Hepatitis E: is it a blood-borne pathogen?

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Simultaneous immunization with Omp25 and L7/L12 provides protection against brucellosis in mice

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Economic evaluation of conservation tillage options for deciding the feasibility of their adoption

The present experiment was conducted to evaluate two important conservation tillage practices namely zero tillage in wheat and bed planting for growing vegetables for deciding the economic feasibility of their adoption in Gohana and Kharkhoda block of Sonipat district in Haryana. In first scenario, comparison were made between Puddled transplanted rice followed by conventional tilled wheat (PTR – CTW), and puddled transplanted rice followed by zero till wheat (PTR – ZTW). In second scenario, conventionally tilled Jowar in kharif followed by conventionally tilled wheat system (CTJ – CTW) was compared with vegetables on beds in both seasons (BV-BV). Sowing of wheat by zero till drill in PTR – ZTW system, decreased cost of cultivation by 21% over its value of Rs 20688 in PTR – CTW treatment; increased grain yield by 5% over the grain yield of 5.99 t ha-1 in PTR – CTW treatment. The B: C ratio of PTR – ZTW was 4.65 while that of PTR – CTW treatment was 3.24, which indicated economic viability of zero tillage practice. While in case of cauliflower in BV-BV system, the total cost of cultivation was estimated at Rs 51500/ha and net returns of Rs 38072/ha i.e an increased net return of 5.8 times over the net return of Rs 46223.5 in CTJ – CTW treatment. The B: C ratio of BV-BV was 5.21, while that of CTJ – CTW treatment was 2.35. Thus, it was concluded that in rabi season, cauliflower on beds and zero till wheat are most economically viable options in this temporary waterlogged regions of Yamuna basin

Piperacillin induced bone marrow suppression: a case report

BACKGROUND: Piperacillin (and piperacillin/tazobactam) is a commonly prescribed antibiotic and is generally considered safe. We report a case of piperacillin induced bone marrow suppression. CASE PRESENTATION: A 19-year-old boy was being treated with piperacillin followed by piperacillin/tazobactam for infected pancreatic pseudocyst. After 21 days of treatment, he developed neutropenia and thrombocytopenia. These reversed promptly after stopping piperacillin/tazobactam. The time course of events suggested that piperacillin was the cause of bone marrow suppression in this patient. CONCLUSION: Bone marrow suppression is a serious adverse effect of piperacillin, which should be kept in mind while treating patients with this drug

Medication compliance in schizophrenic out patients with psychoactive substance use co-morbidity: a cross-sectional study

Background: Medication adherence is an important issue in the treatment and management of persons with psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia. Apart from side effects and inefficient outcomes of psychiatric medications, substance abuse also complicates the adherence pattern to the prescribed medications. Present study was designed to estimate the magnitude of medication non-adherence and its correlates in patients with schizophrenia having co-morbid psychoactive substance use.Method: The 60 schizophrenic patients with active substance use were taken from OPD of institute of mental health and hospital, Agra. Positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS), alcohol, smoking and substance involvement screening test (ASSIST), medication adherence rating scale (MARS) and Morisky 8-item medication adherence questionnaire (MMAQ-8) were used to gather relevant clinical data along with a proforma for recording socio-demographic characteristics.Results: The results revealed an alarming level of medication adherence. The 91.7% sample (55 patients) met the criteria for medication non-adherence. Majority of the patients were using alcohol (58.3%) and cannabis (51.7%). Conclusions: Given the high rate of medication non-compliance it is suggested that specific intervention aimed at compliance to prescribed medication is needed in this population

