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Context: Oral cancer is of major concern in the Indian subcontinent and is found to be high among low socioeconomic groups. One such high?risk group is considered to be the tribal people, who are economically and socially marginalised. Aims: The aim of the present study is to assess the prevalence of oral cancer and precancer lesions among the Narikurava population in Puducherry state, India. Methods and Material: A total of 329 Narikurava tribal people were included in this study. Data was collected by clinical examination of the oral cavity by door?to?door screening. The oral cavity was examined for white/red lesions, ulcerative changes, leathery changes and tissue growths. Statistical Analysis Used: Prevalence was calculated in terms of percentages. Descriptive statistics included the calculation of percentages, mean, and standard deviation. Results: The prevalence of precancer in the population is 48.3%. The majority of the lesions were observed in the buccal mucosa: 41.6% had white lesions, 9.1% had red lesions, 0.3% had ulcerations or growth, and 28.3% had leathery changes followed by the labial mucosa: 0.6% had white lesions, 0.6% had red lesions, 0.3% had ulcerations or growth and 16.4% had leathery changes. Conclusions: The present study observed a high prevalence of precancerous lesions among the Narikurava tribe. The main reason for the high prevalence is attributed to tobacco and tobacco?related habits. Hence, cancer control activities should be prioritised. Designing a model to detect precancer and cancer early and to constantly monitor the detected cases in such populations is of utmost importance
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Background & objectives: Serial national level serosurveys in India have provided valuable information regarding the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in the general population, but the impact of the ongoing pandemic on the tribal population in India is not well understood. In this study, we evaluated the seroprevalence of COVID-19 antibodies in the tribal population of Odisha post-second wave (September 2021). Methods: A population-based, age-stratified, cross-sectional study design was adopted for the survey, carried out in seven tribal districts of Odisha from 30th August to 16th September 2021. A multistage random sampling method was used where serum samples were tested for antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N) protein in each district, and a weighted seroprevalence with 95 per cent confidence interval (CI) was estimated for each district. Results: A total of 2855 study participants were included from the seven tribal districts of Odisha in the final analysis. The overall weighted seroprevalence was 72.8 per cent (95% CI: 70.1-75.3). Serological prevalence was the highest among 18-44 yr (74.4%, 95% CI: 71.3-77.3) and from Sambalpur district [75.90% (66.90-83.10)]. Among participants, 41.93 per cent had received at least one dose of any COVID-19 vaccine. Kandhamal district had the highest number of fully immunized participants (24.78%), and in Sundergarh district, most of the study participants (58.1%) were unimmunized.Interpretation & conclusions: This study found high seroprevalence against SARS-CoV-2 in the tribal population of Odisha. The vaccination coverage is at par with the general population, and efforts to address some knowledge gaps may be needed to improve the coverage in the future
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Background & objectives: Undertaking tribe-specific assessment of health status provides the required data for planning appropriate interventions. Hence, a study was conducted to assess the health profile of the Koraga tribe. Methods: This community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among a particularly vulnerable tribal group, the Koragas residing in the Udupi district. Data were collected using a pro forma and were analyzed using the SPSS software version 16.0. Results: A total of 273 participants aged ?18 yr and 94 children aged ?17 yr were recruited through screening and referral services organized in Koraga hamlets of the Udupi district. Among the adults, 59.7 per cent were females and their median age was 35 yr. About 13.9 per cent had elevated blood pressure and 18.4 per cent had impaired/elevated random blood sugar levels. About 47.6 per cent were underweight and 35.2 per cent were anaemic. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that individuals with morbidities were more likely to be aged ?45 yr [45-60 yr: adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=4.3; 95 per cent confidence interval (CI)=1.3-13.8 and >60 yr: AOR=6.4; 95 per cent CI=1.7-23.7] and overweight or obese [23-24.9 kg/m2: AOR=8.1; 95% CI=1.3-48.2 and >25 kg/m2: AOR=7.9; 95% CI=1.6-38.4]. Of the 26 Koraga children aged ?5 yr, 30.7 and 42.3 per cent had their height for age and weight for age below the third percentile, respectively. Further, 15.3 per cent of under-five children and 27.9 per cent of 6-17 yr old children were severely wasted. About 21.2 per cent of the children aged ?17 yr were found to be anaemic and 56.3 per cent had symptoms of respiratory tract infection in the past 15 days. Interpretation & conclusions: Malnutrition was prevalent among Koraga adults and children, which warrants designing and implementing appropriate social and health interventions in this population.
