Objective: To estimate the burden of chikungunya in terms of financial and opportunity costs through a cross sectional survey from an affected area in Tamil Nadu. Methods: A survey of 809 households with a population of 4393 showed 59 individuals suffered from clinical symptoms of chikungunya. Using pre-tested questionnaire, information on the source of treatment, costs and income foregone were generated. Results: Both public and private health facilities were utilized by the patients. The per capita cost on treatment and average loss of income was Rs.223 and Rs.543 respectively. Extrapolation of this result to the entire village with 615 suspected cases showed estimates of Rs.1.38 and 3.35 lakhs towards treatment and productivity loss respectively. The cost saving per patient would be Rs. 59.93 if recommended line of treatment was followed. Conclusion: The results of the study justify the need for appropriate preventive measures with active surveillance support towards epidemic preparedness.

Background and Objective: Noise is a major health threat in occupations where its level exceeds the permissible level (90dB). Most serious health effect is Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). Objective of the present study was to find out any relationship between occupational noise exposure and hearing impairment of the employees in a heavy engineering industry. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during May 2005 to April 2006 in a selected heavy engineering industry in Kolkata. All the employees working in the factory were included in the study. Data were collected through interview, physical examination, audiometry and environmental noise survey. Results: Among the total of 278 employees of this study, 235 employees were exposed above the permissible occupational noise level (90dB), out of whom 82(34.90%) employees were deaf which was much more than the deafness among the nonexposed workers 3(6.98%). Hearing impairment increased as exposure level increased and this was statistically significant (x² = 17.97, df = 2, p = 0.0001). Hearing impairment also increased with duration of exposure (x² = 7.12, df = 2, p = 0.0284). Conclusion: Hearing impairment is associated with occupational noise exposure and thus pre-placement and periodical medical examination is of vital importance.

Re-orientation of medical education in India has not been fully successful because the development of medical teacher, a critical component has not been adequately addressed. Faculty development is a key factor. We have identified six shifting trends in faculty development that can contribute to the development of a medical educator in India. These include a shift from: One time training to continuing professional development; information based approach to project based approach; training to scholarship; lack of accountability to accountability and recognition; individual efforts to networking; and role of treatment providers to health promoters. We have discussed how these shifts are in tune with the global trends. We recommend that the initiatives taken in India in the recent past, viz., constitution of a Task Force by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, establishment of several medical education centers should be harnessed by forming a national working group. Such a group would provide policy directions for faculty development which will lead to a concrete plan for implementation and thereby addressing a critical component of the re-orientation of medical education.

A community based study in a village of Delhi was carried out during February 2004 - May 2005 to assess visual outcomes in population more than 40 years age utilizing a paramedical worker. About 24% of them had sup-optimal vision and were referred to a health centre visited by an ophthalmologist. 78% of those referred, attended the centre and got spectacles/ cataract operation as advised indicating effectiveness of screening by a paramedical worker followed by referral. Since the specialist referral service was also available within the same village, very high success rate in the current study may not be replicated to the same extent in other settings.

Salmonella is very important from the zoonotic point of view, as it causes many diseases in animals and humans. This study was conducted during September 2005 to February 2006 to develop rapid detection system for Salmonella from poultry samples. In the present study 300 poultry samples were screened for Salmonella. Earlier, isolation and identification of Salmonella from clinical samples by traditional cultural techniques required laborious procedures which can last upto 7 days, whereas amplification of DNA sequences unique to an organism using the PCR improves both the speed of detection and the level of sensitivity at which organisms can be detected and has been increasingly used to identify several bacterial species from food and clinical samples. In this study Salmonella were rapidly detected by targeting invA gene, giving PCR product of 284 bp size. Therefore this technique can be used for the screening of Salmonella in the routine testing.

Poisonings, stings and bites continue to be important cause of pediatric morbidity and hospitalization. The toxic product involved in the poisoning varies in different geographical areas and in same area over time. A retrospective study was conducted amongst the children of the age group up to 12 years admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Kolkata from January 2005 to December 2008. Total number of admissions was 17019 and that for accidental poisoning was 451 (2.65%). Kerosene constituted the largest group (54.55%). Mosquito coil and refill liquid were the new additions to the list of poisons and their ingestion was cause for admission of 15 (3.33%) children. The number of admissions due to stings and bites was 108 (0.63% of all admissions) during the above period. Of all the cases, 9 (1.83%) cases of accidental poisoning and 4 (3.7%) cases of stings and bites died.

A community based cross sectional study was carried out among 250 adolescent girls aged 13 -19 years in an urban community of Gulbarga from April 2004 to March 2005. This age group was considered for the study because of marked acceleration of physical and emotional development occurs. Objective was to assess health problems and suggest measures for improvement of health status of adolescent girls. It was observed that 94% had anemia, 27.6% suffered chronic energy deficiency while 46% had other health problems and 37.2% had menstrual problems. Anemia appeared to be a great public health problem, which could be addressed through distribution & intake of IFA, tablets either in schools or at house hold level.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in two districts of West Bengal, to report the prevalence of leanness among rural adolescent school children. Leanness was evaluated using age and sex specific cut-off points of triceps skinfold thickness of < 5th percentile of NCHS reference population as recommended by World Health Organization. A total of 2016 students, of these, 51.39 % boys and 48.61% girls aged 10-15 years were studied. Overall (age and sex combined) 18.35 % children were lean. Moreover, prevalence of leanness was significantly higher in girls (22.04 %) as compared to boys (14.86%).

