Incidence and Source of COVID-19 Infection Among Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Hospital in South India-A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Data for COVID-19 incidence and the source of infection among health care workers (HCWs) in Indian population are limited. The main objective of the study was to assess the incidence of COVID-19 infection and identify the source of infection among the HCWs in a tertiary teaching hospital. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted among the 2134 HCWs recruited by purposive sampling from a tertiary teaching hospital from May to August 2020 (4-month period-123 days). Over the 4-month period, all the HCWs who had symptoms or those were close contacts of COVID positive patients were traced and tested using validated COVID diagnostic test (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR] test). A semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview each positive HCW to identify the source of exposure of the infection. Results: Incidence proportion was 9.3% among HCWs and was two times higher among males compared to females. Hazard ratio was found to be higher among males and HCWs working in the non-COVID areas. Test positivity rate was found to highest (around 57.8%) among those aged less than 30 years. The most common source of infection was infected HCW colleagues (40.9%) followed by exposure to patients in non-COVID areas (27.3%). Only 5.1% of total infection was found in HCWs who had worked in COVID zones. Conclusions: People working in non-COVID areas, those using shared workplace, dining halls, and staff hostels, must follow strict COVID protocols by using appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and following social distancing measures.

Evaluating the effectiveness of 'AETCOM Module' on the medical interns posted in peripheral health centres of a tertiary care medical college in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu.

Introduction: Effective communication skills between doctor and patient leads to enhanced patient satisfaction, better compliance to treatment and improved health outcomes. Aims and Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of Attitude, Ethics and Communication (AETCOM) module in improving the communication skills of the interns posted in peripheral health centres after methodical training and approach. Methods: A Module based interventional study was conducted among the medical interns posted in in the months of December 2019 and February 2020 at Rural Health Training Center (RHTC) and Urban Health Training Center (UHTC). The tool used to assess the interns was Kalamazoo Essential Element Communication checklist (KEEC) based on Kalamazoo Consensus Statement (KCS) comprising 7 components. Statistical Analysis: The difference in the means of pre test scores and post test scores were analyzed for statistical significance using Paired T test (p value < 0.05 considered significant). Results: The post-test scores were higher when compared to the pre-test scores with regard to batch, gender, mother tongue, center where the interns were posted and type of batch and these findings were statistically significant. Females had better competencies of opening discussion, understanding the patient's perspective, reaching agreement and providing appropriate enclosure to discussion than males and it was found to be statistically significant. Conclusion: AETCOM Module is effective in improving the communication skills of the medical students, which in turn will prevent malpractices and litigations against doctors in the near future.

An epidemiological study on quality of life among elderly in an urban area of Thirumazhisai, Tamilnadu.

INTRODUCTION: One of the most important indicators of health and well being of the elderly is the quality of life they live in. Owing to the rise in elderly population due to the demographic transition, there is growing need to address the health concerns of this population. AIMS: The study was undertaken to find out the Quality of Life among the elderly and the associated factors. METHODOLOGY: This is a descriptive cross sectional study done in urban area of Thiruvallur district Tamil Nadu. To arrive at the required sample of 199, elderly people above 60 years were selected by probability proportionate to size sampling. Semi-structured pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection regarding sociodemographic details and related factors. Katz scale was used to assess activities of daily living and Quality of life (QOL) was assessed using WHO quality of life BREF (WHOQOL BREF) questionnaire. RESULTS: Moderate score in QOL was obtained in all the 4 domains with highest in Psychological and environmental domains. Nearly 99% of had full activity in Katz scale. All the three QOL domains were found to have statistical significant association with age and education. Gender and marital status were found to be associated with psychological domain, and employment/pensioner status with physical domain. CONCLUSION: Measures like Health education have to be targeted for the elderly in ways to improve their physical and psychological wellbeing which can imporove the quality of life they live in. Primary care and family physicians have to be made aware and empowered to identify the various domains of QOL in elderly and to identify in which domain the person needs to take care the most.

Sexuality in Adolescents: have we Explored Enough! A Cross-sectional Study to Explore Adolescent Health in a City Slum in Northern India.

CONTEXT: Adolescent health is a relatively new focus area of India's National health program. However, little evidence is available for the existing problems especially in adolescent slum population. A study was planned to explore the problems of adolescent pertaining to sexuality, physical health, tobacco and alcohol use in slums of Urban Meerut, and create evidence base for informed planning and decision making by the local health authorities. AIMS: To study the adolescent health in the slums of Meerut City, India. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Entire slums of Urban Meerut, cross-sectional study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Study was done in the slums of Meerut city, in Northern India. WHO 30 cluster sampling technique was used. Thirty slums were selected from the list of all the slums of Meerut, 210 adolescents were selected with 7 adolescents from each slum. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Proportions and Chi-square test. RESULTS: More than one third of the (36.7%) adolescents reported to have a current health problem, however only half of these sought medical help for treatment. Tweleve percent of adolescents reported history of alcohol or tobacoo use. Nine percent adolescents complained of stressful atmosphere at home. About 10% adolescents in the surveyed population gave history of sexual activity, but only one third of them had used condom during their last sexual intercourse. CONCLUSION: This study reflects the high morbidity and poor treatment seeking behaviour among adolescents in urban slums. A significant proportion of adolescents indulge in high risk sexual behavior, tobacco and alcohol use. There were significant gender differences with regards to treatment seeking behaviour, sexual behaviour, tobacco and alcohol use. The gender nuances must be taken into account while planning interventions for this section of population.

Experiences from tsunami relief activity: implications for medical education.

A tsunami struck the coast of Tamilnadu and Pondicherry on 26 December 2004. Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, (JIPMER) in Pondicherry played a vital role in providing medical relief. The experiences from the relief activities revealed areas of deficiency in medical education in regards to disaster preparedness. A qualitative study using focus group discussion was employed to find the lacunae in skills in managing medical relief measures. Many skills were identified; the most important of which was addressing the psychological impact of the tsunami on the victims. Limited coordination and leadership skills were also identified. It is recommended that activity-based learning can be included in the curriculum to improve these skills.

Microwave assisted extraction of curcumin by sample-solvent dual heating mechanism using Taguchi L9 orthogonal design.

The present work reports on a novel extraction method using microwaves based on solvent-sample duo-heating synergism, for the extraction of curcumin from Curcuma longa L. The duo-heating mechanism is based on simultaneous heating of sample matrix and extracting solvent under microwave energy. Methanol soaked plant material was used as a modifier to bring about selective and effective heating of the sample under microwave. Acetone was used as the extracting solvent, which has excellent curcumin solubilizing capacity and heats up under microwave owing to its good dissipation factor. Extraction conditions, namely microwave power, irradiation time, particle size and modifier volume were optimized using Taguchi design approach and curcumin was quantified using high performance thin layer chromatography. The optimum conditions as obtained from signal-to-noise ratio analysis and interaction studies between factors were as follows: 20% microwave power, 4 min irradiation time, particles screened through sieve 20 and 8 ml of modifier. Microwave assisted extraction (MAE) under the influence of dual heating mechanism showed better precision and dramatically higher yield with significant reduction in extraction time under optimum extraction conditions, when compared to conventional approaches.