Is High Altitude a Risk Factor in Development of Herpes Zoster?

Singh, G.K., Mahendra Singh Deora, Rajan Grewal, A. Kushwaha, and Sukhmeet Minhas. Is high altitude a risk factor in development of herpes zoster? High Alt Med Biol. 19:244-248, 2018. BACKGROUND: Old age immune-compromised states are known to increase the risk of herpes zoster (HZ). The aim of this study was to find out whether arrival into high altitude poses a risk for the development of HZ in lowlanders. METHODS: A retrospective study of 173 cases of HZ was carried out between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2010 in people working at high altitude areas of Leh. Data of lowlander people working at high altitude were compared with that of high altitude native and similar group of people working at plains during the same period. RESULTS: HZ constitutes 2.36% (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.04-2.73) of total skin outpatient department cases at a hospital at high altitude, whereas it was 0.23% (95% CI, 0.18-0.29) at a tertiary hospital at plains. In lowlanders working at high altitude, frequency of herpers zoster varied between 2.63% and 3.59% with mean of 3.07%. Frequency of HZ in persons presenting to a tertiary dermatological center at plains varied from 0.19% to 0.26% (mean of 0.23%). Presence of high altitude posed a risk of almost seven times in developing HZ in comparison with its absence with odds ratio of 7.21 and 95% CI varying from 5.42 to 9.60. This result was statistically very significant with p value <0.0001. CONCLUSIONS: Lowlanders working at high altitude are at high risk to develop HZ in comparison with persons working at plains. However, a large population-based study is required to investigate and establish the same.

Is obesity a problem among school children?

Reduction of premature mortality due to noncommunicable diseases through prevention and control forms the core issue of target 3.4 of sustainable development goals. Childhood obesity is an important public health challenge today. The current study was carried out in a large military station of North East India to find out prevalence of obesity among schoolchildren using World Health Organization body mass index-for-age charts for boys and girls. A total of 793 schoolchildren comprising of 328 girls and 465 boys between the age groups of 6 and 19 years were included. The prevalence of overweight and obesity among girls was 9.76% and 1.22%; and among boys, it was 10.97% and 3.23%, respectively. Overweight and obesity were more common among boys as compared to girls under the age of 13 years but trend changed afterwards. Lower prevalence of overweight and obesity found in our study could be because of availability of healthful environment in schools.