Prevalence of viral (HBV, HCV and HIV) co-infections among apparently healthy blood donors in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

Background: Apparently healthy blood donors may carry double viral co-infections that might be more fatal than viral mono-infection for the donor himself as well as recipient later on.Methods: All blood samples were screened for HIV-I and II (4th generation kit), HBV and HCV (3rd generation kit) by using chemiluminescence technique (Manufacturer- Abbott, Model-Architect i 1000SR).Results: On screening of 41307 blood units, 829 (2.0%) donors were found positive for one of the viral infection (HBV, HCV and HIV). Highest prevalence was for HBV (417 donors- 1.0%) followed by HCV (324 donors- 0.78 %) and HIV (88 donors- 0.21 %).Conclusions: Apparently healthy blood donors might carry, life threatening, double viral co-infections in their blood. Failure to diagnose and treat co-infection at an early stage results in serious complications and sequelae. For safe blood transfusion all blood units should be tested for compatibility and TTI’s with reduction in unnecessary blood transfusion

A COMPARATIVE CLINICAL STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF JANUBASTI FOLLOWED BY PATRAPINDA SWEDA AND JANUBASTI FOLLOWED BY ATASI UPANAHA SWEDA IN JANU SANDHIGATA VATA W.S.R TO OSTEOARTHRITIS OF KNEE JOINT

Janu Sandhigata Vata is a common Vata predominant disorder mainly caused in Vriddhavastha. It is a degenerative articular disorder caused in geriatric age group and its correlates with Osteoarthritis of knee joint. Being commonest form of articular disorders, Osteoarthritis poses a huge hindrance in day to day activities of the sufferer like walking, dressing and bathing etc. Due to Vriddaavasta, Uttarothara Dhatuposhana gets reduced and finally makes the person lame. Hence this study was conducted on 10 patients for 7 days to evaluate the efficacy of Janubasti with Moorchita Tila Taila followed by Patrapinda Sweda in Group A and Janubasti with Moorchita Tila Taila followed by Atasi Upanaha Sweda in Group B. The study reports significant relief in subjective parameters like Vatapurna Dritisparsha (joint crepitations), Sandhi Shoola (joint pain) and Prasarana akunchana pravriti sa vedana (pain during flexion and extension of joint) Sandhi Shotha (joint swelling) is completely relieved after the study. Assessment of results was done on the subjective parameters which showed highly significant changes in Vatapurna Drithisparsha, Sandhi Shotha and Prasarana Akunchana Vedana, and significant improvement in Sandhi Shoola in Group A. In group B Vatapurna Drithisparsha, Sandhi Shotha and Sandhi Shoola showed highly significant changes and Prasarana Akunchana Vedana showed significant changes

Challenges and opportunities in mixed method data collection on mental health issues of health care workers during COVID-19 pandemic in India

Background: The present paper describes the key challenges and opportunities of mixed method telephonic data collection for mental health research using field notes and the experiences of the investigators in a multicenter study in ten sites of India. The study was conducted in public and private hospitals to understand the mental health status, social stigma and coping strategies of different healthcare personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.Methods: Qualitative and quantitative interviews were conducted telephonically. The experiences of data collection were noted as a field notes/diary by the data collectors and principal investigators.Results: The interviewers reported challenges such as network issues, lack of transfer of visual cues and sensitive content of data. Although the telephonic interviews present various challenges in mixed method data collection, it can be used as an alternative to face-to-face data collection using available technology.Conclusions: It is important that the investigators are well trained keeping these challenges in mind so that their capacity is built to deal with these challenges and good quality data is obtained

Factors associated with stigma and manifestations experienced by Indian health care workers involved in COVID-19 management in India: A qualitative study

