Prevalence and epidemiological aspect of dengue fever in western Rajasthan in year 2018

Background: Dengue fever (DF) is a common mosquito borne disease caused by dengue virus and is transmitted by Aedes mosquito. It is one of the major public health problems in India which affects all levels of society, but the burden of disease is a higher in poor people who live together in communities.  Aim of present study is aimed to assess the prevalence and epidemiological characteristics of cases of DF in  Tertiary Care Hospitals in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in all cases of DF registered in the associated group of Hospitals of Dr. S.N. Medical College, Jodhpur from 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2018. Rapid immune-chromatographic card test and MAC ELISA test method was used to detect dengue non-structural protein 1 (NS1) antigen and dengue immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies in the Viral Research Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) of Department of Microbiology, Dr. S.N. Medical College to confirm the diagnosis. Results: Out of 2701 patients, 541 patients were tested serologically positive for DF (NS1, IgM). The highest number of suspected cases (1061) was reported in the month of October, 2018 out of whom 228 were positive. Maximum number of dengue cases reported were males belonging to 31-40 years age group from urban area. Fever was the main complaint in all the cases followed by vomiting, headache, and abdominal pain.Conclusion: Dengue is one of the major public health problems in India. A large number of cases are reported in the monsoon and post-monsoon period in the months from  September to December. Measures can be taken both at personal and government level to reduce morbidity and mortality from dengue

Plantlet regeneration from decapitated embryonic axes of pigeonpea <i>[Cajanus cajan </i>(L.) Millsp.]

496-498An efficient plant regeneration protocol for decapitated embryonic axes of pigeon pea was developed so that this explants can further be used for Agrobacterium mediated transformation. Multiple shoots were produced from 15 hr soaked seed derived embryo axes without apical dome on modified. Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with BAP (1 mg L-1) and IAA (0.5 mg L-1). Regenerated shoots were rooted on MS medium supplemented with IBA (0.3 mg L-1). The plantlets, thus obtained, were hardened and successfully established in soil where they showed normal morphological characters and produced seeds

Cognitive behavioral therapy and functional impairment in obsessive–Compulsive disorder

Background: Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by the presence of obsessions and compulsions and has a lifetime prevalence of around 2%–3%. Increase in symptoms severity in OCD is associated with noticeable impairment in daily psychosocial functioning of the patient, that further add-on to the stress level of the individual and increases burden on the family and society. Therefore, effective and timely management is required. Literature favors cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention in managing symptoms severity in OCD. The present study attempts to look its role on functional impairment of such patients. Methods: Pre- and post-intervention with a control group design were made to conduct this study involving 20 patients with OCD. Patients were equally divided in two groups where one group was given intervention with CBT sessions for 10 weeks. Pre- and post-intervention assessment was done using Yale–Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) and dysfunctional analysis questionnaire (DAQ) and results were compared. Results: Obtained data indicate significant decrease in composite score on YBOCS and significant increase in composite and domain-wise scores for DAQ assessment at postintervention assessment, in the group which has been given intervention with CBT as compared to the other group. Conclusion: Finding reveals that CBT has an impact in improving the functional ability along with remission of primary obsessive–compulsive symptoms in patients with OCD

SARS-COV-2 INFECTION AND ITS SYMPTOMS AMONGST COVID-19 VACCINATED AND UNVACCINATED HEALTHCARE WORKERS: SARS-COV-2 INFECTION AND VACCINATION

Purpose: India’s National COVID-19 vaccination programs started during January 2021 and prioritized healthcare workers (HCWs). In this study, we are attempting to measure post–vaccination product-specific (ChAdOx1_nCoV-19/COVISHIELD) COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) amongst vaccinated hospital healthcare workers (HCWs) and also to assess symptoms in HCWs with RT-PCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. Material and Methods: This is an online web based cross-sectional study conducted in June 2021 amongst vaccinated healthcare workers, comparing SARS-CoV-2 incidence and symptoms. In this study demographic data like age, gender, and profession were collected. Other data collected were vaccination status at the time of infection, the gap between COVID-19 positivity and vaccination, symptoms, hospitalization, time to recovery and previous positive history before vaccination. Result: A total of 1685 HCWs were vaccinated with the COVISHIELD vaccine from 16 January to 18 March 2021. Out of 1685 HCWs, 82 (4.8%) were tested positive by RT-PCR after vaccination. Out of 82 positive HCWs, 84% experienced mild symptoms, 12.2% experienced moderate symptoms and 3.7% had severe manifestations leading to hospitalization. Among these positive HCWs, 25.6% recovered within 7 days, 35.3% recovered in 7-10 days, 15.8% recovered in 11-14 days and 23.1% recovered after 2 weeks from the first day of experiencing symptoms. Conclusion: Although COVID-19 vaccination by COVISHIELD may not fully prevent from infection by SARS-CoV-2 or its different variants, majority of positive cases present with asymptomatic/mild symptoms. Post-vaccination positive cases may also present with severe symptoms and require hospitalization. &nbsp

Prevalence of Hepatitis A Virus and Hepatitis E Virus in Western Thar Region

Introduction: Hepatitis A Virus (HAV) and Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) pose major health problems in India. Both viruses are enterically transmitted, resulting in Acute Viral Hepatitis (AVH) in developing countries. This study was done to determine prevalence of HAV and HEV and their co-infection in patients presenting with AVH in a tertiary care hospital. Aim: To determine the prevalence of HAV and HEV and their co-infection among patients attending a Tertiary Care Hospital in Jodhpur presenting with symptoms of acute hepatitis. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of one year duration was conducted in the Department of Microbiology, Dr S.N. Medical College, Jodhpur. A non random sampling of 174 patients presenting with AVH was considered in the study. On the basis of history, serum samples were analyzed for IgM anti-HAV and IgM anti-HEV for the detection of HAV and HEV, respectively using commercially available ELISA kits. Data collected was analysed by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11 and p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: The seroprevalence of HAV and HEV positive patients were 13.79% and 4.02%, respectively. The seroprevalence of both HAV and HEV in patients with AVH was 1.15%. The prevalence of HAV and HEV among males (58.3% and 41.6%) was higher than in females (7.97% and 14.28%). Conclusion: The prevalence of HAV is higher than that of HEV but screening of HEV should be done as there are cases of coinfections. In this region of country, these data will play a role in planning of vaccination strategies and for better sanitation programme in future

A Rare Case of Apophysomyces variabilis Skin and Soft Tissue Infection

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