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Background & objectives: Serosurvey of COVID-19 provides a better estimation of people who have developed antibodies against the infection. Undertaking such a serosurvey in certain districts of India which are densely populated with prominent tribes can provide valuable information regarding seropravelance of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among such indigenous populations. In this context, two rounds of population-based, cross-sectional serosurveys for SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody were carried out in Jharkhand, a tribal-dominated State of India, to compare the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and to determine the associated demographic risk factors. Methods: The surveys were carried out in June 2020 and February 2021 in ten districts of the State of Jharkhand. Blood samples were collected from the residents of the selected districts by random sampling and tested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using an automated chemiluminescence immunoassay platform. A total of 4761 and 3855 eligible participants were included in round 1 and round 2, respectively. Results: The age- and gender-standardized seroprevalence for COVID-19 during round 1 was 0.54 per cent (0.36-0.80) that increased to 41.69 per cent (40.16-43.22) during round 2 with a gap of eight months in between. The seropositivity among male and female participants was 0.73 and 0.45 per cent, respectively, during the first round and 51.35 and 33.70 per cent, respectively, during the second round. During the first round, 17.37 per cent of the participants were tribal with seropositivity of 0.24 per cent (0.02-0.87), and during the second round, 21.14 per cent were tribal with seropositivity of 39.14 per cent (35.77-42.59). Compared to tribal group, non-tribal participants had an adjusted odds of 1.24 (95% confidence interval=1.04-1.48) for SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity. Interpretation & conclusions: COVID-19 seroprevalence was found to be low during the first round (0.54%) of the survey, possibly due to the travel restrictions during lockdown better adherence to social distancing and wearing of face masks among the people. Understanding the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and the susceptibility to infection at the individual as well as community level will inform decision and help policy makers to design and implement effective public health strategies to mitigate the pandemic in this State.
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Background: India fights with substantial maternal and child health (MCH) concerns, accounting about one quarter of the global burden of maternal and childhood mortality.The current study was tried to assess the impact of community partnerships between medical students, community stakeholders (TBAs and local tribal girls) and general community members on their awareness levels about MCH care and services. Methods:a community-based pilot interventional study was conducted at one of the rural blocks of Maharashtra state of India. Of 120, sixty (50%) first year undergraduate MBBS medical students (intervention group) posted at two months rural healthcare training programme’ participated in preparing MCH related health education material (HEM) in local language. Similarly local tribal girls, TBAs and general community people were trained about MCH and their knowledge levels were assessed. Results:Pre and post training assessment scores of participants (students, TBAs, tribal girls and general people) indicated significant (p<0.05) differences in their knowledge about MCH. The used approach of community collaborations in this study upgraded the knowledge of stakeholders (TBAs, tribal girls) and common tribal peopleabout basic aspects of MCH and associated welfare schemes. The study also reported positive attitudes of all participants about an intervention. Conclusions:Productive and synergistic community partnerships can be created among health care providers, community health workers and other stakeholders to ensure commitment and engagement towards positive health.
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Background: The increasing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) urges continuous survey of risk factors in different population groups. Objectives: The study was conducted to assess the prevalence and determinants of behavioral and biological risk factors of NCDs, in rural tribal population. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2014 to May 2015, in rural Siliguri, among 172 tribal people aged 25–64 years selected by multistage cluster random sampling using WHO-STEPS instrument. Study participants were interviewed for sociodemographic and behavioral risk factors, and biological measurements were taken. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the determinants of risk factors. Results: Among the study participants, the prevalence of current tobacco use and alcohol use were 69.8% and 40.7%, respectively; 96.5% consumed unhealthy diet and 2.9% were physically inactive. The prevalence of abdominal obesity and overweight were 26.2% and 12.2%, respectively. Odds of tobacco use were significantly raised among men (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 47.7 [95% confidence interval (CI) 11.1, 203.9]) and increased age of the participants. Men showed higher odds of alcohol consumption (AOR: 13.4 [95% CI 4.6, 38.9]). Odds of abdominal obesity were higher among older participants, whereas lower odds were found among men (AOR: 95% CI 0.11 [0.0, 0.5]) compared to women. Conclusions: Most of the behavioral and biological risk factors of NCDs were quite high among tribal population of rural Siliguri except physical inactivity. Increasing awareness about NCDs through locally accepted and culturally appropriate strategies need to be implemented in the study area.
