Background Unmet needs of cancer patients prompt them to seek care from Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (TCAM) practitioners. Objective To investigate the prevalence of TCAM use in a multi-specialty tertiary cancer center in South India. Materials and methods A cross-sectional survey of cancer patients who used TCAM during the study period. The patients were recruited based on covenience sampling method. Result 320 cancer patients were approached, out of which 279 (87.2%) patients responded, and the prevalence of TCAM use was 34.4%. Home remedies (36%) figure prominently, with family advice (40%) being the primary influence for the TCAM use. The key expectation was an improvement in the quality of life (49%). TCAM use was pronounced during the chemotherapy phase (50%). Most patients (76%) using TCAM reported satisfaction with the treatment. Majority of the patients did not disclose concomitant use of TCAM to their treating physicians (71%). Conclusion TCAM use by cancer patients is prevalent in Kerala. The study results point towards a need for large scale surveys, implementation of pharmacovigilance, patient education and research to identify and integrate TCAM interventions in cancer care that are safe and have beneficial effects.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical profile, visual, anatomical and survival outcome of patients with endogenous endophthalmitis. Methods: Retrospective chart review of consecutive cases with endogenous endophthalmitis presenting from 2009-2016. Results: In our study, 41 eyes of 34 patients were included. Most common co-morbidity associated with endogenous endophthalmitis was Diabetes Mellitus (70.7%) and most common infective foci was UTI (73.2%). Among the culture positive cases, fungi and bacteria were evenly distributed, 76.93% were Gram positive bacteria and 23.07% were Gram negative. Fungal endogenous endophthalmitis was more commonly seen in immunosuppressed state (72.7%) and bilateral cases (66.7%). The mean presenting vision (log MAR) of patients who died during the study were poor compared to those who survived ( P = 0.014) Poor mean visual acuity at presentation was associated with more death ( P = 0.014). Eyes with poor presenting vision, fungal isolates, culture positivity and immune suppression had poor visual and survival outcome. Poor visual outcome was observed more frequently in eyes with Aspergillus infection (85.7%) compared to Candida (75%) and bacteria (58.3%). Evisceration was done for 5 out of 41 eyes (12.2%). Vitrectomy rate was 53.7% in our study, with 40% of them showing overall improvement in vision. Conclusion: Endogenous endophthalmitis is a sight threatening condition associated with high mortality particularly when caused by Aspergillus spp. in immunocompromised patients. Contrary to the prior published reports of endogenous endophthalmitis outside India, we found an equal distribution of fungal and bacterial organisms among our cases, with predominance of Aspergillus among fungal isolates and Gram-positive organism among bacteria. Fungal infections, especially with Aspergillus spp., resulted in poor visual and survival outcome.

Background: The uncertainty brought about by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) disease threatens the mental well-being of pregnant women with stress and anxiety. Further, pregnancy is a period of mixed feelings, aggravated by hormonal imbalances. This study aimed to describe pregnant women’s prenatal anxiety, perceived stress, and coping behaviour. Method: The study (N=384) utilised a cross-sessional design. Respondents were recruited by consecutive sampling. Through online mode, a structured proforma was used to collect demographics. The “Beck Anxiety Inventory Scale” was used to measure the prenatal anxiety level. Perceived stress was examined by administering the “Perceived Stress Scale,” and the “Brief Cope Scale” was used to assess the coping behaviour among participants. The data were analysed to determine the level of Covid-19-related anxiety, perceived stress, and coping behaviour adopted by the participants. This was done by using SPSS software, IBM SPSS 20, and p<0.05level of significance. Results: The majority of pregnant women, 210(55%), showed moderate anxiety. Their anxieties were related to Covid-19. The commonly found anxiety symptoms among pregnant women in this study were wobbliness in the legs, a feeling of hotness, numbness or tingling, faint or light-headedness, and hot or cold sweats. There was a moderate positive correlation (r=0.566, significant at p<0.001) between perceived stress and prenatal anxiety. The Coefficient of Determination showed that 32% of prenatal anxiety was accounted for by the perceived stress of the mother. The mean perceived stress score was 16.88+6.218, with a range of 9, and the mean coping behaviour score was 57.99+20, with a range of 20. The degree of correlation between perceived stress and coping behaviour had a moderate positive correlation (r=0.444, significant at p<0.001level). Conclusions: The study demonstrated increased anxiety and perceived stress that was related to Covid-19 amongst pregnant women.