Morbidity and mortality due to malaria largely affects the tribal population in malaria endemic areas who are having poor knowledge regarding the disease. A community based cross sectional study was carried out among 150 tribal respondents in a tribal area of Kamrup, Assam with the objective to find out the awareness and practices among the tribal communities. Results revealed that they were aware about malaria symptoms (97.3%), treatment (94%), methods of prevention (88%) and diagnosis (68%). Most respondents did not avail government health services or DDT spray. Even with a satisfactory knowledge some misconceptions persisted.

Early coital debut is a significant predictor of HIV infection. A cross-sectional, observational study of HIV/AIDS patients attending the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine (CSTM), Kolkata, carried out for a period of six months from May to October 2006; found that 32.2 % of patients had sexual initiation before 19 years. The mean age of coital debut was 22.47 years for males and 18.62 years for females. 62.3 % women had experienced sexual intercourse before 19 years. The first sexual partner was the spouse in 91.8% females and 42.9% males. Coital debut at younger ages was significantly higher among female patients less than 35 years of age, those educated less than middle school, staying in rural areas, not belonging to Hindu religion and not having commercial sex at time of sexual initiation

The present study was conducted to keep in view the knowledge, sexual behaviour and practices regarding HIV/AIDS among long distance truck drivers interviewed during September to November 2007 on the state highway connecting Punjab to U.P, Bihar and West Bengal. Of 400 study population, majority (78.5%) were found aware of unprotected sex as a mode of spread of HIV/AIDS followed by use of infected needle (48.5%). 32.3% drivers had only single sexual partner and 56.6% were involved in multiple sex partner. 58.6% truck drivers gave history of commercial sex workers (CSW) while 41.4 % drivers had their sexual partners from other sources like extra marital relations & their girl friends etc. The percentage of use of condom among those having multiple sexual partners was 64.3% while 35.7% had either never used a condom or had used it very irregularly.

This study was undertaken to review the demographic profile and assess the concurrent contraceptive acceptance in women seeking medical termination of pregnancy. A total of 15,726 women came for induced abortion in the years 1995 to 2007 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. The mean age and parity of women was 27.6 + 5.3 years and 2.5 respectively with 63% between 25-29 years, 99.1% married and 72% with three or more living children. Majority of married (92.5%) and 12% unmarried women reported in the first trimester of pregnancy. Nearly 40% were not using any contraception at the time of conception and only 4.2% used oral pills or intrauterine contraceptive device. The main reasons for seeking abortion were enough children (56%), unplanned pregnancy (14%), contraceptive failure (10%), previous child very young (7.5%) and others (12.5%). The concurrent contraception accepted was 95.54% with 56.32% sterilization, 37.84% IUD, 0.75% and 0.5% oral pills and DMPA respectively. Quality counseling provided at time of abortion can help the couple make an informed choice.

A multi-indicator thirty cluster survey was conducted during February- March 2008 in the rural areas of Anand district of Gujrat state to assess the utilization of the reproductive and child health services provided through government sector. In each selected village minimum 40 households were visited till total eight children in age group 12-23 months, at least two antenatal mothers in last trimester and five mothers who delivered in last year were studied. A total of 555 children of age less than three years & 1481 women in reproductive age group were included in the study. 74.8% of the children had institutional delivery. Birth registration was almost 100%. Immunization coverage was 84.5%. Registration of children and pregnant mothers under Mamta Abhiyan(MA) were 91% and 84 % respectively. Only 53% children were brought to Mamta Diwas Kendra regularly. Vitamin A coverage to children was 76.9%. Tetanus toxoid coverage of pregnant women was 85.1%, while Iron tablets were provided to 48.3% women. 43% of the postnatal mothers had no post-partum visit. Utilization of government schemes among postnatal women was 9% to 20%.

Elderly people are prone to psychiatric disorders through vicissitudes such as social isolation, malnutrition, economic and emotional depression. A cross sectional study was conducted in a Primary Health Centre Area in Ahmednagar district of Maharastra during 2003-2005 to assess prevalence of depression among elderly persons & to study social factors influencing depression. Goldberg and Bridges' scale was used to diagnose depression among 494 randomly selected study subjects. 31.4% of elderly persons were having depression. It was more common among females (37.4%), illiterates (37.9%), class V socioeconomic status (55.8%), divorced & unmarried.

A cross-sectional study using lot quality technique was undertaken among a sample of 198 women in 18 sub-centers (lots) of Bankura-I Community Development Block who had delivered in last 12 months preceding the survey to find out the sub-center(s) with 'acceptable' coverage (>50%) and overall coverage of 'appropriate' antenatal care of the block. Registration before 12 weeks, three antenatal check-ups with checking of BP, weight, edema and abdominal examination, distribution of 100 IFA tablets and adequate tetanus prophylaxis were taken collectively as a measure of 'appropriate' antenatal care. Out of 18 sub-centers, only one had 'acceptable' coverage of appropriate antenatal care. The overall coverage of 'appropriate' antenatal care was 29.1% in the study Block.

Demographic imbalance created because of the declining sex ratio in India is a cause of concern to policy makers, implementers, demographers and social reformers. To take situation under control, Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act is operational since 1996. Authors have critically reviewed the status of women and socio-cultural factors influencing their status based on data from NFHS III and census 2001 and challenges faced in the operationalisation of PNDT Act in India.