ABSTRACT
Purpose: To determine the pattern of pediatric ocular morbidities in western India. Methods: This was a retrospective longitudinal study that included all consecutive children aged ?15 years who presented to the outpatient department of a tertiary eye center for the first time. Patient demographics, best?corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and ocular examination data were compiled. Subgroup analysis was also performed based on age group (years): ?5, 5–10, and >10–15. Results: A total of 11,126 eyes of 5563 children were included in the study. The mean age of the study population was 5.15 (±3.32) years with males (57.07%) being predominant. Approximately half of the patients (50.19%) were under the age of 5 years, followed by those aged 5–10 years (45.1%) and >10–15 years (4.71%). Among the study eyes, the BCVA was ?20/60 in 58.57%, indeterminable in 35.16%, and <20/60 in 6.71%. The commonest ocular morbidity noted was refractive error (28.97%) followed by allergic conjunctivitis (7.64%) and strabismus (4.95%) in the total study cohort and also after age stratification. Conclusion: Refractive error, allergic conjunctivitis, and strabismus are the major causes of ocular morbidity in pediatric eyes at a tertiary care center. Planning screening programs at the regional and national levels is crucial to decreasing the burden of eye disorders. These programs also need to have a suitable referral mechanism established and be smoothly connected to primary and secondary health?care centers. This will help to assure quality eye care delivery, while also reducing the strain of overworked tertiary centers.
ABSTRACT
Background: This study was designed to determine the frequency, reasons, and the association of self-medication with demographic and other factors reported by participants. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in 500 patients visiting a tertiary hospital in Ludhiana, North Western India. Participants were interviewed with a preset questionnaire. Data were entered into Microsoft Excel and analysis was performed using SPSS software version 16. Frequencies and proportions were calculated. Results: Of 500 study participants, 93.8% reported self-medication with no gender difference. The participants who took self-medication were of the opinion that self-medication resulted in quick cure of illness 50.75%, saved their time 17.46%, and gave them a sense of independence in 17.06%, respectively. The common reasons self-medication 45.84% for fever, 18.34% for pain, and 10.87% for headache with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs 49.4% followed by antibiotics (11.6%) be the common medication. The most common source of information is local chemists/pharmacy 39%. Conclusions: Self-medication is described as a double-edged sword in India, and regulation of over-the-counter sale of antibiotics prescription medication is necessary to safeguard the populace.
ABSTRACT
Human dirofi lariasis is a rare infection caused by fi larial worms of genus Dirofi laria. Subconjunctival dirofi lariasis has been reported from Asia, Europe, Italy and Africa. In India majority cases are from Kerala, Karnataka and very few from Maharashtra. We report the rare case of subconjunctival dirofi lariasis caused by Dirofi laria repens from Maharashtra, western India.
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Aim: To study the prevalence of Down syndrome by conventional chromosome analysis and Gbanded karyotyping. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the case records of2750 paediatrics patients, of which 682 cases of confirmed Down syndrome was recorded by G-banding karyotyping. Results: Non-disjunction was the most common type of abnormality followed by Robertsonian translocation and lastly mosaic in ratio of 92.2:7.0:0.73 respectively. Conclusion: Results suggest that advanced maternal age is classic risk factor attributed to the incidences of Down syndrome.
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Background & objectives: Conflicting reports exist regarding the HIV-1 infection on the risk of malaria. A transient almost one-log elevation in HIV viral load occurs during febrile malaria episodes. We prospectively studied malaria patients for HIV infection from Mumbai. Methods: A total of 171 malaria patients and 28,749 normal voluntary blood donors were studied for their HIV status. Diagnosis of malaria was done by microscopical examination of blood. HIV screening was done by detection of HIV-1 & 2 antibodies by micro well ELISA using Enzaids & J Mitra kits followed by confirmation using western blot (Innogenetics, Belgium) analysis. Results: Out of 171 malaria patients 13 (7.6%; Odds ratio= 4.45; p <0.0001) and 521 blood bank donors were found to be HIV reactive. Among 13 HIV reactive patients, eight patients were Elisa borderline reactive and western blot positive (p24), which may be due to cross-reactive antibodies. Five of 13 malaria patients found to be HIV-1 positive by ELISA and by western blot confirming HIV and malaria co-infection. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that HIV-1 and malaria co-infection can’t be ruled out in malaria endemic countries like India.
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Osteoporosis is a global health problem both in the developed and developing countries. Patient education forms an important part in the management of osteoporosis. The objective of this study was to evaluate knowledge about osteoporosis and its correlates among women aged ≥ 40 years attending an urban health centre in India and to identify their sources of information on osteoporosis. Knowledge about osteoporosis was assessed using the Osteoporosis Questionnaire (OPQ) in 243 women over 40 years of age, attending an urban health centre in the city of Mumbai located in the state of Maharashtra in western India. This exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted over a period of eight months. The OPQ analysis was performed using SPSS for Windows Version 13.0. The scores were expressed as mean ± SD (Standard Deviation). The one sample-t test was used to study the differences in the mean scores between socio-demographic variables. The mean total OPQ score was 0.91 (SD ± 5; range -9 to 10; maximum possible score 20). There was a significant difference in the total OPQ scores by the level of education and family history of osteoporosis (p<0.05). The main sources of information identified were television/radio (55%), family and friends (23%), newspapers (22%) and doctors (20%). The study reveals lack of knowledge about osteoporosis in the present sample, and the need for increased involvement of doctors in educating patients about osteoporosis.
ABSTRACT
Background & objectives: Host genetic diversity is believed to contribute to the spectrum of clinical outcomes in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The present study aimed at finding out the frequencies of HLA class I and class II alleles of HCV infected individuals from western India. Methods: Forty three clinically characterized anti-HCV positive patients from Maharashtra were studied for HLA A, B, C, DRB1 and DQB1 alleles by PCR- sequence specific primer (SSP) typing method and compared with 67 and 113 ethnically matched, anti-HCV negative healthy controls from western India. Results: Our analysis revealed an association of HLA alleles HLA A*03 (OR= 16.69, EF, 0.44, P=7.9E-12), A*32 (OR= 1474, EF 0.21, P=1.8E-9), HLA B*15 (OR=14.11, EF 0.39, P=2.18E-10), B*55 (OR= 12.09, EF 0.07, P=0.005), Cw*16 (OR= 7.45, EF 0.12, P=0.001), Cw*18 (OR= 402, EF 0.05, P=0.003), DRB1*03 (OR= 4.01, EF 0.08, P=0.01) and DQB1*03 (OR= 3.02, EF 0.22, P=0.001), with HCV infection. HLA II locus haplotype DRB1*11-DQB1*03 (HF=17.64, OR=5.16, P=0.0001) was significantly increased among HCV infected individuals. Interpretation & conclusions: Our data suggest that among the western Indian population, certain HLA alleles or associated haplotype influence HCV infection as a host genetic factor.