Objective : To estimate the effectiveness of BCG vaccination in the prevention of leprosy. Methods : Study Design: Population-based pair-matched case-control study. The study was carried out in the field operation area of Regional Leprosy Training and Research Centre, Raipur, Chattisgarh, India. It included 201 cases of leprosy (diagnosed by WHO criteria), born onwards 1964. Each case was pair-matched with one neighbourhood control for age and sex. BCG vaccination status was assessed by examination for the presence of BCG scar, immunization records if available and information from subjects/parents of children. Subjects uncertain about BCG vaccination were not included. Results : A marginally non-significant protective association between BCG and leprosy was observed (OR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.40-1.04). The overall vaccine effectiveness (VE) was 35%. The BCG effectiveness was lower for pauci-bacillary leprosy as compared to multibacillary leprosy. The sub-group analysis revealed that the BCG effectiveness was statistically non-significant in less than or equal to 14 years of age and females category. The overall prevented fraction of leprosy was calculated to be 20% (95% CI -1.8 - 41.4). Conclusion : The current study identified a marginally beneficial role of BCG vaccination in the prevention of leprosy in study population.

Objectives: The present study was undertaken to standardize skin testing and to develop a safe and effective premedication protocol for administration of ERIG in those with skin test positivity/hypersensitivity. Methods: A method of grading of skin testing was developed using injection histamine as a positive control. This was evaluated by using it on 517 subjects who had severe (WHO category III) exposure to rabies. A premedication protocol consisting of injections pheniramine, ranitidine, hydrocortisone and adrenaline was evaluated by using it on fifty one subjects who were skin test positive/hypersensitive to ERIG. Results: The premedication protocol was safe and effective as all the S l subjects could be administered the full dose of ERIG despite being skin test positive/hypersensitive to ERIG. Besides the premedication drugs/protocol did not affect the immune response to vaccine and ERIG therapy.

Objective: To assess if Staphylococcus aureus is transmitted between man and animals & viceversa. Methods : Staphylococcus aureus belonging to biotype C (bovine origin) were isolated from nares and hands of workers on six dairy farms of Assam and Meghalaya. The cows on the farms had a high rate of prevalence of mastitis caused by the same biotype of S. aureus. Three strains of S. aureus biotype A (human origin) were isolated from mastitis milk samples from cows on one of these farms, in which one of the workers was having cuteneous lesions (crusty abscess) and one strain of S. aureus biotype A was isolated from a swab sample collected from an abscess on the skin of the worker. Results: It has been revealed that all the members of the workers family were suffering from a similar type of cuteneous infection, indicating that it was a case of impetigo. The antibiotic susceptibility pattern of all the three biotype A strains from bovine origin was identical to that of the biotype A strains isolated from the worker. The percentage of resistance to 12 commonly used therapeutic antimicrobial agents was higher among the biotype C strains from human origin than the biotype C strains from bovine origin. Several strains from cattle and human origins showed identical antimicrobial susceptibility patterns against the tested agents.

School personnel are role models for students, teachers of tobacco use prevention curricula, and key influencers for tobacco control policies in schools. With their daily interactions and strong influence on their students they represent an influential group for tobacco control. Data collected through the Global School Personnel Survey during 2006 in 180 schools of 6 regions of India have shown that a large proportion (29%) of school personnel used tobacco. The scarcity of tobacco free school policies and relevant teaching materials (non existent in 62% of schools surveyed) and lack of training among school personnel (84%) reported in this study indicate the extent of undermining the scope of prevention efforts in schools to reduce adolescent tobacco use prevalence in India. Majority of school personnel in India strongly agreed that they should receive specific training to help students avoid or stop using tobacco. Training of school personnel along with introduction of comprehensive school policies and its vigorous enforcement will help adolescent students and school personnel to adopt and maintain a tobacco free lifestyle.

The burden of diabetes mellitus across the world especially in India is substantial, and much of the morbidity and mortality is due to development of diabetic complications. Control of blood glucose is important to reduce occurrence of these complications. Measurement of glycated haemoglobin values provides valuable information about long term glycemic control, and is recommended for routine monitoring by several clinical guidelines on diabetes. Monitoring and appropriate management have been shown to improve outcomes in patients with diabetes in other parts of the world. However, the adoption of glycated hemoglobin as part of routine monitoring of diabetes patients in India will need to answer issues of availability, affordability and accessibility.

A community based study was conducted in an urban slum of Mumbai to assess the epidemiological factors associated with geriatric population and depression. A sample size of 196 was taken according to Lots quality technique, including all elderly above 60 years of age in the study area. Depressed elderly (using Geriatric Depression Scale) constituted 45.9% of the study population and was more in females (57.8%, p<0.05). The significant variables associated with depression were poor socio-economic status, marital status, non-working or dependency and illiteracy (p<0.05). Depressed elderly were more inclined towards substance abuse (58.13%), had disturbed sleep patterns (61.6%) and mostly suffered from acute/chronic illness (p<0.05).

