Smoking a cigarette generates over 4000 chemicals that have a deleterious impact on each part of the human body. It produces three main severe effects on the liver organ: oncogenic, immunological, and indirect or direct toxic effects. It results in the production of cytotoxic substances, which raises fibrosis and necro-inflammation. Additionally, it also directs the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines tumour necrosis factor alfa (TNF-α) and interleukins (IL-1β, IL-6) that will be responsible for the chronic liver injury. Furthermore, it gives rise to secondary polycythemia and successively raises the turnover and mass of red cells, which might be a common factor responsible for the development of oxidative stress in the liver due to iron overload. It also produces chemicals that are having oncogenic properties and raises the risk of liver cancer especially in sufferers of chronic hepatitis C. Smoking modulates both humoral and cell-mediated responses by restricting the proliferation of lymphocytes and inducing their apoptosis and ultimately decreasing the surveillance of cancer cells. Moreover, it has been determined that heavy smoking impacts the response of hepatitis C patients to interferon (IFN) therapy through different mechanisms, which can be improved by phlebotomy. Efforts are being made in different nations in decreasing the prevalence of smoking to improve premature death and ill effects of their nation’s individuals.

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not available Bangladesh Journal of Infectious Diseases, October 2020;7(suppl_2):S72-S74

Exam anxiety can be term as a mental disorder found in most students. It is a kind of fear and scaredness for which students choose to avoid the feared situations such as exams. A little bit of anxiety is common before and during the examination. Still, it can negatively impact their mental health and academic performances when it is more than the threshold level. The reasons might be expectations and pressure from parents and for competition with other peers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among medical students of Dhaka City in Bangladesh to see the status of examination phobia as they were usually going through lots of exam pressure than any other students. A structured questionnaire was used to conduct this study. WATS (West Side Test Anxiety Scale) was incorporated into the questionnaire to assess the phobia and anxiety levels of the students. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were performed for intensive analysis. Medical students must go through several different kinds of exams such as oral examination (viva), written, objective structured practical examination (OSPE), practical, short case, long case; all these things together play a contributing role in the induction of anxiety. More than 30% of students were suffering from moderate to severe examination anxiety, which compelled them to dropout or avoid the potential exams. The findings of this research can contribute significant impact on public health and mental health studies and the mental health professionals can provide policy guideline to the medical student to reduce exam anxiety. Further study needs to be done on a large scale to see a broad-spectrum scenario to assess the severity level of test anxiety and mental health status in the in the COVID-19 pandemic changing situation.

Background and Objectives: Antibiotic resistance has become a global encumbrance in the field of medicine. Various factors like antibiotic abuse, overuse or irrational usage of antibiotics, over the counter availability of antibiotics etc., have been put forth as accused leading to antibiotic resistance. The present study aims at evaluating the knowledge, attitude and practice of antibiotic usage and antibiotic resistance among undergraduate students in private universities in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Methodology: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based quantitative survey conducted among undergraduate students in private universities in Dhaka, Bangladesh including 1st year to 4th year from different academic background. The questionnaire comprised of: Demographic data; Knowledge including 17 questions; Attitudes including 16 questions and practices consisting of 8 questions. Majority of the questions were dichotomous (Yes/No type) and some questions were asked using five point Likert scale. SPSS version 22.0 software were used in order to analyze data obtained from respondent’s. Association among categorical variable were analyzed with Analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by post hoc Bonferroni test. Responses were presented using descriptive analysis, with chi-square tests to identify factors associated with Knowledge, Attitude and Practice about antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance and the Spearman’s rank order correlation coefficient calculated to examine the relationship between responses to the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice questions. Results: Total number of students from 1st year to 4th year were 244 who had given voluntary consent and participated in this study willingly.  The sample comprised more males (56%) than females (44%), the average age of respondents was 21.9±1.5 years and almost 60% of respondents were from allied health science (Pharmacy, Microbiology, Public health, Botany, Zoology, Biotechnology, Biochemistry etc) background. Respondents had relatively good knowledge about aspects of antibiotic use and antibiotic role other than perception on antibiotic resistance. The concept of antibiotic resistance was well familiar but imperfectly understood.  Statistically significant (p=0.03) results have been obtained for the correct responses of knowledge questionnaire. Spearman rank order correlation revealed a positive association between each pair of the knowledge, attitude and practice scores for respondents (p = < 0.05). The correlation was good between knowledge-attitudes and attitudes-practices and fair between knowledge-practices. Conclusion: The study provides baseline evidence about the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance among the undergraduate students in private universities in Dhaka, Bangladesh including 1st year to 4th year from different academic background. The findings of the study will be useful in designing effective and targeted interventions to decrease misconceptions about antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance and to increase awareness about the risks of overuse or inappropriate use of antibiotics.