Prevalence of parasitic infestations amongst the food handlers in a city of North Eastern Region of India.

Background & objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections among food handlers in the city of North eastern region of India. Materials and Methods: Three hundred food-handlers were included to in this study. The stool samples were collected from the subjects and examined for intestinal parasites following direct microscopic examination and Formol Ether concentration (Ritchie) technique. Results: The majority (88.63%) of the food-handlers (cases) were young adults and middle aged from 20 to 49 years. Eighty eight (29.33%) stool specimens were positive showing 99 different diagnostic stages of parasites. Some specimens were infected by more than 1 parasite. Ascaris lumbricoides 37(37.37%) was most frequent among the different detected intestinal parasites followed by Entamoeba histolytica 21(21.21%). Other parasites were Trichuris trichiura 10(10.10%), Giardia lamblia 9(9.09%) and Taenia species 5(5.05%). Most of the food handlers were having poor hygiene residing in rural area and slums. Conclusion: Routine screening of food handlers is a valuable tool for prevention of food-borne infections among the public. In addition we should provide health education emphasizing the importance of food handlers as potential sources of infections and suggested health institutions for appropriate hygienic and sanitary control measures.

Evaluation of serum calcium and lipid profile in women with pre-eclampsia, eclampsia and normal pregnancy.

Introduction: Background & objective: Pre-eclampsia and eclampsia are the most common obstetrical complications during pregnancy. The objective of this work was to quantitate and find significance of serum calcium and lipid profile levels in pre-eclamptic and eclamptic pregnancy in comparison with normal pregnancy. Methods: Study includes 105 subjects divided into three groups. Estimation of Calcium, Triglycerides, Total-Cholesterol and HDL-C were analyzed by O-Cresolphthalein-Complexone, GPO-PAP, CHOD-PAP and Phosphotungstic acid precipitation method, using Erba Chem-5 plus semi-autoanalyser. Results: Mean serum calcium and HDL-C levels were significantly decreased in group-II and group-III in comparison to group-I,p<0.05. The mean triglyceride, VLDL-C and LDL-C levels were significantly increased in group-II as compared to group-I,p<0.05. There was no difference in the mean values of total-cholesterol between cases (group-II and group-III) and control (group-I),p>0.05; but the mean level of VLDL-C was higher in group-III in comparison to group-I,p<0.05. Non significant (p>0.05) difference was found in mean values of triglyceride and LDL-C in group-III cases in comparison to group-I. Interpretation & conclusion: Women having pre-eclampsia and eclampsia had low levels of serum calcium and disturbed lipid profile. These levels may have cause and effect relationship with these disorders.