The Journal of Community Health Management

85-90

Authors: Saibal Adhya, Arun Tyagi.

Introduction: Potable water is one of the most basic logistics requirements of Armed Forces, in camps, on official as well as personal moves. It directly affects the health of the soldier as well as the combat readiness of committed forces. This study was under taken to assess the effectiveness of major water sterilization formulations available currently and make recommendations regarding usage in the armed forces. Materials and Method: A comparative study was conducted to assess the effectiveness as well as acceptability for use of four water sterilizing formulations: OFWS; Halazone; NaDcc; and Iodine which can be used for purification of water at individual level. Eight regiments in a forward location were selected by random procedure and all personnel proceeding on leave during a three month period formed part of the study. These eight units were then randomized into four groups. Results: NaDcc was most acceptable followed by Halazone and OFWS with Iodine being least acceptable. Iodine users –mentioned inability to understand usage, unacceptable taste and odour, complicated usage, longer duration to act. Halazone and OFWS users mentioned that these were complicated to use and took a longer duration for the formulation to take effect. Halazone was found to have the least acceptable taste followed by OFWS. There was no statistical difference between the protective effectiveness of the formulations as per tests conducted in lab. Conclusion: NaDcc was the most acceptable formulation and its benefits were demonstrated to far outweigh that of older formulations like OFWS, it should be immediately introduced in the Armed Forces.

97-99

Authors: Monu Sarin, Poonam Arora, SC Mohapatra.

Introduction: PCOS exists commonly among women in the reproductive age with an incidence rate of 6-10%.The clinical manifestations of PCOS include oligomenorrhoea, infertility, acne, hirsutism and obesity. There is a significant overlap of symptoms between PCOS and hypothyroidism. Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of hypothyroidism in PCOS patients. Materials and Method: This was a cross-sectional study of clinically diagnosed 50 females of PCOS and another 50 age matched female subjects were studied as the control population. PCOS and Hypothyroidism were diagnosed by Ultrasound (USG) and biochemical parameters T3, T4, TSH, LH, FSH and PRL. Results: The mean TSH, LH, FSH, LH/FSH ratio and PRL are sig­nificantly higher in women with PCOS as compared to controls. Conclusion: PCOS is on the rise in hypothyroid patients. Identification of hypothyroidism may help us to treat and prevent fertility complications in PCOS females. Hypothyroidism needs to be early corrected in the management of infertility associated with PCOS which is of major concern these days.

106-108

Authors: JS Poyyamazhi.

Introduction: Vector borne diseases are prevalent all over the world, especially in tropical regions. In India mosquito borne diseases such as malaria and dengue are in steep rise. Community participation plays an important role in controlling the transmission of mosquito borne diseases. Community participation depends on public awareness and knowl­edge towards the diseases and their prevention. Therefore, the present study aimed at determining the knowledge regarding mosquito borne diseases, current mosquito control practices among rural population. Materials and Method: The present questionnaire based cross sectional study was carried out in Thuvakudi government hospital. Study period was for three months (October 2016 to December 2016). Participants were either patients or family members of patients waiting to be seen by a health care official. Data was collected from total 329 people on the basis of systemic random sampling. Results: 329 subjects were included in the study. Most of the study participants were aware of malaria (88.4%) followed by dengue (59.5%) and chickungunya (15.0%). Majority of participants in our study consider dirty stagnant water (47.3%) is the place where mosquitoes breed. 6.2% are not aware of mosquito breeding sites. 16.3% participants considered garbage is the place for mosquito breeding. Liquid vaporizers (40.1%) were found to be the most commonly used method followed by coils/mats (36.6%). Conclusion: Knowledge towards mosquito borne diseases was good with respect to malaria followed by dengue. Knowledge regarding mosquito breeding places was also good, but few participants believe garbage as one of the places of mosquito breeding. All the participants in our study are taking any one of the preventive measures against mosquitoes.

116-121

Authors: S. Ramesh Kannan, Shanthi Kannan, Kalaiselvi Selvaraj, Manikandan.

Introduction: Carpal Tunnel syndrome is a common entrapment neuropathy involving the median nerve across the transverse carpal ligament. The diagnosis is clinical and confirmed by neurophysiological evaluation. Management varies from conservative as well as surgical. Since most of the patients prefer medical management we decided to compare the efficacy of benfotiamine, a neuro protective agent and pregabalin, a third generation anticonvulsant drug used for symptom relief. Aim: The study was conducted to compare the efficacy of pregabalin in combination with benfotiamine, and pregabalin as monotherapy in the management of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Materials and Method: Fifty eight patients with CTS, who were diagnosed clinically and confirmed by nerve conduction study, were included through convenience sampling method. They were allocated to two groups: (i) treatment with pregabalin(n=30) and (ii) treatment with pregabalin in combination with benfotiamine (n=28) by simple randomization method. Symptom severity and functional status of these enrolled patients were compared before the intervention at recruitment and 12 weeks after the intervention using Boston Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Questionnaire (BCTQ). Result: The mean difference in symptom severity scale (SSS) and functional status scale(FSS) scores between two treatment groups were analyzed by intention to treat method. Statistically significant differences were observed after 12 weeks of treatment in the FSS and SSS in both the groups, compared to the baseline.Patients who received combination treatment had higher scores after 12 weeks in the FSS as well as the SSS compared to pregabalin group [12 weeks score in SSS: pregabalin: 0.33±0.29, pregabalin+benfotiamine group: 2.16±0.58, p=0.0001, mean reduction in FSS: pregabalin: 0.14± 0.25, pregabalin+benfotiamine group:1.81±0.24, p=0.0001]. Conclusion: Combining benfotiamine with pregabalin is found to be effective in the conservative management of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome due to the different modalities of action. The long term efficacy of these drugs needs to be studied.

131-132

Authors: Monu Sarin, Sameer Malik, Munish Chauhan, Sandeep Dewan, S.C. Mohapatra.

Each year 2.2 million people develop TB in India and estimated 2,20,000 die from the disease. There are two main types of drug resistant TB: MDR-TB and XDR. Globally in 2015 the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimated that 3.9% of new cases and 21% of previously treated cases of TB were of MDR/RR-TB. Active pulmonary TB is a rare primary cause of acute respiratory failure (ARF) however, high mortality rates have recently been reported in patients with ARF arising from TB. In-hospital mortality of tuberculosis patients remains high, especially among those requiring admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) and mechanical ventilation (MV). Tuberculosis patients requiring ICU care may also develop acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). ARDS severe enough to require ECMO support is estimated to occur in nearly 5 to 10 cases per million populations per year.