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Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection found in tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world and has emerged as a significant threat and burden to public health systems. The infection is transmitted by the bite of an infected female mosquito- Aedes aegypti. Dengue viral infection may be asymptomatic or may give rise to undifferentiated fever with or without other associated clinical manifestations, namely, Dengue Fever (DF), Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever (DHF) or Dengue Shock Syndrome (DSS). The present study is conducted to evaluate the prevalence and serodiagnosis of Dengue fever among patients with acute febrile illness, provide useful guidance to clinicians for early diagnosis and prevention of untoward complications of dengueMETHODSThis was a retrospective descriptive study conducted for a period of one year in a tertiary care hospital from January 2019- December 2019. Blood samples collected from 1905 clinically suspected cases of dengue fever and serum were separated and tested for detection of Dengue NS1 antigen, Dengue specific IgM antibody and IgG antibody by using Dengue Day 1 test kit (procured from J. Mitra & Co. Ltd, India). Test was performed and results were interpreted as per manufacturer manual.RESULTSOut of 1905 serum samples tested, 273 were positive for dengue and 1632 were negative, with seropositivity was 14.33%. Out of 273 dengue positives, 202 (73.6%) were positives for dengue specific NS1 Antigen, 50 (18.3%) were positives for dengue specific IgM and 14 (5.12%) were positives for dengue specific IgG and 8 (2.93%) were positives for both IgM and IgG. Out of 273 positives cases of dengue, 158 (57.8%) were males and 115 (42.12%) were females. Majority of the patients tested positive were in the age group of 21-30 yrs. (28.2%).CONCLUSIONSDengue cases occur throughout the year with more positives in Jun-October. The incidence of dengue cases was higher in males and in children and in young adults. Early laboratory diagnosis of dengue fever among patients with acute febrile illness is essential to prevent dengue related complications.
RESUMO
Objectives: Jharkhand is a predominantly tribal Indian state. Home to 3.5 million adolescent girls, two-thirds of Jharkhand's adolescent girls were reported to be anaemic. In 2000, the Government of Jharkhand launched the Adolescent Girls Anemia Control Programme (AGACP) in five of its 24 districts with technical support by UNICEF. This presentation summarizes a decade of experience in scaling up Jharkhand's AGACP. Methods: In its initial phase, the programme covered around 250,000 school-going adolescent girls in 2800 schools. The intervention included weekly iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation, bi-annual deworming, and nutrition counselling. The second phase was launched in 2009 to cover two million adolescent girls. During this phase the programme faced important challenges due to a break-down in the supply chain of IFA supplements and deworming tablets. However, weekly nutrition counselling sessions continued. The third phase of the programme was inaugurated in 2012 with the advent of the National Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) programme implemented in a convergent manner by the Departments of Health and Family Welfare, Women and Child Development, and Education. Results: The programme has been universalized across all 24 districts, by the state government. Currently, the programme covers 3 million adolescents. Conclusions: Approaches used for stabilizing the programme are valuable lessons (do's and dont's) in piloting, stabilizing and scaling up a large scale programme for the control of anaemia in adolescent girls in resource-constrained settings.