Healthcare personnel who deal with COVID-19 experience stigma. There is a lack of national-level representative qualitative data to study COVID-19-related stigma among healthcare workers in India. The present study explores factors associated with stigma and manifestations experienced by Indian healthcare workers involved in COVID-19 management. We conducted in-depth interviews across 10 centres in India, which were analysed using NVivo software version 12. Thematic and sentiment analysis was performed to gain deep insights into the complex phenomenon by categorising the qualitative data into meaningful and related categories. Healthcare workers (HCW) usually addressed the stigma they encountered when doing their COVID duties under the superordinate theme of stigma. Among them, 77.42% said they had been stigmatised in some way. Analyses revealed seven interrelated themes surrounding stigma among healthcare workers. It can be seen that the majority of the stigma and coping sentiments fall into the mixed category, followed by the negative sentiment category. This study contributes to our understanding of stigma and discrimination in low- and middle-income settings. Our data show that the emergence of fear of the virus has quickly turned into a stigma against healthcare workers

A COMPARATIVE CLINICAL STUDY TO EVALUATE THE EFFICACY OF GREEVABASTI WITH PRASARINI TAILA AND NASYA KARMA WITH PARINITAKERIKSHEERA TAILA AS PRADHANA KARMA IN GREEVASANDIGATAVATA W.S.R. TO CERVICAL SPONDYLOSIS

The digitalization of the world has influenced people to have access on all the things through technologies like use of computers, mobiles etc and excess use of this has caused various problems and one among them is usage of these gadgets in improper position which is the causative factor for Greeva Sandhigatavata and shows Sandhi Shoola, Sandhi Shotha, Vatapoorna Druti Sparsha and Prasarana Akunchana Vedana which can be correlated to Cervical Spondylosis which also shows similar symptoms like pain in the neck, stiffness, radiating pain and tenderness. So the study was carried on 10 patients, 5 patients in each group to evaluate the efficacy of Greevabasti with Prasarini Taila in Group A and Nasya Karma with Parinitakeriksheera Taila in Greeva Sandigatavata w.s.r. to cervical spondylosis as Pradhana karma after Poorava Karma of Snehana and Swedana in both the groups. The study revealed that Sandhishoola (joint pain) and Sandhishotha (joint Swelling) where highly significant statistically and Sandhisthabdhata was significant statistically in Group A, and in Group B Sandhi Sthabdhata shown highly significant results

Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Pre as Well as Postmenopausal Women in A Tertiary Care CENTER: A Hospital Based Observational Study

Background: Metabolic syndrome is a constellation of metabolic abnormalities and a complex  pre-disease  state that predicts future development of type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. Epidemiologically it is observed that incidence of metabolic syndrome increases with age and more so in women once they attain menopause. Objectives: To study the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in pre as well as post-menopausal women and to study the various components of metabolic syndrome. Materials and Methods: We performed an observational study in a tertiary care teaching institute. Women attending general health checkup were selected for the study A total of 484 women were selected. 267 were in the postmenopausal group and 217 in premenopausal group. After a detailed collection of demographic data, medical, surgical, obstetrical and gynecological history, general physical and systemic examination was done. Height, weight, waist circumference were measured. BMI was calculated. Venous blood sample sent for Fasting blood glucose, HDL, Triglycerides. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed when three out of five parameters were found abnormal. Results: Metabolic syndrome was seen in 158 women (32.6%). Among these women, 118 (44.19%) were postmenopausal women and 40 (18.4%) were premenopausal. Postmenopausal women are at twice the risk of developing metabolic syndrome

Plants Saline Environment in Perception with Rhizosphere Bacteria Containing 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylate Deaminase

