PREVALENCE OF CARDIOVASCULAR COMORBIDITIES IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE IN SUBURBAN AREAS OF SOUTH-WEST INDIA

Objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the vital cause of morbidity and mortality in Western world, though it has become an increasing cause of mortality in India also in the past decade. Another concern is that COPD patients use medications that stimulate the cardiovascular system, including anticholinergic agents and sympathomimetic medications to study the prevalence of cardiovascular comorbidities in patients with COPD. Methods: It was a prospective observational study, which was conducted on inpatient subjects diagnosed to have COPD based on GOLD guidelines 2020, for a period of 1 year in tertiary care hospital. Results: The most of the patients were in 60–80 year age group (70%) and majority was males (87%). All the males (n=87) were smokers (62 ex-smokers and 25 present smokers) while all females (n=13) were non-smokers. The mean BMI for patients with CVD was 25.85±4.19 kg/m2 while for patients without CVD, mean BMI was 27.46±3.98 kg/m2. About 63.2% of the males (n=87) had some cardiovascular comorbidity as compared to 38.5% of females (n=13). The prevalence of cardiovascular comorbidities in subjects with COPD was 60% in the present study. This was significantly higher in patients with COPD as compared to the reported prevalence value in the general population of comparable age group. The prevalence of associated cardiovascular abnormality in COPD patients with increased PCV (Packed cell volume), leukocytosis, and neutrophilia are 56.3%, 65%, and 60%, respectively. The most common cardiovascular comorbidity in subjects with COPD was ischemic heart disease (21%), followed by heart failure (20%), stroke (5%), arrhythmias (3%), and LVH (3%)

Study of surgical site infections and its antibiogram in a surgical ICU of a tertiary care hospital in south west Rajasthan

Background: Surgical infections can be caused through two major sources: exogenous and endogenous bacteria. Surgical site infections (SSIs) is one of the most common complications encountered in surgery. SSI places a significant burden on both the patient and health system, thus a major cause of morbidity, prolonged hospital stay and increased health costs. Objective of this study was to identify and isolate various bacteria from wound infections in a surgical intensive care unit and to study their antibiogram.Methods: Two wound swabs were collected from the wound and from a drop of aspirate, smear was made on clean glass slide and Gram staining was done for direct microscopic examination under oil immersion 100X objective to know various morphological types of bacteria and presence or absence of inflammatory cells. Second swab/drop of aspirate was used for culture by inoculating it on routine media like blood agar, nutrient agar and MacConkeys agar, incubated at 37° C for 24 hours aerobically.Results: Out of 150 pus samples, 122 (81.3%) were culture positive for bacterial growth and no growth was observed in 28 (18.7%) cases. Out of 122 bacterial culture positive cases, 120 were monobacterial and 2 were poly bacterial. Out of 122 bacterial isolates; E. coli (32/26.2%) was the commonest followed by P. aeruginosa (32/24.5%).Conclusions: The study concludes that variety of aerobic bacteria is responsible for surgical site infections with predominance of Escherichia coli followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

India and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics: A Study of Their Collaboration in Agricultural Research

A study of the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), its institutes, centers, and projects, and the impacts of their collaboration with ICRISAT in promoting Indian national research capacity and raising agricultural production in the semi arid and dry zones of the country. The study also addresses the roles and contributions of India's twenty three agricultural universities, and of the National Academy for Agricultural Research Management in education, training, and extension.Written by Ishwar Chandra Mahapatra, Dev Raj Bhumbla, and Shriniwas Dattatraya Bokil

STUDY ON MICROBIAL CONTAMINATION OF MOBILE PHONES AND THEIR ROLE IN NOSOCOMIAL INFECTIONS IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL OF SOUTH INDIA

ABSTRACTIntroduction: Mobile phones have become an essential accessory of our life in todays' world.. The study revealed the potential role of mobile phonesin nosocomial infections.Objectives: To screen the mobile phones of health-care personnel for microbial contamination in hospital.Methods: A total of 100 swabs were collected from mobile phones of 40 resident doctors and 10 health-care personnel before and after use ofdisinfectant. Samples were processed, and identification was done as per standard laboratory procedures.Results: Results revealed 92% bacterial contamination with monomicrobial or polymicrobial growth. Coagulase negative Staphylococci (29.59%)was the most predominant organism followed by Diphtheroids (22.44%). Other bacteria which were isolated Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococci,Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Citrobacter spp. fungal growth included Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans.On the other hand, after using disinfectant, the contamination rate was reduced.Conclusion: Mobile phones act as a carrier for transmission of both community acquired as well as hospital acquired infections. However, with theproper use of disinfectants, and proper hand hygiene practices it can be reduced.Keywords: CONS(Coagulase-negative Staphylococci), S.aureus (Staphylococcus aureus), K.pneumoniae(Klebsiella pneumoniae)

