A study of prescription pattern in the drug therapy of ear, nose, and throat infections at a tertiary care hospital in Mangalore

Background: Diseases of the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) constitute among the most common causes of hospital visits worldwide and account for most of the antibiotics prescribed and used. They are responsible for significant school and work absenteeism and have generated 94.6 disability-adjusted life years lost worldwide. Due to the high incidence of these diseases and the different varieties of drugs in use, it becomes imperative for us to know the present prescribing patterns, so that appropriate adjustments can be made for the benefit of patients.Methods: Over a period of 1-year, the outpatient department (OPD) records of 608 patients with ENT infections, reporting to the ENT OPD of Justice K S Hegde Charitable Hospital, Deralakatte, Mangalore, were scrutinized and the data collected in a specially designed proforma. Descriptive analysis of the data was done.Results: Of the total 608 prescriptions analyzed, 309 (50.8%) belonged to male patients and 299 (49.2%) belonged to female patients. Highest numbers of patients were in the age group of 16-25 years (29.44%). The most common diseases reported were chronic suppurative otitis media (19.24%), followed by otitis externa (13.49%) and furunculosis (9.87%). Average number of drugs per prescription was found to be 3.0. Oral antibiotics were prescribed to 540 patients (88.81%). Most common antibiotics prescribed were amoxicillin-clavulanate (53%), levofloxacin (17%), and cefixime (14%). Antihistamines were prescribed in 52.47% prescriptions, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were prescribed to 298 patients (49.01%).Conclusion: This study shows that the diseases were treated rationally in accordance with the standard guidelines of therapy

Effect of Bacilli Calmette-Guerin vaccine on severe combined immunodeficiency patient: a narrative review and proposed workup algorithm

This systematic review critically investigates the administration of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine in neonates with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). The BCG vaccine, derived from Mycobacterium bovis, is a live attenuated vaccine recognized for its significant role in mitigating the impacts of tuberculosis (TB) in endemic areas. Despite its beneficial effects in controlling TB, safety and efficacy concerns have been raised when the vaccine is administered to SCID patients, who have a severe dysfunction or absence of the immune system. The potential for the vaccine to lead to severe complications due to the immunocompromised state of SCID patients necessitates a comprehensive investigation. To better understand these issues, a thorough literature review was carried out, integrating data from clinical trials and observational studies available on the PubMed database. An extensive review and analysis of 32 relevant articles revealed substantial evidence of complications from BCG vaccination in SCID patients. These findings emphasize the urgency for a more effective pre-vaccination screening process to circumvent potential adverse effects. Given the crucial role of the BCG vaccine in controlling TB, its potential to induce severe complications in SCID patients warrants careful consideration. Therefore, this review proposes an in-depth screening algorithm for newborns before BCG vaccination administration. The goal is to prevent these adverse events, offering critical insights to health policymakers, researchers, and clinicians in the field

Mesoamerican nephropathy: a narrative review

Mesoamerican nephropathy (MeN) also known as chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) is prevalent in agriculturally rich areas. The most widely accepted pathophysiological explanation for MeN is chronic dehydration caused by prolonged exposure to the sun. Other theories include oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, infection and tubulointerstitial fibrosis. The clinical presentation is quite vague and is diagnosed similar to CKD from any cause using blood, urine analysis and ultrasound. The study highlights the need for interdisciplinary cooperation among physicians, epidemiologists, toxicologists, and geneticists while identifying significant research gaps and future objectives. Occupational health related to agriculture is not emphasised enough especially in third world countries where a large chunk of population heavily depend on farming. To safeguard the population at risk, the significance of community-based initiatives, occupational health measures, and regulatory changes is emphasised

Iris Recognition System – A Review

Abstract — The iris recognition is a kind of biometrics technologies based on physiological characteristics of human body as compared with the feature based recognition of fingerprint, palm print, face and sound etc, the iris has some advantages such as uniqueness, stability, high recognition rate, and non-infringing etc. The iris recognition systems have made tremendous progress over the past decade, but further work remains to improve their accuracy in environments characterized by unfavorable lighting, large stand-off distances, and moving subjects. For the purpose of research and development of Iris recognition technology there are few public and freely available databases to have sample images. These iris databases contributes rich amount of iris images which were taken in different environments. In this paper we will discuss about the iris anatomy, history, general process, various implemente

Dietary Agents and Phytochemicals in the Prevention and Treatment of Experimental Ulcerative Colitis

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), consisting mainly of ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), are important immune-mediated diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. The etiology of the disease includes environmental and genetic factors. Its management presents a constant challenge for gastroenterologists and conventional surgeon. 5-Amninosalicylates, antibiotics, steroids, and immune modulators have been used to reduce the symptoms and for maintenance of remission. Unfortunately, long-term usage of these agents has been found to lead to severe toxicities, which are deterrent to the users. Pre-clinical studies carried out in the recent past have shown that certain dietary agents, spices, oils, and dietary phytochemicals that are consumed regularly possess beneficial effects in preventing/ameliorating UC. For the first time, this review addresses the use of these dietary agents and spices in the treatment and prevention of IBD and also emphasizes on the mechanisms responsible for their effects

Idiopathic Calcinosis Cutis of Nasal Dorsum

A 23-year-old lady presented with a slowly progressing firm mass on the nasal dorsum since 8 months. Her biochemical, haematological and collagen vascular disease screening tests were normal. Radiographs of the nasal bones showed a subcutaneous calcifying lesion with no evidence of nasal bone erosion. A diagnosis of idiopathic calcinosis cutis (ICC) was made. The mass was excised and soft tissue defect was augmented with silicone prosthesis. The histopathology with the haematoxylin and eosin staining and von Kossa stain confirmed the diagnosis of calcinosis cutis. This is an unusual presentation of ICC involving the nasal dorsum requiring surgery and nasal dorsal augmentation with silicone prosthesis

POTENTIAL SITE SELECTION FOR RAINWATER HARVESTING USING GIS A REVIEW

Water is one of the main resource for the survival of any living things, without which we can't live on earth. Water scarce areas in the world present in various states suffer not only from limited precipitation but also from poor management of rain water for the agriculture and other various purposes. The present study has been made for the site suitability analysis for rain water harvesting using GIS. In the present study spatial variations in landscape characteristics such as land use land cover, slope information, drainage characteristics, contours are defined as important criteria for identifying suitable rainwater harvesting sites such as farm ponds and check dams, are also identified

Alternative Splicing of CHEK2 and Codeletion with NF2 Promote Chromosomal Instability in Meningioma1

Mutations of the NF2 gene on chromosome 22q are thought to initiate tumorigenesis in nearly 50% of meningiomas, and 22q deletion is the earliest and most frequent large-scale chromosomal abnormality observed in these tumors. In aggressive meningiomas, 22q deletions are generally accompanied by the presence of large-scale segmental abnormalities involving other chromosomes, but the reasons for this association are unknown. We find that large-scale chromosomal alterations accumulate during meningioma progression primarily in tumors harboring 22q deletions, suggesting 22q-associated chromosomal instability. Here we show frequent codeletion of the DNA repair and tumor suppressor gene, CHEK2, in combination with NF2 on chromosome 22q in a majority of aggressive meningiomas. In addition, tumor-specific splicing of CHEK2 in meningioma leads to decreased functional Chk2 protein expression. We show that enforced Chk2 knockdown in meningioma cells decreases DNA repair. Furthermore, Chk2 depletion increases centrosome amplification, thereby promoting chromosomal instability. Taken together, these data indicate that alternative splicing and frequent codeletion of CHEK2 and NF2 contribute to the genomic instability and associated development of aggressive biologic behavior in meningiomas