Soil salinity stress has become a serious roadblock for food production worldwide since it is one of the key factors affecting agricultural productivity. Salinity and drought are predicted to cause considerable loss of crops. To deal with this difficult situation, a variety of strategies have been developed, including plant breeding, plant genetic engineering, and a wide range of agricultural practices, including the use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) and seed biopriming techniques, to improve the plants’ defenses against salinity stress, resulting in higher crop yields to meet future human food demand. In the present review, we updated and discussed the negative effects of salinity stress on plant morphological parameters and physio-biochemical attributes via various mechanisms and the beneficial roles of PGPR with 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-Carboxylate(ACC) deaminase activity as green bio-inoculants in reducing the impact of saline conditions. Furthermore, the applications of ACC deaminase-producing PGPR as a beneficial tool in seed biopriming techniques are updated and explored. This strategy shows promise in boosting quick seed germination, seedling vigor and plant growth uniformity. In addition, the contentious findings of the variation of antioxidants and osmolytes in ACC deaminase-producing PGPR treated plants are examined

Viewpoints from the national consultation on addressing acute malnutrition on mainstreaming community-based program for management of acute malnutrition in India

High burden of acute malnutrition among children less than 5 years is a major public health problem in India. A ”Two-days National Consultation on Addressing Acute Malnutrition” was organized to gather experiences and evidence from 13 states of India on prevention and management of acute malnutrition among children and documenting viewpoints from experts and government counterparts on the same. The consultation centered around five key themes of addressing acute malnutrition: 1) capacity building, 2) strengthening screening, 3) nutritional care of wasting, 4) tracking progress, and 5) scale-up. The paper highlights the experiences and key recommendations around the above key themes. It emerged that there is a need to further accelerate the efforts toward strengthening existing platforms and services to address acute malnutrition among children. Regular trainings of the frontline workers, increased convergence, regular monitoring, and continued service delivery during the pandemic should be undertaken for better outcomes

Psychological distress and burnout among healthcare worker during COVID-19 pandemic in India-A cross-sectional study.

BackgroundCOVID-19 has inundated the entire world disrupting the lives of millions of people. The pandemic has stressed the healthcare system of India impacting the psychological status and functioning of health care workers. The aim of this study is to determine the burnout levels and factors associated with the risk of psychological distress among healthcare workers (HCW) engaged in the management of COVID 19 in India.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 September 2020 to 30 November 2020 by telephonic interviews using a web-based Google form. Health facilities and community centres from 12 cities located in 10 states were selected for data collection. Data on socio-demographic and occupation-related variables like age, sex, type of family, income, type of occupation, hours of work and income were obtained was obtained from 967 participants, including doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers, emergency response teams, lab personnel, and others directly involved in COVID 19 patient care. Levels of psychological distress was assessed by the General health Questionnaire -GHQ-5 and levels of burnout was assessed using the ICMR-NIOH Burnout questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with the risk of psychological distress. The third quartile values of the three subscales of burnout viz EE, DP and PA were used to identify burnout profiles of the healthcare workers.ResultsOverall, 52.9% of the participants had the risk of psychological distress that needed further evaluation. Risk of psychological distress was significantly associated with longer hours of work (≥ 8 hours a day) (AOR = 2.38, 95% CI(1.66-3.41), income≥20000(AOR = 1.74, 95% CI, (1.16-2.6); screening of COVID-19 patients (AOR = 1.63 95% CI (1.09-2.46), contact tracing (AOR = 2.05, 95% CI (1.1-3.81), High Emotional exhaustion score (EE ≥16) (AOR = 4.41 95% CI (3.14-6.28) and High Depersonalisation score (DP≥7) (AOR = 1.79, 95% CI (1.28-2.51)). About 4.7% of the HCWs were overextended (EE>18); 6.5% were disengaged (DP>8) and 9.7% HCWs were showing signs of burnout (high on all three dimensions).ConclusionThe study has identified key factors that could have been likely triggers for psychological distress among healthcare workers who were engaged in management of COVID cases in India. The study also demonstrates the use of GHQ-5 and ICMR-NIOH Burnout questionnaire as important tools to identify persons at risk of psychological distress and occurrence of burnout symptoms respectively. The findings provide useful guide to planning interventions to mitigate mental health problems among HCW in future epidemic/pandemic scenarios in the country