Asthma and CB in adults pose an enormous health care burden in India. Most of the associated risk factors are preventable.

The aetiology of sarcoidosis is currently unknown. Due to the clinical and histological similarities between sarcoidosis and tuberculosis, the role of mycobacteria has been repeatedly investigated as an aetiological agent for sarcoidosis. The current meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the available molecular evidence on the possible role of mycobacteria in the development of sarcoidosis.The MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, DARE and CENTRAL databases were searched for relevant studies published from 1980 to 2006, and studies evaluating the presence of mycobacteria using molecular techniques in biological samples of patients with sarcoidosis were included in the current analysis. The 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated for the expected proportion (of individual studies); the data was then pooled to obtain a summary success rate with 95% CI. The odds ratio (95% CI) was also calculated in order to assess the presence of mycobacteria in samples of patients with sarcoidosis versus those from nonsarcoidosis control samples.The database search yielded 31 studies. All studies used polymerase chain reaction for nucleic acid amplification followed by identification of nucleic acid sequences specific for different types of mycobacteria. Overall, 231 out of the 874 patients were positive for mycobacteria with a positive signal rate of 26.4 (23.6-29.5%), and the odds of finding mycobacteria in samples of patients with sarcoidosis versus controls were 9.67 (4.56-20.5%) using the random effects model and 19. 49 (11.21-35.54%) using the exact method. There was methodological and statistical heterogeneity and evidence of publication bias.The results of the current study illustrate a demonstrable mycobacterial presence in sarcoidosis lesions suggesting an association between mycobacteria and some cases of sarcoidosis. To avoid methodological diversity, larger multicentre trials with a central laboratory for sample testing should be designed.

Non-invasive ventilation (NIV) is the delivery of assisted mechanical ventilation to the lungs, without the use of an invasive endotracheal airway. NIV has revolutionised the management of patients with various forms of respiratory failure. It has decreased the need for invasive mechanical ventilation and its attendant complications. Cardiogenic pulmonary oedema (CPO) is a common medical emergency, and NIV has been shown to improve both physiological and clinical outcomes. From the data presented herein, it is clear that there is sufficiently high level evidence to favour the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), and that the use of CPAP in patients with CPO decreases intubation rate and improves survival (number needed to treat seven and eight respectively). However, there is insufficient evidence to recommend the use of bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP), probably the exception being patients with hypercapnic CPO. More trials are required to conclusively define the role of BiPAP in CPO.

ABSTRACT. There are only a few studies done on pulmonary effects of passive smoking from India, which are summarized in this paper. Several vernacular tobacco products are used in India, bidis (beedis) being the commonest form of these. Bidis contain a higher concentration of nicotine and other tobacco alkaloids compared to the standard cigarettes (e.g., the sum of total nicotine and minor tobacco alkaloids was 37.5 mg in bidi compared to 14-16 mg in Indian or American cigarettes in one study). A large study performed on 9090 adolescent school children demonstrated environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure to be associated with an increased risk of asthma. The odds ratio for being asthmatic in ETSexposed as compared to ETS-unexposed children was 1.78 (95% CI: 1.33-2.31). Nearly one third of the children in this study reported non-specific respiratory symptoms and the ETS exposure was found to be positively associated with the prevalence of each symptom. Passive smoking was also shown to increase morbidity and to worsen the control of asthma among adults. Another study demonstrated exposure to ETS was a significant trigger for acute exacerbation of asthma. Increased bronchial hyper-responsiveness was also demonstrated among the healthy nonsmoking adult women exposed to ETS. Passive smoking leads to subtle changes in airflow mechanics. In a study among 50 healthy nonsmoking women passively exposed to tobacco smoke and matched for age with 50 unexposed women, forced expiratory volume in first second (FEV1) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were marginally lower among the passive smokers (mean difference 0.13 L and 0.20 L-1, respectively), but maximal mid expiratory flow (FEF25-75%), airway resistance (Raw) and specific conductance (sGaw) were significantly impaired. An association between passive smoking and lung cancer has also been described. In a study conducted in association with the International Agency for Research on Cancer, the exposure to ETS during childhood was strongly associated with an enhanced incidence of lung cancer (OR = 3.9, 95% CI 1.9-8.2). In conclusions several adverse pulmonary effects of passive smoking, similar to those described from the western and developed countries, have been described from India.

Setting Community based tuberculosis (TB) prevalence surveys in ten sites across India during 2006–2012 Objective To re-analyze data of recent sub-national surveys using uniform statistical methods and obtain a pooled national level estimate of prevalence of TB. Methods Individuals ≥15 years old were screened by interview for symptoms suggestive of Pulmonary TB (PTB) and history of anti-TB treatment; additional screening by chest radiography was undertaken in five sites. Two sputum specimens were examined by smear and culture among Screen-positives. Prevalence in each site was estimated after imputing missing values to correct for bias introduced by incompleteness of data. In five sites, prevalence was corrected for non-screening by radiography. Pooled prevalence of bacteriologically positive PTB was estimated using Random Effects Model after excluding data from one site. Overall prevalence of TB (all ages, all types) was estimated by adjusting for extra-pulmonary TB and Pediatric TB. Results Of 769290 individuals registered, 715989 were screened by interview and 294532 also by radiography. Sputum specimen were examined from 50 852 individuals. Estimated prevalence of smear positive, culture positive and bacteriologically positive PTB varied between 108.4–428.1, 147.9–429.8 and 170.8–528.4 per 100000 populations in different sites. Pooled estimate of prevalence of bacteriologically positive PTB was 350.0 (260.7, 439.0). Overall prevalence of TB was estimated at 300.7 (223.7–377.5) in 2009, the mid-year of surveys. Prevalence was significantly higher in rural compared to urban areas. Conclusion TB burden continues to be high in India suggesting further strengthening of TB control activities.