plays a special value in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of syphilis.
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BACKGROUND: Cyclosporine A (CsA) has been found to be the first successful therapy used in the recovery of patients with steroid-refractory ulcerative colitis (UC). However, the long-term benefits of cyclosporine remain questionable. We report our results on the use of CsA in patients with severe steroid-refractory UC. METHODS: The records of all patients with steroid refractory UC treated with CsA from January 2003 to December 2007 were reviewed. Demographics, clinical characteristics of the disease, responsiveness to CsA, complications arising from the treatment and the need for surgery were recorded for all patients. RESULTS: Of 146 admissions of severe UC, 24 patients who were steroid refractory (mean age 41.7 years; 11 men) received intravenous cyclosporine (4 mg/kg/day) for mean of 6.63 days (range 1-7), followed by oral CsA for a period of 3 months. All patients had failed to respond to intravenous hydrocortisone given for 7 days. Four patients required a colectomy immediately, three of whom failed to respond to CsA, and one had convulsions following drug administration. Nineteen of the 24 patients (79%), in whom a colectomy was avoided during the early stages of their treatment, were followed up for a mean of approximately 38 months (range 12-62 months). Three patients required surgery on follow up; one was operated at day 94, another in the second year and one in the third year. Overall, 16 of 24 patients (67%) remained colectomy-free. The main side-effects observed included infections, tremors, paresthesias, headache, hypertension, hypertrichosis and peripheral neuropathy. Three of seven patients who had to undergo surgery died within 2 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows that surgery can be avoided in two-thirds of patients with steroid refractive severe UC. However, the drug toxicity and mortality are significant.