HEALTH STATUS OF CHILDREN UNDER SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICES IN DOIWALA BLOCK, DEHRADUN

Background -The introduction of school health services in India dates back to 1909, when school children in the city of Baroda were given the first medical examination. School Health programme ,promoting basic check up of school children for a variety of health related problems, is a systematic effort in raising awareness about health issues among school children and their families. Good health increases enrollment and reduces absenteeism. It also ensures attendance of the poorest and most disadvantaged children to school, many of whom are girls. Aim- To study the morbidity status of the school children & elicit relationship of healthy habits with morbidity pattern. Study Type- Observational study Methodology- A cross sectional survey to find out the morbidity pattern was conducted on 757 school children (340 boys and 417girls), aged 5-16 years studying in class I-VIII in five different schools of Doiwala, Dehradun under Rural Health training centre, Rajeev Nagar. Results- Overall students attendance was 78.2%. Clinical anaemia was higher in Girls (46.7%) as compared to Boys (34.1%). Worm infestation was higher in boys (65.1%) as compared to Girls(57.3%). Over all abnormal Visual acquity(8.5%) or eye abnormality (14%) was noticed among study subjects. Dental Caries (53.1%) and dermatitis (16.3%) were more in boys. Healthy habits like daily bathing (82.6%), daily teeth brushing (61.1%), mouth rinsing after meal (53%) and hair clean/combed (80.2%) were more in girls as compared to boys while trimmed nail was equally (55%) noticed among both the groups. Conclusion- Morbidities found amongst students are basically due to low awareness & negligent behaviour about personal hygiene are the key areas of concern and by active involvement of school teachers improvement in personal hygiene of school children and reduction in related morbidities can be achieved

Pregnancy outcome after antepartum diagnosis of oligohydramnios at or beyond thirty seven completed weeks in rural India

Background: Amniotic fluid volume abnormalities may reflect a problem with fluid production or its circulation, such as underlying fetal or placental pathology. These volume extremes may be associated with increased risks for adverse pregnancy outcome. Some studies show that amniotic fluid index is a poor predictor of adverse outcome and some authors have not confirmed the association of adverse perinatal outcome with oligo-hydramnios. Thus this study is conducted to find out the value of oligohydramnios in perinatal outcome and maternal outcome in pregnancies beyond 37 completed weeks.Methods: This study was done at department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, NIMS hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, from January 2013 to January 2015 for a period of 24 months. Our analysis included a total of 200 antenatal women; both booked and unbooked were included in this study. In this study 100 women with AFI <5 cm were allotted into the study group and another 100 women with normal AFI were included into the control group. Labour was either spontaneous or induced in both study and control group . During labour intermittent auscultation of fetal heart rate was done to detect any signs of fetal distress. Artificial rupture of membranes was done in active phase of labour to notice the grade of liquor and progress of labour was monitored on a partogram. Mode of delivery and intrapartum complications were noted. At birth neonate was assessed using 5 minute APGAR score , birth weight was recorded and neonate who were admitted into NICU were followed until discharge.Results: Oligohydramnios i.e., AFI <5 cm measured by ultrasonography in term pregnancies is associated with adverse perinatal outcome. The risks of meconium staining of liquor, intrapartum fetal distress,operative delivery and perinatal mortality are significantly higher in patients with AFI <5 cm , compared to those with normal AFI.Conclusions: Determination of AFI can be used as an adjunct to other fetal surveillance methods. It helps to identify those infants at risk of poor perinatal outcome. Determination of AFI is a valuable screening test for predicting fetal distress in labour requiring cesarean section

Subtractive genomics approach for in silico identification and characterization of novel drug targets in Neisseria meningitides serogroup B

