Background: Snake bite is considered as one of the most significant health related problems throughout the world. According to the WHO, a snake bite is an important medical problem. It has been a neglected extrinsic injury in tropical and sub-tropical developing countries including India. It has been estimated that every year there are almost 83,000 snake bites and 11,000 deaths due to snake bites in India. The Goal of this study is to access knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) among interns so as to find out gaps in academics and bridge them. Findings of this study will benefit community at large.Methods: An institutional based cross sectional study was conducted for the entire batch of interns in a tertiary care center in Trivandrum, Kerala, South India during June–September 2018. A non-probability sampling was done. Data was collected by self-administered questionnaire.Results: Among 100 students 48% had a score equal to and above 8 which was taken as good level of knowledge and 52% had poor level of knowledge. Attitude towards management of snake bite was 100% among study subjects. Only 35% of students had median score above 4 as good level of practice and remaining 65% had poor level of practice.Conclusions: Respondents have adequate knowledge on snake bites. They discarded various prevailing myths in society. Although study showed adequate attitude towards management, that was not reflected in practice. This gap can be overcome by teaching in simulated environment, so as to make them competent enough for managing snake bites.

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Background: Harbouring of potential pathogens in operation theatres (OTs) and intensive care units (ICUs) of hospital is a major cause of patient’s morbidity and mortality. Environmental monitoring by the microbiological testing of surfaces and equipments is useful to detect changing trends of types and counts of microbial flora. High level of microbial contamination indicates the needs for periodic surveillance aimed at early detection of bacterial contamination levels and prevention of hospital acquired infections.Methods: During a period of 6 months from January 2019 to June 2019, Air sampling from Operation theaters and Intensive care units were done by settle plate method. Swabs were taken from different sites and equipments and bacterial species were isolated and identified from them.Results: A total of 1410 samples were collected from various sites of Operation theaters and Intensive care units over a period of 6 months in which 960 were surface samples and 450 were air samples. Out of 960 surface samples, 95(9.89%) and out of 450 air samples, 90 (20%) were bacterial positive. Isolated organism was divided into normal flora (CONS, Micrococci), contaminant (bacillus species) and pathogenic organism e.g. Staphylococcus aureus, Acinetobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp etc. Out of those 30 (16.20%) CONS, 50 (27.02%) Micrococci, 75 (40.50%) Bacillus spp, 16 (8.6%) Staphylococcus aureus, 1(0.54%) Acinetobacter spp, 2 (1.08%) Pseudomonas spp, 4 (2.16%) Klebsiella, 7 (3.78%) Escherichia coli were isolated.Conclusions: Strengthening surveillance and laboratory capacity will surely enhance infection prevention and control. Routine sampling is strongly recommended for increasing awareness to identify and control all possible sources and types of infections.

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