BACKGROUND Suxamethonium chloride was a time-tested depolarising muscle relaxant with quick onset of action and produced excellent intubating conditions, but it is contraindicated and hazardous in certain situations. Rocuronium bromide had the most rapid onset, intermediate duration of action, minimal cardiovascular side effects and with no histamine release, emerged as a good alternative. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the efficacy of rocuronium bromide in comparison to succinylcholine for use during rapid sequence induction of anaesthesia. Fifty patients posted for elective surgeries were divided into two groups of 25 each randomly. Group S received succinylcholine 1.5 mg/kg and Group R received rocuronium bromide of 0.9 mg/kg. Laryngoscopy and intubation was done at 60 seconds after assessing the relaxation of jaw, vocal cords status and response to intubation using a standard intubation scoring system by a double-blind assessor. Results were tabulated and analysed using appropriate statistical methods. Excellent intubating conditions were seen in 100% of Group S and 90% in Group R respectively. Haemodynamic changes returned to pre-induction baseline values by the end of 5 minutes in both groups. Hence, we concluded that rocuronium bromide was a safer and a good alternative to succinylcholine for rapid sequence intubation of anaesthesia in adult patients where succinylcholine was contraindicated provided that there was no anticipated difficulty in intubation.

Introduction:Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) are a leading cause of death in developing countries and are also third leading cause of death worldwide. Influenza is an acute viral and highly contagious respiratory infection causing significant morbidity and mortality. The 2009, swine flu pandemic is caused by a novel reassorted H1N1 subtype of H1N1 influenza A virus. Objectives: The present laboratory study was conducted for the active surveillance of H1N1 swine influenza A virus infection in type C category of patients with Severe acute respiratory illnesses (SARI). Materials and Methods:In clinically suspected cases of swine flu, a total of 130 deep nasal / throat swabs were collected and inoculated into viral transport medium (Himedia labs ) and In the reference lab, samples were tested with Real time reverse transcriptase PCR for universal influenza A (inf A), swine influenza A (SWinfA) and swine H1 (SW H1) probes. Results: Among the total 130 samples, 32 are showing positive by Real time RT-PCR with a prevalence of 24.61%. In 0-5 age group, 10 were positive with prevalence of 62.5%. In total 66 were males with 12 positives (18.18 %), 64 were females with 20 positives (31.25%). Conclusion: H1N1 influenza A is a potentially infectious disease, which spreads by droplet infection, so laboratory based surveillance is necessary to know the intensity of infection , seasonal trends and epidemiological factors like variations according to gender, age and region; which is also helpful for local health authorities to take the appropriate control measures.