Background: High risk human papilloma virus (HPV) types 16 and 18 have been proven as central causes of cervical cancer and safety and immunogenicity of HPV vaccines are sufficiently established. Knowledge and practices of HPV vaccination among medical and paramedical students is vital as these may strongly determine intention to recommend vaccination to others in the future. The present study was therefore undertaken to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding cervical cancer screening and HPV vaccination among medical and paramedical students and to analyze factors influencing them. Materials and Methods: The present cross sectional study, conducted in a tertiary care teaching hospital in south India, included undergraduate students aged 18 years and above, belonging to medical, dental and nursing streams, after informed written consent. Results: Out of 957 participants, only 430 (44.9%) displayed good knowledge and only 65 (6.8%) had received HPV vaccination. Among the unvaccinated, 433 (48.54%), were not willing to take the vaccine. Concerns regarding the efficacy (30.5%), safety (26.1%) and cost of the vaccine (21.7%) were responsible for this. Age, gender, family history of malignancy and mother's education had no influence on knowledge. Compared to medical students, nursing students had better knowledge (OR-1.49, 95% CI 0.96 to 2.3, p = 0.072) and students of dentistry had poor knowledge (OR-0.50 95% CI 0.36 to 0.70, p <0.001). Conclusions: The knowledge and uptake of HPV vaccination among medical and paramedical students in India is poor. Targeted health education interventions may have huge positive impact not only on the acceptance of vaccination among them, but also on their intention to recommend the vaccine in future.

OBJECTIVE:To analyse the cases of eclampsia admitted in Sri Avittom Thirunal Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India a tertiary health care hospital over a period of two years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective descriptive study in which 88 cases of eclampsia who satisfied the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study and the distribution of age, gravidity, booking status, type of eclampsia, socioeconomic status, period of gestation, blood pressure at admission were studied. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: There were 88 cases of eclampsia analyzed over a period of two years. 79.6% of cases were in the age group of 20-29 years and 81.8% of them belonging to low socioeconomic status. Out of 88 patients who came for admission, majority (89.8%) were booked outside, mostly being referred from primary health centers and district hospitals. Primigravida were almost 52.3%. Antepartum eclampsia occurred in 79.5% of cases who visited to our hospital. Postpartum eclampsia was seen in 18.2%. 75.7% were between 29 to 37 weeks of gestation. 45.5% had systolic blood pressure between 160 and 180 mm Hg. 51.2% had diastolic blood pressure more than 110mm Hg. We concluded in the study that most of the cases were from rural areas. Hence antenatal care in the primary health centres and district hospitals should be ensured. Early detection of pre-eclampsia and start of anti-hypertensives along with administration of Pritchard regimen can prevent dreaded complications.