This study aimed to analyze the bacteriological profile of street foods sold in various parts of Pune city. A total of 75 randomly collected food samples were included in the study. Samples were processed for the presence of bacterial pathogens only. 88% of the food samples analyzed confirmed the presence of bacterial pathogens, indicating the need for stricter implementation of food sanitation practices to reduce the possible risk of transmission of infection on consumption of these foods. Other aspects related to the trade of street foods in the city like the age and sex profile of food vendors, educational status and the hygienic aspects involved in the preparation, selling and consumption of these items were also reviewed.

The study was undertaken to establish normograms for PEFR in healthy rural south Indian school children and to derive prediction equations for PEFR with height. PEFR was measured in 1403 children aged 5 to 17 years using Wright's mini peak flow meter. Prediction equations were derived for PEFR with height in boys and girls. Normograms were plotted based on the observed values of PEFR in the study population. Significant linear correlation was seen of PEFR with height in males (p<0.001, r=0.856) and in females (p<0.001, r=0.762). Prediction equation for PEFR are 4.49 x height (cm) - 384.64 in males and 2.99 x height (cm) -219.44 in females.

This community based study was carried out in Haripal Block of Hooghly district in West Bengal in 2005 to assess the nutritional status of the unmarried adolescents and 204 adolescents were studied. The BMI for age and height for age <5 ^th percentile were used as criteria for thinness and stunting respectively. The overall prevalence of thinness and stunting were 24.48% and 52.45%, thinness was more common among the boys. The other nutritional deficiency disorders were pallor (12.25%), conjunctival xerosis (9.30%), Vitamin B complex deficiency (1.47%), goitre (0.98%) and dental caries (11.76%). An indication of chronic energy deficiency in the study area was observed.

An 18-episode radio program was broadcasted in 2004 by Government of Madhya Pradesh to disseminate health messages to the community. The program was evaluated for its outreach and level of retention of the key messages by the listeners. In the households with radio sets only 49% listened to radio programs regularly. Among them 34% had listened to at least one episode of the program under study. The retention rate of key messages by the program listeners was found to be around 30 per cent only. Barriers to use of radio for mass communication of health messages have been discussed.

The study was conducted to ascertain the morbidity profile among children by retrospective review of inpatient data of children admitted to Comprehensive Rural Health Services Project (CRHSP), Ballabgarh, a model CHC and Badshah Khan (B.K.) hospital, Faridabad, a district hospital over a period of one year. Diarrhea and pneumonia comprised 64% of all admissions at the model CHC and 30% at the district hospital. Thalassemics requiring blood transfusion formed 21% of inpatients at the district hospital. Common paediatric ailments can be managed appropriately at CHC level, provided the infrastructure as recommended by Indian Public Health sandards for CHC under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) is available. The blood bank or blood storage facility at a CHC is desirable.

This was a prospective, questionnaire-based study to determine the incidence of percutaneous injury among medical interns in a tertiary care hospital in Punjab. The incidence of percutaneous injury among interns was found to be 157.89 per 100 person-years. Of 38 interns, 31 (81.6%) experienced a lot of anxiety with regard to their occupational risk of contracting HIV, 23 (60.5%) felt that there was no easy availability of materials in the wards to take universal precautions and 17 (44.7%) felt they were not well informed about what to do in case of an occupational exposure to HIV. 7.9% interns always took universal precautions with every patient. Lack of time, lack of materials and emergency situations were the major reasons why universal precautions were not taken at times. 12 out of 38 (31.6%)interns correctly knew when PEP should ideally be initiated.

The study was done to assess correlation between serology and clinical features of Dengue fever at Burdwan Medical College, where after clinical examination, blood samples were processed by E.I.A. Of 139 cases, mostly between 1 to 20 years, Male-Female ratio was 80:59. Bleeding manifestation was observed only in 3 cases, and Lymphadenopathy, Myocarditis were uncommon features. Few patients have biphasic temperature. Fever and severity of symptoms did not have correlation. Patients' blood was examined for Dengue viruses, with only 44.6% positivity. Correlation exists between illness duration and antibody titer. [r = 0.41; (P <0.01)]. Fever other than Dengue also exhibited similar symptoms, but optical density in EIA test was less. As high fever with similar symptoms may be due to causes other than Dengue, thorough search for other viral infection namely Chikungunya should be done in endemic areas also.

A cross sectional study was conducted utilizing rapid assessment procedures, covering 516 children of 12-23 months in 80 clusters of both urban and rural areas of district Agra. The results revealed that 41.5% had immunization cards; only 37.2% children were fully immunized and 37.6% children were unimmunized. 43.6 % had received measles vaccine. The most common reason for non immunization was obstacles (46%), followed by lack of motivation (22.6%), lack of information (19.4%). 13.8% had received vitamin-A oil along with measles vaccine while only 5.3% had received vitamin A upto three years.

'Fly Catcher', an innovative herbal based mechanical trap was evaluated for its efficacy in reducing fly nuisance in and around messes operating in a large teaching establishment and the adjacent garbage dumps. It is recommended that the 'Fly Catcher' may be used as an adjunct to other routinely followed anti fly measures.