Comparison of prevention of parent-to-child HIV transmission programme & national biennial HIV sentinel surveillance data for tracking HIV epidemic in India.

Background & Objectives: HIV sentinel surveillance (HSS) among antenatal women in India has been used to track the epidemic for many years. However, reliable tracking at the local level is not possible as ANC sentinel sites are limited in number and cover a smaller sample size at each site. Prevention of parent-to-child-transmission (PPTCT) programme data has a potential advantage due to better geographical coverage, which could provide more precise HIV case estimates; therefore, we compared HSS ANC data with PPTCT programme data for HIV tracking.

Prevalence of risk factors for non-communicable diseases in a rural tribal population of Mokokchung, Nagaland, India.

Background: Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of mortality in India. The northeastern part of India has a high burden of NCDs. However, data on the prevalence of risk factors for NCDs in the rural tribal population of Nagaland are limited.

Hypertension treatment and control in a rural cohort in Thiruvallur, Tamil Nadu, India.

Hypertension is a public health problem with low detection and treatment rates in India. We resurveyed 1284 patients with hypertension already identified in baseline survey of the cohort in Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, India. The objective was to estimate the proportion of patients with drug treatment, hypertension control and lifestyle modification at follow-up (median follow-up 27 months).

Diabetic retinopathy and its risk factors in patients with type 2 diabetes attending rural primary healthcare facilities in Tamil Nadu.

Background: India has a high burden of diabetic retinopathy ranging from 12.2% to 20.4% among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Non-communicable disease comorbidities and risk factors among tuberculosis patients, Meghalaya, India.

We did cross-sectional study to estimate the prevalence of tobacco, alcohol use, hypertension and diabetes among tuberculosis (TB) patients in comparison to the non-TB patients in East Garo Hills District, Meghalaya, India. We surveyed 110 TB patients attending outpatient TB clinic and 110 age/sex matched non-TB subjects from the general outpatient department as comparison group. Prevalence of ever smoking was 74.

Monitoring smoke-free laws in restaurants and educational institutions in Chennai, India.

Background: Smoking tobacco affects the health of smokers as well as non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke. The Government of India enacted the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act in 2003, which included a ban on smoking in public places and on sale of tobacco around educational institutions. We assessed the extent of compliance with these laws in restaurants and educational institutions in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

A rapidly-progressing outbreak of cholera in a shelter-home for mentally-retarded females, amta-II block, Howrah, West Bengal, India.

On 13 May 2010, a cluster of diarrhoeal disease cases was reported among the inmates of a shelter-home for mentally-retarded females in Parbaksi village of Howrah district in West Bengal, India. The outbreak was investigated to identify the aetiological agent and source of infection and to propose recommendations. A suspected case of cholera was defined as an acute onset of >3 loose watery stools in a female resident of the shelter-home since 1 May 2010.

Prevalence, awareness, treatment, control and risk factors for hypertension in a rural population in South India.

Objectives: Hypertension is a major public health problem with prevalence ranging 22-30% in urban India. There are few data on hypertension epidemiology in rural India. We conducted a survey to estimate prevalence, awareness, treatment, control and risk factors for hypertension in a rural population in south India.

The metabolic syndrome and associated risk factors in an urban industrial male population in South India.

Background: The metabolic syndrome is characterized by clustering of risk factors, which predisposes subjects to increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Objectives of this study were to estimate prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and determine the association of risk factors with the metabolic syndrome in an urban industrial male population in Chennai, India.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey for male employees working in an industrial unit.

A typhoid fever outbreak in a slum of South Dumdum municipality, West Bengal, India, 2007: evidence for foodborne and waterborne transmission.

Background: In April 2007, a slum of South Dumdum municipality, West Bengal reported an increase in fever cases. We investigated to identify the agent, the source and to propose recommendations.

Methods: We defined a suspected case of typhoid fever as occurrence of fever for > or = one week among residents of ward 1 of South Dumdum during February - May 2007.

Components of small area variation in fertility rates among married women in south India.

Objective: To adapt and develop a method for finding out what proportion of the variation among small areas in the number of births to married women is excess (systematic) variation over and above the chance (random) variation.

Methods: We adopted a two-stage sampling procedure to select 20 sub-centres in south India. We contacted all households and collected information on recent births and socioeconomic variables from all ever married women aged 15-49 years.