Awareness and Practices of Sanitary Latrine Usage and Environmental Cleanliness in Rural Etawah, Uttar Pradesh.

The Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to achieve adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and ending open defecation by 2030. Construction of household toilets does not always translate into its usage in rural areas, as open defecation has become a long-ingrained habit. The Swachta Status Report 2016 states that the majority of people in India (52.1%) practiced open defecation, 24.4% of households disposed of garbage in the nearby agricultural field, while 15.1% threw garbage around the house.METHODSIt was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in four villages of a selected block of the district. A total of 150 households were included in the study. Data was collected using a pre-designed semi-structured questionnaire and information was collected regarding their background characteristics, awareness, practices of sanitary latrine usage, and environmental cleanliness.RESULTSOut of a total of 150 participants, 54% practiced open-air defecation. The drainage system of most households was an open pucca type (73.3%), while garbage was disposed of at a common spot outside the homes in 48.7%. Most respondents were unaware that diseases can be caused by inadequate sanitation (55.3%). A higher age group was found to be significantly associated with the usage of sanitary latrines. (p=0.016). Sanitation practice was found to be significantly related to awareness of the mode of spread of disease (p<0.001).CONCLUSIONSBehavioural change communication is required to motivate people to break the habit of open defecation and remove the barriers which limit the use of sanitary latrines.

Comparison of pulmonary function of women in 2nd trimester and non-pregnant women, in central Uttar-Pradesh, India

Background: Pregnancy is nothing but a process of maternal adaptation to meet the increasing needs of the growing foetus. Significant changes in the highly sensitive respiratory system occurs during pregnancy to fulfil increased demands as well as to combat stress of pregnancy. Although many studies have been done in India to study the Pulmonary Functions during pregnancy, but due to paucity of such study in central Uttar-Pradesh this study was planned.Methods: This study was carried out on 353 2nd trimester pregnant women coming to ANC clinic of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Department of Uttar-Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, Etawah, pulmonary function parameters were recorded using Computer based Digital Spirometer. Data were compared with pulmonary function parameters of age matched 353 Non-Pregnant controls. Parameters studied were FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, PEFR and MVV.Results: FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC and PEFR was found less in pregnant women as compared to Non-pregnant women, difference was statistically highly significant (P<0.01). MVV was also found less in pregnant women but it was insignificant (P >0.05).Conclusions: All parameters of PFT are deranged in pregnancy. Matching of other attributes of cases and controls like height, pre-pregnancy weight of cases and weight of controls, Haemoglobin, BMI, could possibly further explain the established relationship of pregnancy and PFT parameter derangements. Perhaps, a longitudinal study in expectant mothers by measuring their PFT parameters in non-pregnant states and then serial follow-up PFT measurement during their pregnancy would be a better approach to look for the effects of pregnancy on PFT parameters.

Demographic profile and fungal characteristics in patients of otomycosis in North Indian population- A Prospective study

Fungal infections such as otomycosis have been reported decades back. Distribution of this particular disease has been reported worldwide from the areas having a hot and humid environment especially tropical and subtropical zone. This study included 244 patients of suspected otomycosis from January 2017 to June 2018, in which the presence of fungal agents was determined by mycological examination. The mycological investigation revealed A. niger and Candida as predominant species. Incidence in the male population was higher than females. Otorrhea and pruritis were the common symptoms presented by patients. Several risk factors associated with otomycosis including moisture, broad-spectrum antibiotics and chemotherapeutic agents use, topical ear drops and frequent bathing or swimming was reported. Amphotericin B was found to be more sensitive followed by voriconazole during antifungal susceptibility testing. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of otomycosis with emphasis on involved etiologic agents and their antifungal sensitivity pattern.

Study of Salivary Gland Neoplasms.

Tumors of the salivary glands are uncommon and they present a great variety of histological types with many structural variation. They have a low incidence and their anatomical relationship especially that of the parotid gland to the facial nerve make their management challenging. The present study was carried out to find out the prevalence of salivary gland neoplasms, to see associated conditions like sialadenitis, sialolithiasis coexisting with salivary gland neoplasms and to do cytohistopathological correlation. Total 96 cases were collected of which 66.7% were benign and 33.3% were malignant. In 81 (84.3%) cases tumors occurred in major salivary gland while 15 (15.6%) cases in minor salivary gland. Among major salivary gland, parotid was the commonest site and in minor salivary glands, palate was the commonest site followed by lips. Pleomorphic adenoma was the commonest benign tumor and adenoid cystic carcinoma was the commonest malignant tumor followed by mucoepidermoid tumor. There was one case of synovial sarcoma. Associated pathology like sialadenitis and sialolithiasis were present in 16 benign and 5 malignant tumors. Cytohistocorrelation was seen in 63 out of 64 (98.4%) benign and 16 out of 18 (88.8%) malignant tumors.

Study of placenta in sickle cell disorders.

Remarkable changes are seen on gross and microscopic examination of placenta of patients with sickle cell disorders, hence the present study was undertaken to find out the pathological changes seen in the placenta of sickle cell disorder patients, as compared to control and to study the effect of maternal sickling on the fetus. It includes total 73 cases, of which 10 were of control group and 63 were from patients with sickle cell disorders, which included 47 sickle cell trait (AS) and 16 sickle cell disease (SS) patients. In group II, 9 (14.28%) patients with SS pattern developed complications during pregnancy, in the form of vaso-occlusive and hemolytic crises. Pregnancy induced hypertension was seen in 4 (25%) out of 16 SS and 11 (23.40%) of the 47 AS patients. Urinary tract infection (UTI) was seen in 6 (37.5%) out of 16 SS and 8 (17.02%) out of 47 AS patients. Placentae in sickle cell disorders showed pathological changes in the form of infarction, calcification, sickled red blood cells and hemorrhage in intervillous spaces, increased syncytial knots, fibrinoid necrosis, stromal fibrosis, hyalinised villi and compensatory proliferation of trophoblastic cells.