ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: Evidence on the community knowledge and perceptions on malaria are crucial to design appropriate health communication strategies for malaria control. Orissa, an Indian state with a large proportion of indigenous populations and hilly terrains contributes to the highest malaria burden in India. A study was undertaken to assess the knowledge on malaria among community members who had experienced fever and chills in the endemic district of Boudh in Orissa. Methods: A cross-sectional community-based survey was carried out with respondents (n=300) who had fever with chills within two weeks prior to data collection through a multi-stage sampling and interviewed them using a pre-tested, structured interview schedule. Results : About 90% of respondents recognized fever as a common symptom of malaria, 72.3% said mosquito bites cause malaria, 70.3% of respondents reported mosquito control and personal protection to be the method of malaria prevention, and 24.6% identified chloroquine as the drug used for treatment. Women and scheduled tribe (ST) respondents were found to have lower level of appropriate knowledge of causes, symptoms, and prevention methods of malaria than their counterparts. Interpretation & conclusion: The study population had a fair knowledge of malaria about the causes, symptoms, treatment, modes of prevention and outcomes of non-treatment compared to most of the studies conducted in similar settings. However, the relatively low awareness among women and tribal population calls for more context specific communication strategies. Such strategies should be based on information needs assessment of different population subgroups, especially of women and members of the ST community, using media that is accessible and clearly understood by different groups.
ABSTRACT
This paper reports the development of a one-step SYBR-Green I-based realtime RT-PCR assay for the detection and quantification of Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) in human, monkey and mosquito samples by targeting the E1 structural gene. A preliminary evaluation of this assay has been successfully completed using 71 samples, consisting of a panel of negative control sera, sera from healthy individuals, sera from patients with acute disease from which CHIKV had been isolated, as well as monkey sera and adult mosquito samples obtained during the chikungunya fever outbreak in Malaysia in 2008. The assay was found to be 100-fold more sensitive than the conventional RT-PCR with a detection limit of 4.12x10(0) RNA copies/μl. The specificity of the assay was tested against other related viruses such as Dengue (serotypes 1-4), Japanese encephalitis, Herpes Simplex, Parainfluenza, Sindbis, Ross River, Yellow fever and West Nile viruses. The sensitivity, specificity and efficiency of this assay were 100%, 100% and 96.8% respectively. This study on early diagnostics is of importance to all endemic countries, especially Malaysia, which has been facing increasingly frequent and bigger outbreaks due to this virus since 1999.
ABSTRACT
In 1977, a female patient, aged 31y, presented with histiocytosis X in the right pelvis and was treated with radiotherapy. She presented again in 1999 at the age of 53y with a similar problem at the same location this time also involving the acetabulum. The affected right hip was treated with cemented total hip replacement. Two years postoperatively, the patient was pain free with no evidence of local recurrence or loosening of implant, thus demonstrating that total hip replacement is a viable treatment op