Congenital malformations were studied prospectively from September 1989 to December 1992 covering 12,797 consecutive deliveries. The overall incidence of malformations was 3.7% and it was 3.2% among live births and 15.7% among still births. Three hundred and ninety seven birth defects were observed among 308 live births and 72 among 45 still births. The incidence of malformation was significantly higher among male babies (p < 0.001), still births (p < 0.001), low birth weights (p < 0.001) and preterm babies (p < 0.001). Consanguinity among parents of malformed babies was more common (p < 0.001). Musculo-skeletal malformations were the commonest (9.69 per 1000) followed by cutaneous (6.33 per 1000), genitourinary (5.47 per 1000), gastrointestinal (5.47 per 1000), central nervous system (3.99 per 1000) and cardiac anomalies (2.03 per 1000). Musculoskeletal, cutaneous and genitourinary malformations were common among live born babies while central nervous system and gastrointestinal defects were common among still born babies. Antenatal infections and ingestion of drugs were not found to be significant factors in the causation of birth defects.

Background: The objective of the study was to assess the pattern of cutaneous adverse drug reactions reported by active surveillance to the Pharmacovigilance center of a tertiary care hospital in southern india, and also to establish the drugs causing the same and observe the age wise and gender based incidence of such reactions.Methods: The cutaneous ADRs (CADRs) reported to the Pharmacovigilance center of the institution were analysed retrospectively during the period of March 2013 to December 2015. The various pattern of skin reactions and the most frequent drugs causing the same were established. An age wise and gender based incidence of CADRs and drugs causing them were also reported.Results: A total of 293 cases were taken for analysis. The male female ratio was 0.89-1.in our study. Among the age wise distribution of CADRs, 57(19.4%) were seen in paediatric, 194(66.2%) in adults and 33(11.2%) in geriatric age groups. The most frequent drugs to cause the CADRs were antimicrobials 183(62.4%) followed by NSAIDs 38(12.9%) and antacids 17(5.8%).Among the skin reactions urticaria/ angioedema was the most common 109(37.2%) followed by generalised pruritis 57(19.5%) and fixed drug eruption 37(12.6%). In all the age groups and both the sexes urticaria/angioedema and generalised pruritis were the leading skin reactions observed.Conclusions: As CADRs are the most common ADRs among others, it is prudent to monitor them closely, as any change in pattern with older or newer agents can alert the health care personnel in instituting the appropriate prescription patterns, which can overall impact the quality of health care positively.

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Background: Rational use of medicines promotes good health practices and prevents inappropriate use of medicines, polypharmacy, unnecessary use of antimicrobials, injections, and also encourages use of medicines from essential medicine list and dispensing by generic names. The aim of the study was to analyze the outpatient prescriptions of a tertiary care centre by utilizing World Health Organization (WHO) core drug use prescribing indicators.Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary care health setup at Puducherry, South India. Outpatient prescriptions from all the major clinical departments were analyzed using WHO prescribing indicators and they were compared with some similar studies.Results: The average number of drugs per prescription was 2.74. The percentage of prescriptions with antibiotics was 20.33% and the percentage of prescriptions with injections was 0.16%. The percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names and from essential medicine list was 83.13% and 87.9 respectively. Further antibiotic utilization was found to be higher in the department of ENT (56.67%), respiratory medicine (45%) and surgery (40%). Percentage of drugs prescribed by generic names in pediatrics and respiratory medicine were found to be 67.88% and 65.27% and percentage of drugs prescribed from essential medicine list in dermatology was 69.62%.Conclusions: Prescription pattern followed in our Institute almost adheres to the guidelines laid down by the WHO. Moreover, it is also implied that a routine audit of this type should be done in health care setups to ensure that they adhere to the WHO guidelines for better health care.