Meningococcal disease is a life-threatening illness with annual incidence rates varying from 1 to 1000 per 100 000 persons in different parts of the world. Effective polysaccharide and polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines that offer protection against infection with meningococcal serogroups A, C, Y and W-135 have been licensed and are available worldwide. Serogroup B remains the most prevalent cause of meningococcal disease responsible for 32% of all meningococcal disease in the United States, 45 to 80% of the cases in Europe, and for the majority of cases in the rest of the world. The development of a vaccine against serogroup B poses the biggest problem due to the similarity between the B capsular polysaccharide structure and a polysialic acid containing glycopeptides that are a part of human brain tissue. Prevention of meningococcal disease will require the development of an effective vaccine to combat serogroup B, which is the cause of most meningococcal cases in developed countries. The availability of the complete sequence information of Neisseria meningitides serogroup B proteome has made it possible to carry out the in silico analysis of its genome for identification of potential vaccine and drug targets. Our study revealed 1413 proteins which are non-homologous to human genome. Screening these proteins using the Database of Essential Genes (DEG) resulted in the identification of 362 proteins as essential proteins of the bacterium. Analysis of the identified essential proteins, using the KEGG Automated Annotation Server (KAAS) housed at Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways database, revealed 35 enzymes of N. Meningitides that may be used as potential drug targets, as they belongs to pathways present only in the bacterium and not present in humans. Subcelluler localization prediction of these essential proteins revealed that 9 proteins lie on the outer membrane of the pathogen which could be potential vaccine targets. Screening of the functional inhibitors against these novel targets may result in discovery of novel therapeutic compounds that can be effective against Neisseria meningitides Serogroup B

ASSESSMENT OF EFFECTIVENESS OF TB POSTING DURING THE COMPULSORY ROTATORY RESIDENTIAL INTERNSHIP (CRRI) PROGRAMME

Research Question: What is the effectiveness of TB posting during the Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship (CRRI) programme? Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of TB posting during the CRRI programme. To find out the need of making Tuberculosis &amp; Respiratory Diseases Department posting mandatory during CRRI Programme. Study Design: Cross Sectional study. Study Duration: 12 months i.e. 01st April 2009 till 31st March 2010 Participants: 90 students who joined the CRRI programme formed the study group. Out of these 90 interns only 57 (64%) of them joined their two months Compulsory Rotatory Internship in the Department of Community Medicine and these were posted in Tuberculosis &amp; Respiratory Diseases Department for 15 days. Methodology: A pre-designed pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was administered to the participants on the first day and last day of their posting in Tuberculosis &amp; Respiratory Diseases Department. The results were analysed by using suitable statistical package. Results: The mean pre-test score was 28 (49.6%) and the mean post-test score was 38 (61.5%). It was observed that there was a 27% improvement in the knowledge of the participants when the question about the year of launching of RNTCP programme in India was asked. A remarkable improvement (46%) was found in the difference between pre and post-test knowledge of the participants when the questions like “Who are the DOTS providers” and “What is the colour coding of boxes for different categories of patients” were asked. A significant difference in the knowledge was found in the pre and post-test assessment in reference to Tuberculosis and its National Program

Plasma and urine biomarkers in acute viral hepatitis E

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hepatitis E, caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV), is endemic to developing countries where it manifests as waterborne outbreaks and sporadic cases. Though generally self-limited with a low mortality rate, some cases progress to fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) with high mortality. With no identified predictive or diagnostic markers, the events leading to disease exacerbation are not known. Our aim is to use proteomic tools to identify biomarkers of acute and fulminant hepatitis E.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We analyzed proteins in the plasma and urine of hepatitis E patients and healthy controls by two-dimensional Differential Imaging Gel Electrophoresis (DIGE) and mass spectrometry, and identified over 30 proteins to be differentially expressed during acute hepatitis E. The levels of one plasma protein, transthyretin, and one urine protein, alpha-1-microglobulin (α1m), were then quantitated by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) in clinical samples from a larger group of patients and controls. The results showed decreased plasma transthyretin levels (p < 0.005) and increased urine α1m levels (p < 0.001) in acute hepatitis E patients, compared to healthy controls. Preliminary results also showed lower urine zinc alpha glycoprotein levels in fulminant hepatitis E compared to acute disease; this remains to be confirmed with more fulminant cases.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results demonstrate the utility of characterizing plasma and urine proteomes for signatures of the host response to HEV infection. We predict that plasma transthyretin and urine α1m could be reliable biomarkers of acute hepatitis E. Besides the utility of this approach to biomarker discovery, proteome-level changes in human biofluids would also guide towards a better understanding of host-virus interaction and disease.</p