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Incidence of sickle cell trait in India is high in peninsular south, south-eastern, central and south-western India, while in north and north-eastern India, it is absent. Unicentric origin of SCD in the tribals of nilgiri hills in southern India has been proposed. The present study on the frequency of HbS trait and -globin gene haplotypes was conducted in the tribal-rich states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to get an insight into the uneven distribution of HbS in India. Jharkhand borders with the HbS-high Odisha and Chhattisgarh, and HbS-low UP, Bihar and Bengal. Cellulose acetate gel electrophoresis was performed on the collected blood samples, to detect sickle haemoglobin (HbS) followed by DNA analysis. HbS associated -gene haplotype was constructed for the samples positive for HbS and all the tribals by PCR-RFLP. Out of 805 (Chhattisgarh – 261, Jharkhand – 544; >36% tribals) samples analysed HbS frequency was 13% in Chhattisgarh and 3.3% in Jharkhand. Within Jharkhand, frequencies varied considerably from 10% in Tatanagar to nil in Sahibganj. The Arab-India (AI) haplotype of -globin cluster occurred in low frequency, confined mainly to Chhattisgarh. The most abundant haplotype in all the populations was the East Asian, + − − − − − +, rare in HbS, mainly in Sahibganj in east Jharkhand, which lacked AI. Our results indicate that besides the heterozygote advantage againstmalaria, the uneven regional distribution of HbS trait is because of restricted movement of two different populations, Dravidian from the south and Tibeto-Burman from the east into the Indianmainland which failed tomeet, we conjecture, due to severe climatic conditions (deserts and heat) prevailing through parts of central India. Apparently, Jharkhand became a zone of contact between them in recent times.
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Background & objectives: Dengue (DEN) is a rapidly spreading arboviral disease transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. Although it is endemic in India, dengue virus (DENV) infection has not been reported from tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh. Investigations were conducted to establish the aetiology of sudden upsurge of cases with febrile illness in June 2013 from tribal villages of Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh, India. Methods: The rapid response team of the National Institute for Research in Tribal Health, Jabalpur, conducted clinical investigations and field surveys to collect the samples from suspected cases. Samples were tested using molecular and serological tools. Collected mosquitoes were identified and tested for the presence of virus using semi nested reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (nRT-PCR). The sequences were analysed to identify serotype and genotype of the virus. Results: of the 648 samples collected from 18 villages of Mandla, 321 (49.53%) were found to be positive for dengue. The nRT-PCR and sequencing confirmed the aetiology as dengue virus type 2. Eighteen per cent of patients needed hospitalization and five deaths were attributed to dengue. The virus was also detected from Aedes aegypti mosquito, which was incriminated as a vector. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the dengue virus 2 detected belonged to cosmopolitan genotype of the virus. Interpretation & conclusions: Dengue virus serotype 2 was detected as the aetiological agent in the outbreak in tribal villages of Mandla district of Madhya Pradesh. Conducive man-made environment favouring mosquitogenic conditions and seeding of virus could be the probable reasons for this outbreak. Urgent attention is needed to control this new threat to tribal population, which is already overburdened with other vector borne diseases.
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Background : Strengthening food security enhancement intervention should be based on the assessment of household food security and its correlates. Objectives: The objective was to find out the prevalence and factors contributing to household food security in a tribal population in Bankura. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 267 tribal households in Bankura-I CD Block selected through cluster random sampling. Household food security was assessed using a validated Bengali version of Household Food Security Scale-Short Form along with the collection of information regarding the monthly per capita expenditure (MPCE), total to earning member ratio, BPL card holding, utilization of the public distribution system (PDS) and receipt of any social assistance through a house-to-house survey. Result and Conclusion: Overall, 47.2% of study households were food secure whereas 29.6% and 23.2% were low and very low food secure, respectively. MPCE ≥ Rs. 356, total to earning member ratio ≤ 4:1, regular utilization of PDS, and nonholding of the BPL card were significantly related with household food security.