Opportunities and challenges in the use of coal fly ash for soil improvements – a review

Coal fly ash (CFA), a by-product of coal combustion has been regarded as a problematic solid waste, mainly due to its potentially toxic trace elements, PTEs (e.g. Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb) and organic compounds (e.g. PCBs, PAHs) content. However, CFA is a useful source of essential plant nutrients (e.g. Ca, Mg, K, P, S, B, Fe, Cu and Zn). Uncontrolled land disposal of CFA is likely to cause undesirable changes in soil conditions, including contamination with PTEs, PAHs and PCBs. Prudent CFA land application offers considerable opportunities, particularly for nutrient supplementation, pH correction and ameliorating soil physical conditions (soil compaction, water retention and drainage). Since CFA contains little or no N and organic carbon, and CFA-borne P is not readily plant available, a mixture of CFA and manure or sewage sludge (SS) is better suited than CFA alone. Additionally, land application of such a mixture can mitigate the mobility of SS-borne PTEs, which is known to increase following cessation of SS application. Research analysis further shows that application of alkaline CFA with or without other amendments can help remediate at least marginally metal contaminated soils by immobilisation of mobile metal forms. CFA land application with SS or other source of organic carbon, N and P can help effectively reclaim/restore mining-affected lands. Given the variability in the nature and composition of CFA (pH, macro- and micro-nutrients) and that of soil (pH, texture and fertility), the choice of CFA (acidic or alkaline and its application rate) needs to consider the properties and problems of the soil. CFA can also be used as a low cost sorbent for the removal of organic and inorganic contaminants from wastewater streams; the disposal of spent CFA however can pose further challenges. Problems in CFA use as a soil amendment occur when it results in undesirable change in soil pH, imbalance in nutrient supply, boron toxicity in plants, excess supply of sulphate and PTEs. These problems, however, are usually associated with excess or inappropriate CFA applications. The levels of PAHs and PCBs in CFA are generally low; their effects on soil biota, uptake by plants and soil persistence, however, need to be assessed. In spite of this, co-application of CFA with manure or SS to land enhances its effectiveness in soil improvements

Prevalence of Salmonella typhi in among febrile patients in a tertiary care hospital of South West Rajasthan

Background: Salmonella enterica, serotype typhi, remains the predominant Salmonella species causing enteric fever in India. The mode of Salmonella typhi transmission is considered to be predominantly vehicle-borne through contaminated water or food. In India, the incidence of Salmonella typhi occurs between the months of April and June (dry season) followed by July and September (monsoon season). Typhoid fever may be difficult to distinguish clinically from other febrile illnesses and if left untreated, intestinal, neuropsychiatric, and other complications develop in some patients. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of S. typhi in bloodstream infections and its antimicrobial susceptibility pattern among patients with febrile illness. Methodology: Febrile patients admitted in the hospital who were prescribed blood culture tests and whose samples were sent to microbiology laboratory were included in the study. All blood samples (average 5 mL for adults and 2–3 mL for pediatric age group) were immediately inoculated into Bac-T ALERT aerobic blood culture bottles containing sodium polyethanol sulfonate as an anticoagulant (0.025%). If growth was isolated, isolated colony characteristics of growth and Gram stain were assessed. On Gram staining, typical nonlactose fermenting Gram negative bacilli were further subjected to species identification and detection of antimicrobial susceptibility pattern on the VITEK2. Results: In this study period, a total of 511 blood culture (paired) samples were processed, out of which 47 isolates of Salmonella were obtained. Among these isolates, 33 (70.23%) were from males, and 14 (29.77%) were from females. Amongst these, 35 (74.4%) patients were from rural, 8 (17%) were from subrural, and 4 (8.5%) were from urban areas. Out of the total 47 isolates of Salmonella, 42 (89.36%) were Salmonella typhi, 2 (4.25%) were Salmonella paratyphi A and B each, and 1 (2.12%) was Salmonella enterica. Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of Salmonella isolates revealed that all the isolates of Salmonella species were highly susceptible (95%–100%) to third generation cephalosporins (ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefepime, cefoperazone-sulbactam) and other higher antibiotics such as betalactamase inhibitors – piperacillin tazobactam (95%–100%) and Ticarcillin–clavulanic acid (100%). They were also highly susceptible (100%) to carbapenams (imipenem, merpenem, doripenem, and ertapenem) but showed a fairly decreased susceptibility was towards nalidixic acid with 15% for Salmonella typhi and 50% for other Salmonella isolates. Conclusion: Surging drug-resistant Salmonella enterica cases, the level of resistance was not as high as predicted in our study population. Multidrug-resistant (MDR) trends may vary; therefore, drug susceptibility testing side-by-side to empirical therapy is mandatory, especially in developing countries where there is a practice of self-medication