Pulmonary function among stone quarry workers in India: The effect of duration of exposure, smoking status and job profile on pulmonary function tests

Introduction: Despite advances in technology, in India workers of stone processing industry continue to be at high risk for lung function deterioration. This study was designed to analyse the effect of duration of exposure, job profile and smoking on lung function of stone quarry workers from Jammu city, Jammu and Kashmir State, India. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 100 male stone crusher workers, selected through multi-stage random sampling technique. Effect of risk factors on the pulmonary function tests of the workers was analysed by ‘Students independent t-test’, one-way ANOVA and simple linear regression. The significance threshold was set up at P < 0.05. Results: We observed a significant reduction in lung function in subjects having duration of exposure above 10 years (Group III) with respect of stone crushers with duration of exposure up to 5 years (Group I) and 6 to 10 years of exposure (Group II). Lung function tests revealed a statistically significant (P < 0.05) reduction in lung function test parameters among manual workers compared to non-manual group of workers and among smokers compared to non-smokers. However, simple linear regression analysis revealed that only increase in duration of silica dust exposure was significantly associated with a reduction in pulmonary function tests, specifically in FVC (P = 0.019), FEV3 needs to be as subscript (P = 0.016), FEF25 (P = 0.016), FEF0.2-1.2 (P = 0.048), PEFR (P = 0.019) and MVV (P = 0.001) values. Conclusion: Duration of silica dust exposure is the most important determinant of pulmonary function deterioration. Therefore, limiting cumulative silica dust exposure can effectively reduce damage to airways in silica-exposed workers

Thrombocytosis As Potential Diagnostic Tool for Serious Bacterial Infection In Febrile Infants; Srinagar, India

Objective: To estimate incidence of Reactive Thrombocytosis among febrile infants and assess utility of platelet count as a potential predictor and diagnostic tool of serious bacterial infection .Design:Prospective non randomized study conducted between April 2011 to March 2012Setting: Tertiary care pediatric unit.Inclusion criteria:All infants 30 to 89 days of age, admitted with rectal temperature >38°C/100.4°F without apparent focus of an infection.Exclusion criteria:Infants having fever more than 72 hours and who had received antibiotics or vaccination within 48 hours of presentation.Main Outcome Measures: sepsis evaluation was done on admission. SBI included all cases of occult bacteremia, urinary tract infection, bacterial meningitis, pneumonia, bacterial gastroenteritis and infections of the soft tissues and bones.Results: Of the 149 infants studied, 39 (26.2%) had SBI. Platelet count was significantly higher in infants with SBI compared to those without {Platelet count ≥ 4 lakh /mm3 in SBI (84.6%) vs non SBI (542.4% ). Mean platelet count 5.1 ± 1.1 in SBI versus 3.9 ± 1.6 in non SBI which was statistically significant