MEDICINAL PLANTS USED AGAINST VARIOUS AILMENTS BY THE PEOPLE OF ”CHAR” AREAS IN RANGPUR DISTRICT, BANGLADESH

The ”Char” area people live on islands formed in a river. These people have a somewhat different lifestyle and customs apart from the mainstream population. They rely mostly on herbal medicines administered by local traditional medicinal practitioners for cure of their various ailments. The objective of the present study was to conduct an ethno-medicinal survey amongst the traditional medicinal practitioners of the ”Char” area people residing on various river islands of the river Jamuna in Rangpur district, Bangladesh. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire. Plant specimens were photographed as well as collected and sent to the Bangladesh National Herbarium for proper identification. A total of 48 plants distributed into 34 families were reported to be used by the traditional medicinal practitioners for cure of diverse ailments. Amongst the families, three plants each belonged to the Amaranthaceae and Solanaceae families, while two plants each belonged to the Acanthaceae, Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Labiatae, Liliaceae, Lythraceae, Piperaceae, Umbelliferae, Verbenaceae, and Zingiberaceae families. Other families represented by one plant each included Agavaceae, Alliaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Aristolochiaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Bombacaceae, Boraginaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Combretaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Gentianaceae, Leguminosae, Meliaceae, Menispermaceae, Moraceae, Myrtaceae, Papilionaceae, Plumbaginaceae, Poaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rutaceae, and Sterculiaceae families. Cumulatively, the plants were used to treat diverse ailments like rabies, chicken pox, measles, pneumonia, jaundice, blood dysentery, leucorrhea, hematuria, infertility, cataract, bone fracture, leprosy, skin disorders, debility, helminthiasis, toothache, vitiligo, arthritis, and renal inflammation. The plants can form a useful source of discovery of novel pharmacological constituents for treatment of diverse ailments

MEDICINAL PLANTS USED TO TREAT CATTLE DISEASES IN NETRAKONA DISTRICT, BANGLADESH

Most of the rural population of Bangladesh owns one or two cows or goats, which are used either for agricultural purposes (cows) or for selling to generate extra income (goats). For treatment of cattle diseases, they rely on traditional veterinary medicinal practitioners, who use medicinal plants to treat cattle ailments. We conducted an ethnomedicinal survey amongst the traditional veterinary medicinal practitioners in Netrakona district, Bangladesh to identify plants and cattle ailments for which the plants are used. Information on plants were obtained from the traditional cattle healers and individual specimens identified at the Bangladesh National Herbarium. A total of 46 plants distributed into 33 families were identified. The families included Acanthaceae, Alliaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Anacardiaceae, Araceae, Bromeliaceae, Cannabaceae, Convolvulaceae, Cyperaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Gentianaceae, Lamiaceae, Leguminosae, Menispermaceae, Moraceae, Musaceae, Myrtaceae, Olaceae, Palmae, Piperaceae, Poaceae, Ranunculaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rubiaceae, Rutaceae, Solanaceae, Ulmaceae, Umbelliferae, Urticaceae, Verbenaceae and Zingiberaceae families. Of the families, the highest number of plants (three plants each) belonged to the Anacardiaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Myrtaceae, and Piperaceae families. The various cattle diseases that were claimed to be cured by the medicinal plants included fever, rigor, leg fractures, wound infections, diarrhea, meningitis, helminthiasis, common cold, enlargement of liver, body ache, asthma, retention of urine, mumps, piles, cataract, loss of hair, glossitis, and lack of milk production

SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence among the general population and healthcare workers in India, December 2020–January 2021

Background: Earlier serosurveys in India revealed seroprevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) of 0.73% in May–June 2020 and 7.1% in August–September 2020. A third serosurvey was conducted between December 2020 and January 2021 to estimate the seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among the general population and healthcare workers (HCWs) in India. Methods: The third serosurvey was conducted in the same 70 districts as the first and second serosurveys. For each district, at least 400 individuals aged ≥10 years from the general population and 100 HCWs from subdistrict-level health facilities were enrolled. Serum samples from the general population were tested for the presence of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies against the nucleocapsid (N) and spike (S1-RBD) proteins of SARS-CoV-2, whereas serum samples from HCWs were tested for anti-S1-RBD. Weighted seroprevalence adjusted for assay characteristics was estimated. Results: Of the 28,598 serum samples from the general population, 4585 (16%) had IgG antibodies against the N protein, 6647 (23.2%) had IgG antibodies against the S1-RBD protein, and 7436 (26%) had IgG antibodies against either the N protein or the S1-RBD protein. Weighted and assay-characteristic-adjusted seroprevalence against either of the antibodies was 24.1% [95% confidence interval (CI) 23.0–25.3%]. Among 7385 HCWs, the seroprevalence of anti-S1-RBD IgG antibodies was 25.6% (95% CI 23.5–27.8%). Conclusions: Nearly one in four individuals aged ≥10 years from the general population as well as HCWs in India had been exposed to SARS-CoV-2 by December 2020