Introduction: Anemia in expectant women is a serious worldwide public health problem with adverse pregnancy outcomes. It remains one of the India's major public health problem irrespective of the fact that it is preventable and easily treatable. The present study was being done to assess the severity and type of anemia in a hilly mountaneous region of J&K India in GMC Doda. Material and methods: The present study was conducted among the pregnant women coming for antenatal checkup in rural hilly mountanous region of J&K in GMC Doda.In this study of two months duration, A total of 700 pregnant women were included in our study in the reproductive age group from 18 to 45 years. Hb estimation was done with Sahli , s method. Anemia in this study was defined by using World Health Organisation and was classified into mild anemia (Hb 10-10.9g/dl), moderate anemia (Hb 7-9.9g.dl) and severe anemia (Hb <7g/dl). A peripheral smear was also made to study the type of anemia as normocytic normochromic, microcytic hypochromic, macrocytic or dimorphic anemia. Results: Out of total 700 cases, 574(82%) cases were found to be anemic. The hemoglobin concentration ranged from 5-12.5gm/dl with a median of 8.7gm/dl. Majority of the pregnant females were less than 30 years of age. Out of the anemic cases, 60% were moderately anemic followed by 28% mildly anemic cases and 12% severely anemic cases. Morphological subtyping showed that majority of the cases had microcytic hypochromic anemia (43%). Normocytic normochromic anemia was 25% followed by dimorphic anemia in 27% and 5% cases showed macrocytic anemia Conclusion: The high prevalence of anemia in our study hints towards more strict measures in investigating and screening of pregnant women. Screening and treatment of parasitic infections should also be encouraged. Health education talks on nutrition needs, education of mothers should also be carried out. Therefore to reduce the deleterious effect on health of mother and child early intervention by clinicians is also needed

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and one of the major diseases affecting children throughout the world. Mantoux test and direct microscopic examination of acid-fast bacilli (AFB) by Ziehl-Neelsen staining are diagnostic and are widely being used. Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of the Mantoux test and sputum smear examination as a diagnostic aid in latent TB. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted, among 100 suspected cases of TB, over a period of 14 months from May 2019 to June 2020. After obtaining informed consent, patients were subjected to all three diagnostic tests including the Mantoux test, sputum smear examination for AFB, and cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification test (CBNAAT). Results of Mantoux and sputum tests were compared with CBNAAT to assess the sensitivity and specificity of individual tests. Results: In our study, most of the patients (32%) belonged to the age group of 21-30 years. There was a slight female predominance in the study population (52% females and 48% males). Mantoux test was positive in 41 (41%) patients and negative in 59 (59%) patients. On sputum examination, 42 (42%) patients tested positive and 58 (58%) patients were negative. On CBNAAT, 74 (74%) samples were positive, 26 (26%) were found to be negative. The sensitivity and specificity of the Mantoux test were 49.35% and 86.95%, respectively, and 53.33% and 92%, respectively, for sputum smear examination. Conclusion: Mantoux test, sputum smear, and CBNAAT test when performed together act as an aid in diagnosing TB in patients with latent TB.