Inhalant use by children leads to poor performance in school and has been observed to precede substance use later in life. There is paucity of data on inhalant use among school children in India, particularly in the Northeast region of the country. We determined the prevalence and documented inhalant use characteristics among schoolchildren in the Northeast region of India. This cross sectional study was conducted in six states in the Northeast region of India. Schoolchildren between eighth and eleventh standards from the capital areas of the states were included in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Analysis was done using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test. Of the 4074 enrolled students, data from 3943 students who responded to the inhalant use question were analyzed. Mean age was 14.8 ± 1.2 years and 51.2% of participants were male. The proportion of students who had ever used inhalants (ever user) was 18.8% and adhesive/glue was the inhalant misused by most of the students. A higher proportion of males than females were ever users (P ≤ 0.001) and the most common place of use was at home (33.1%). Being in the presence of an older person using an inhalant or tobacco was found to be associated with use of inhalants among students. Nearly one-fifth of the students had used inhalants and nearly half used inhalants in the past month. Sensitization of the parents and school authorities to the problem, as well as preventive and curative services, should be considered.

Prevalence of needle stick injuries among nurses in a tertiary care hospital and their immediate responseContext: Needle stick injuries (NSIs) are wounds caused by needles in health care setup that accidentally puncture the skin and may result in exposure to blood or other body fl uids. NSI is a major occupational health and safety issue faced by health care professionals globally. Nurses have the highest rate of needle stick injury among health care workers. Aims: To determine the prevalence of needle stick injuries (NSIs) among the nurses, to determine the association between NSI and selected variables like age, marital status, years in service, educational qualifi cation and to assess the measures undertaken by the respondents after the NSI. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in Imphal among nurses from October to November 2011. Self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics were used. Chi square test was used to see the association and a P-value of <0.05 was taken as signifi cant. Results: The prevalence of NSI within the last one year was found to be 28.1% (N=86). Of them 49(46.5%) had two or more NSIs in the last one year. More than half of the NSIs occurred during intravenous (IV) injection, 16.3% during intramuscular (IM) injection and only 1.6% during recapping of the needle. Eighty three (96%) of them did not were gloves during NSI. Forty (46.5%) of them washed the injured part with water and soap as immediate measure. Thirty seven (43%) did not report it. Though 251(82%) knew about the free availability of Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) in the hospital, only 5(5.7%) took PEP. Conclusion: Needle stick injury is an important occupational health hazard among the nurses. Reporting to the concerned authorities, screening after NSI and promotion of safety measures should be greatly encouraged. Key words:Cross-sectional study, needle stick injuries, nurses, post-exposure prophylaxis, prevalence Original Article INTRODUCTIONNeedle stick injuries (NSIs) are wounds caused by needles used in health-care set-up that may accidentally puncture the skin resulting in exposure to blood or other body fl uids. NSI is a major occupational health and safety issue faced by health-care professionals globally. These events are of concern because of the risk of blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the human immunodefi ciency virus (HIV). Despite their seriousness as a medical event, NSIs have been neglected, most go unreported and ICD-10 coding is not available. [1] World Health Organization, in its World Health Report 2002, reports that of 35 million health-care workers, 2 million experience percutaneous exposure to infectious diseases each year. Around 37.6% of hepatitis B, 39% of hepatitis C and 4.4% of HIV/acquired immunodefi ciency syndrome in healthcare workers around the world are due to NSIs. [2] NSIs are a common event in the health-care environment and these injuries may occur ...

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