Background:Blood transfusion is a life-saving measure in various medical and surgical emergencies. Transfusion medicine, apart from being important for the medical treatment of each patient, also has great public health importance.Objectives:The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of transfusion transmitted infections in voluntary blood donors at a rural tertiary care teaching hospital in western Maharashtra, India.Materials and Methods:All voluntary donors reporting to the blood bank were screened for HBsAg, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), HIV and Syphilis by using the appropriate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. HIV infection was confirmed using a standard immunoblotting technique. Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) was tested for surface antigen (HBsAg) and HCV by the immunechromatographic method. The Venereal Disease Reference Laboratory (VDRL) test was used for estimation of syphilis infection. The study was designed for a duration of two years between January 2009 to December 2010. Medical reports of the donors were accessed from the hospital records and analyzed.Results:A total of 5661 voluntary blood donors were screened, of which 5394 (95.28%) were males and 267 (4.72%) were females. The overall seroprevalence of HBV and HCV were 1.09% and 0.74% respectively; for HIV and syphilis the seroprevalence was estimated to be 0.07% for each.Conclusion:Blood is still one of the main sources of transmission of infections. HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C viruses and syphilis are prevalent among voluntary donors in rural India.

Background:Tuberculosis (TB) is the most common serious opportunistic infection in HIV positive patients and is the manifestation of AIDS in more than 50% of cases in developing countries. TB can occur at any time during the course of HIV infection.Aim:To describe the socio-demographic profile and prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis (HIV/TB co-infection) among HIV positive patients been attended at the antiretroviral therapy clinic (ART) clinic at tertiary care teaching hospital of western Maharashtra, India.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was carried out at the ART clinic of Pravara Rural Hospital, Loni, from June 2011 to May 2012. A total of 1012 HIV positive patients, who attended ART clinic, receiving ART treatment during the study period, were included in the analysis. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software (Version 17.0).Results:This study showed 1012/172 (17%) prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among HIV positive patients, of which 87 (50.58%) were males and 85 (48.42%) were females. Low CD4 count (< 50/μl) had statistically significant association with HIV/TB co-infection as compared to HIV infection only (P < 0.0001).Conclusion:The study showed that 17% of HIV infected persons had tuberculosis co-infection. More strategic preventive measures that enhance body immunity among HIV patients are highly needed as early as possible before they develop active tuberculosis.

Background:Health research training is an essential component of medical education and a vital exercise to help develop physician research skills.Objectives:This study was carried out to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices towards health research amongst the postgraduate students of Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences University of central India.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study was carried out from August to October 2012. A total of 116 postgraduate students were interviewed. Knowledge, attitude, and practices related to health research were assessed using a predesigned, pretested and validated questionnaire. Results were analyzed in the form of percentage and proportions whenever appropriate.Results:In present study, the concept of research hypothesis was known to only 18.9% of the postgraduate students, whereas 17.2 and 21.5% students knew the full form of MEDLARS and MEDLINE respectively. Majority (91.4%) students believed that patient outcome improves with continued medical research and 70.7% are willing to participate in workshop for research methodology. Lack of time due to vast curriculum of postgraduate subjects (59.5%), lack of research curriculum (25%), and inadequate facilities (25.8%) were stated as major obstacles for pursuing research.Conclusion:Postgraduate students have inadequate knowledge, but have positive attitudes towards health research. Postgraduate training and research facilities at the institution need to undergo major transformation in order to encourage meaningful research by postgraduate trainees.

HIV infection represents a major public health problem for both developing and developed countries as it has grown to pandemic proportions worldwide. Spectrum of clinical presentation of HIV can vary with geographical distribution, socioeconomic and cultural environment. The aim of this study was to examine the socio-demographic characteristics, clinical presentations of HIV/AIDS patients, opportunistic infections and the possible risk factors for acquiring HIV infection. A cross sectional study was conducted from March to September, 2011 at an antiretroviral therapy (ART) centre of a rural tertiary care hospital, situated in Maharashtra state of India. History and physical examination was done and recorded on a pre-designed schedule which included the socio-demographic and clinical profile of the patients. More than half of the subjects were in economically productive age group and male patients 166 (53.4%) outnumbered the female patients 145 (46.6%). There was a predominance of patients from rural locations nearby the present ART centre. The patients were having low level of literacy and were from the lower middle and lower socio-economic classes. Among the spouses of male patients, 65 (44.8%) were HIV positive and among the spouses of female patients, 52 (35.7%) were HIV positive. Commonest mode of acquiring the infection was through heterosexual contact. Tuberculosis (62%) was the most common opportunistic infection. As per the WHO staging, 132 (42.5%) patients were in stage 3. Combination of behavioral risk factors and unawareness is responsible for rapid spread of HIV/AIDS. People with high-risk behavior and spouses of affected patients need to be educated for primary and secondary prevention.

Low socioeconomic status, bad sanitary practices, nutritional status and weaning practices significantly influence the prevalence of recurrent diarrhoea.