Financial hardship of tuberculosis patients registered under National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) in rural India: A longitudinal study.

Background: India shares a significant proportion of the Tuberculosis (TB) burden of the world. TB diagnosis, treatment, and success are complicated by the chronic nature of the disease as well as additional stressors including financial, psychological, and social hardships, adverse events associated with management, and poor compliance towards anti-tuberculosis medications.

Methods: This is a longitudinal study conducted in the Tuberculosis Units (TUs) of rural field practice areas of the Department of Community Medicine and Family Medicine in a tertiary care hospital in Odisha.

Effectiveness of "Rule of Seven" intervention in improving control status in diabetes mellitus protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: We developed the "rule of seven" intervention because different targets related to diabetes control can somehow be calculated by multiplication of seven. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the "rule of seven" in improving glycemic control in patients diagnosed with diabetes by measuring fasting plasma glucose and 2 hours postprandial plasma glucose.

Materials And Methods: This two-arm randomized controlled trial will compare the effectiveness of the "rule of seven" intervention in achieving glycemic control in diabetes mellitus patients.

Knowledge and practice of breastfeeding among lactating mothers in AIIMS, Bhubaneswar - A hospital-based cross-sectional study.

Background: 44% of infants under 6 months of age worldwide are only adequately breastfed. It is also found that only 41.6% of women breastfeed their child within one hour of birth and less than 50% of women continue breastfeeding up to 2 years.

Utilization of Untied Fund and Factors Affecting the Utilization at Sub-Centers of Rural Odisha: A Mixed-Method Study.

Introduction: The untied funds at sub-centers provided flexibility for local action at block and down below levels. Effective utilization of untied fund can strengthen the healthcare. So, our study aims at assessing the knowledge of health workers, male/female (HWF/M), and effectiveness of utilization of untied funds at the sub-center (SC) level.

Assessment of Medication Adherence and Associated Factors Among Patients With Diabetes Attending a Non-communicable Disease Clinic in a Community Health Centre in Eastern India.

Background Non-adherence to medication represents a modifiable risk factor for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Identification of patients with poor adherence can have a significant impact on clinical and socio-economic outcomes in the management of diabetes. This study aimed to assess medication adherence and its associated factors among patients with T2DM attending a non-communicable disease (NCD) clinic in a rural community health centre (CHC) in eastern India.

Spectrum of Population Availing COVID-19 Teleconsultation Services during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Tertiary Care Center of Eastern India.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a defining situation globally, and the outpatient services were also affected due to the closure of many healthcare facilities. The study was conducted to know the spectrum of the population availing teleconsultation and their needs for consultation. A cross-sectional study conducted in AIIMS Bhubaneswar, India, from May 2021 to June 2021in which the beneficiaries availing of the COVID-19 teleconsultation service were taken as study was participants and a total of 423 participants participated in the study.

Pseudolaguvia permaris, a new catfish from the Eastern Ghats of India (Teleostei: Sisoridae).

Pseudolaguvia permaris, a new sisorid catfish is described from the Mahanadi River basin in Odisha, India. The new species can be distinguished from congeners in having the following combination of characters: serrated anterior margin of dorsal-fin spine, thoracic adhesive apparatus not extending beyond base of last pectoral-fin ray, caudal peduncle depth 8.6-10.

Capacity building among frontline health workers (FHWs) in screening for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs): Findings of an implementation study from Bihar, India.

Background: Community-based screening is one of the key preventive strategies to tackle the ever-rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) under the National Programme for Prevention & Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS).

Objective: The current study was aimed to build capacity among frontline health workers (FHWs) in screening for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) under NPCDCS in the selected districts of Bihar state.

Methodology: This was an implementation study with follow-up components, conducted among 75 FHWs [14 auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) and 61 accredited social health activists (ASHAs)] from 15 primary healthcare facilities across four districts of Bihar state from October 2019 to September 2021.

Understanding Community Participation in Rural Health Care: A Participatory Learning and Action Approach.

Community participation is one of the founding pillars of primary health care. However, due to various reasons, we are yet to achieve complete integration of this component into the health system functioning in India. The objective of our study was to do a formative assessment of community participation in a rural healthcare setting by adopting participatory learning action (PLA).

COMMENT: Covid-19: Catalyst for a comprehensive law to combat potential pandemics in India.

Despite the relative decline in communicable diseases, India witnesses hundreds of outbreaks every year. Including the current Covid-19 pandemic, India has suffered through several major pandemics and large-scale epidemics since 1900s. However, the response to most of the epidemics has been inadequate.

Effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine (Covaxin) against breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection in India.

India approved COVID-19 vaccine called Covaxin, developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research and Bharat Biotech Ltd. The primary objective of the study was to estimate the effectiveness of Covaxin in preventing breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers (HCWs). A test-negative matched case-control study was conducted among HCWs of tertiary care hospital in Eastern India.

Adverse events following immunization of COVID-19 (Covaxin) vaccine at a tertiary care center of India.

The study aimed to assess the adverse events following COVID-19 vaccine (Covaxin) immunization at a tertiary care institution and also assess the predictors of the adverse events following immunization (AEFI). The prospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary care institute among the Covaxin beneficiaries between June 28 and September 6, 2021. A total of 1826 participants were assessed for any local or systemic adverse events after seven days of vaccination.

The Positive Predictive Values of the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) 4 Lesions and its Mammographic Morphological Features.

The Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) is a comprehensive guideline to systematize breast imaging reporting, and as per its recommendations, any lesion with likelihoods of malignancy greater than 2% is deemed as suspicious and tissue diagnosis is recommended. The aim of the study is to determine the positive predictive value (PPV) of BI-RADS categories 4a, 4b, and 4c for malignancy and association of mammographic morphological features of BI-RADS 4 subgroups with malignant outcomes. We retrospectively reviewed all the patients undergoing mammography with BI-RADS score of 4 followed by biopsy from May 2019 to April 2020.

Immunization coverage among children aged 12-23 months: A cross sectional study in low performing blocks of Bihar, India.

Introduction: Immunization is one of the most cost-effective measures in public health to date, preventing at an approximately 2 to 3 million fatalities in young children every year. As per recent World Health Organisation (WHO) bulletin, these lifesaving vaccines have been successfully averted around 20 million premature deaths and 500 million disease cases. Inspite of this progress the routine vaccine coverage is slow to rise as challenges still live for the underserved, inaccessible and vulnerable children.

Mental Healthcare Act 2017: Need to Wait and Watch.

Mental health is different from general health as in certain circumstances mentally ill people may not be in a position to make decisions on their own. Those who suffer rarely get access to appropriate medical treatment as their families try to hide their condition out of a sense of shame. Over 300 million people are estimated to suffer from depression, equivalent to 4.

A 20-year experience of ocular herpes virus detection using immunofluorescence and polymerase chain reaction.

Background: To detect the presence of herpes virus in corneal scrapings/corneal grafts of suspected herpetic keratitis patients attending the outpatient department/casualty of the Dr Rajendra Prasad Centre for Ophthalmic Sciences, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi for the past 20 years with immunofluorescence assay and to analyse the efficacy of polymerase chain reaction over immunofluorescence for routine laboratory diagnosis in some of the specimens.

Methods: Corneal scrapings and corneal grafts were collected by the ophthalmologists from 1,926 suspected herpetic keratitis patients between 1996 and 2015, among whom 1,863 patients were processed with immunofluorescence assay and 302 patients were processed with polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection of herpes virus. Of the 302 patients, clinical specimens from 239 patients were analysed by both polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence assay.