Background. Tobacco use is one of the major preventable causes of premature death and disease in the world. Many psychosocial factors were found to influence tobacco use. Therefore the present study was designed to determine the role of psychosocial factors associated with tobacco use among school going adolescents in Delhi, India. Methods. Cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2013 to September 2013 in four government schools in South district of Delhi, India. The questionnaire contains questions adapted from GYTS (Global Youth Tobacco Survey) to find the prevalence and pattern of tobacco use among adolescents. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results. The prevalence of ever and current tobacco use was found in 16.4% and 13.1%. Current smoking and current tobacco chewing were found in 10.2% and 9.4% students, respectively. The risk of current tobacco use was found to be higher among males (P value = 0.000) and in those who got higher pocket money (P value = 0.000). Psychosocial factors like lower general self-efficacy and maladjustments with peers, teachers, and schools were also found to be significant predictors of current tobacco use. Conclusion. The study has revealed higher prevalence of ever and current tobacco use among adolescent students in Delhi, India.

Background:Tuberculosis (TB) has been a public health menace for decades. India harbors its highest burden globally. The present study was conducted to study the epidemiological profile of patients taking treatment from a directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS) center in Delhi, India.Method:Retrospective analysis of past 1-year treatment records of a total of 227 patients undergoing treatment in DOTS since June 2014–2015 was undertaken. Socio-demographic information, data related to disease status, and HIV testing were collected and analyzed.Results:The majority of cases were new (77.1%) and pulmonary TB (69.2%). The highest disease burden was found in the 20–60 year age group (72.2%) and males (58.6%). Genitourinary TB was present only among females. None of the patients was HIV positive. A significant association was found between the age group of 20–60 years and relapse and loss to follow-up cases (P < 0.05).Conclusions:A higher proportion of adult males aged 20–60 years constituted the majority of patients treated in the DOTS center. Focussed interventions can be designed for this age group in future public health policies to reduce disease burden in the total population. Further research is required to be undertaken in exploring reasons for higher prevalence among males and productive age group and role of age, gender in disease causation

Background: Malaria is an important public health problem in India. Severe and complicated forms of malaria are usually associated with Plasmodium falciparum species. But recently published literature suggests that Plasmodium vivax infection also presents as severe malaria. The objective was to study clinical and epidemiological profile of patients with P. vivax malaria admitted in Safdarjung hospital.Methods: A record based retrospective study was conducted in Vardhman Mahavir Medical College & Safdarjung Hospital, a tertiary care hospital in Delhi. Data were collected from all case records with ICD 10 codes for Malaria (B50-B54) for the year 2011 obtained from Medical Records Department, Safdarjung Hospital and analyzed using SPSS 21.0.Results: A total of 147 case records which had information about the test results for type of malaria infection were reviewed. Out of 147, 89 (60.5%) had P. vivax malaria. Of the 89 patients with P. vivax malaria, 47 (53%) were children and 63 (70.7%) were males. A peak in the number of inpatients was seen in September with median duration of hospital stay of 4 days and case fatality rate of 9%. A total of 56 (63%) patients had one or more severe manifestations of malaria as per WHO criteria. The most common severe manifestation was bleeding 27 (30%) followed by impaired consciousness 18 (20%).Conclusions: In more than half of the malaria patients admitted at the tertiary care centre the diagnosis was P. vivax malaria. Of them 63% patients had severe malaria as per WHO criteria.

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Introduction Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a major concern to effective control of tuberculosis (TB) in India and the likelihood of drug resistance increases with repeated exposure to anti-TB drugs. India has emerged as one of the leading contributors of DR-TB in the world posing a major threat to TB control. In the current study, we aim to find the burden and factors associated with drug resistance in previously treated pulmonary TB patients. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 230 previously treated pulmonary TB patients registered with Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course (DOTS) centers under Nehru Nagar Chest clinic in Delhi, India. The participants were selected consecutively as they registered with the chest clinic. A predesigned, pretested, semi-structured questionnaire in the Hindi language used to collect socio-demographic data and factors associated with the development of drug resistance. Physical examination of all the participants was done (height, weight, pallor). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors of drug resistance. Results Of 230 previously treated pulmonary TB patients, 80 (34.8% (95% CI:28.7-40.9%)) were drug-resistant. Age (p=0.021), ever consumption of alcohol (p= 0.001), pallor (p=0.06), BMI (p=0.028), fasting blood sugar (p=0.001), treatment failure (p=0.005) and the number of prior courses of anti-tuberculosis treatment (ATT) taken (p=0.004) were significantly associated with drug resistance. On applying binary logistic regression analysis, independently associated factors with drug resistance were ever consumption of alcohol, pallor, high fasting blood sugar level, previous treatment failure patients and the number of prior courses of ATT (p<0.05). Conclusion The findings of this study revealed that patients who had pallor, high fasting blood sugar, treatment failure and who had two or more prior courses of ATT were more likely to have DR-TB. Identifying the risk factors for drug-resistant TB is essential in facilitating the government to draw public health interventions. Further research is warranted to explore the causal associations.