Beliefs regarding SARS-COV-2 vaccine in patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia

Background: SARS-CoV-2 vaccination drive generated varying responses in the general public. This study aimed to assess the vaccination acceptance amongst patients with thalassemia and to elucidate their beliefs regarding SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.Methods: A prospective observational study was done involving thalassemia patients above the age of 18 years in the thalassemia day care center of our hospital.Results: The study assessed 145 patients with a male to female ratio of 1.5:1 and a mean age of 25.6±6 years. Seventy-six (52.4%) of the study population had already been vaccinated with the first dose, 25.5% (n=37) were willing to get vaccinated, however, 22% were vaccine-hesitant. Vaccine hesitancy was 25.5% in males compared to 16.9% in females. The fear of adverse effects to the vaccine is a major deterrent to the vaccination. Patients considered themselves at high risk of COVID-19 disease and adverse effects of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.Conclusions: Vaccine hesitancy was observed in 22% of patients. A significantly higher proportion of these patients considered vaccines unsafe and ineffective. Public sharing of safety and efficacy data may help in improving trust in the vaccine.

Healthcare Seeking Behaviour of Hospitalised COVID-19 Patients During Second Wave in Tertiary Care Hospital of Northern India

Background: The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues its deadly reign all over the world. Devising effective strategies for detecting and controlling the infection has become ever more critical. Effective prevention and control of the pandemic is entirely dependent on human behavior in terms of practicing preventive and curative measures. During the second wave of COVID-19, people’s perceptions of preventive and curative measures changed. Objective: To study healthcare-seeking behavior of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Methods: Hospitalized patients due to COVID-19 in the month of March, April and May of 2021 were included in the study. Their attendants/close relatives were contacted telephonically to know about the admitted patients’ healthcare-seeking behavior. Verbal consent was taken from attendants before the commencement of the interview, followed by informing them about the purpose of the interview. Results: Amongst the subjects, there were more males than females (67.5 vs 32.4%), age ranged between 18 to 88 with a mean value of 56.61 ± 14.7 years. Self-medication was significantly associated with study subjects’ mortality (p=0.03). Conclusion: Elderly people were having higher mortality rate than their younger counterparts. People were hesitant to visit primary care physicians after having symptoms of COVID-19

Mask Use pattern, Public Perception and Barriers to Effective Mask Usage-A battle far from over

Background & Objective: Proper mask wearing reduces the transmissibility and risk of Covid-19 infection still compliance to mask use is low. This study was conducted to observe the mask usage pattern, perception and barriers to effective mask usage (EMU). Settings and Design: This cross-sectional study was conducted in collaboration with district police administration to observe mask usage pattern in various crowded places. Methods and Material: Participants from general public (n=6995) in 10 preselected areas of city were observed and then interviewed about their perceptions about EMU. Indirect observation of EMU was also done by screening CCTV footage, followed by another set of observation at same places after conducting a health education campaign. Data was entered in Microsoft excel and analyzed using SPSS. P value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: EMU was seen in nearly 62% participants. Younger age, native population, education above matric, persons driving two & four wheelers, had significantly higher compliance. During CCTV observation, EMU was 57.5%, and was highest near public places, roads and intersections while lowest near bus stand and religious places. Some improvement in compliance was seen after health education at these places. Breathing difficulty, no use of wearing mask and feeling uncomfortable were the most common reasons given by participants for non-compliance.Conclusions: EMU was lower in elderly, migrants, less educated, unemployed, daily wage workers, so these groups should be especially sensitized about preventive measures. There is need for extensive public education to bring out behavioral change regarding proper mask wearing to control this pandemic and prevent further waves

Factors Determining Diabetic Remission after Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Prospective Study

Background: An exponential rise in the prevalence of obesity and the associated type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has led to an explosion in the field of bariatric surgery worldwide. It has been proposed that laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) not only results in excess weight loss (EWL) but also leads to excellent glycemic control. Aims: However, not every patient benefits from the bariatric surgery. Furthermore, bariatric surgery is currently indicated based on body mass index (BMI), but BMI solely does not predict diabetes remission after the surgery. We aimed to study the outcome of LSG on the diabetic status and the factors predicting the disease remission. Subjects and Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 104 obese patients having T2DM who underwent LSG. Following surgery, the clinical outcome on weight loss, BMI, and glycemic control was studied for 6 months. Various positive and negative predictors of diabetic remission after the surgery were also determined. Student's t-test and Chi-square tests were applied. Results: LSG resulted in significant weight loss (P < 0.05); the percentage of EWL was 60.75 ± 6.30 at 6 months. Furthermore, surgery resulted in 78.9% remission of diabetes with fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin values at 6 months being 121.13 ± 15.25 mg/dl and 6.19% ± 0.31%, respectively. Younger and heavier patients, those with lesser disease severity and shorter duration had better chances of disease remission. Gender had no correlation with disease remission. Conclusion: LSG is a successful treatment option for T2DM and is more beneficial if offered, not as a last option, but to younger, obese patients with mild disease severity and shorter disease duration after the failure of medical treatment

Knowledge regarding breast cancer and breast self-examination amongst urban females of North India: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: In this era of epidemiological transition where noncommunicable diseases are on a significant rise, cancer is a major public health problem globally. Out of all cancers, breast cancer is the most common female cancer worldwide. Aim: To determine the knowledge of breast cancer and its risk factors and breast self-examination (BSE) practice amongst urban women of North India. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out amongst 370 women aged between 20 and 60 years of age using pretested self-administered questionnaire. The collected information was entered into Microsoft Excel sheet and analysed using SPSS. Results: Mean age of the study participants was 40.3 ± 12.1 years and majority of the study participants (87%) were married. It was seen that the proportion of women who were aware increased as their literacy status increased, and this was statistically significant (P = 0.00). About 18.4% of the participants were aware regarding BSE. The most mentioned reason for not practicing BSE amongst those who were aware was that they considered themselves healthy (63.2%). Conclusions: In the current study, half of the women were aware of breast cancer and few were aware of BSE and very few were practicing BSE. It was seen that women with a higher level of education had better knowledge regarding breast cancer than women with low educational status. For the prevention of breast cancer, women are the most important stakeholder. There is a need to sensitise women regarding risk factors of breast cancer and preventive practices like BSE