Background: Bacterial vaginosis is a vaginal infection in women in the reproductive age group with complex change in vaginal flora. Many women are asymptomatic but some women present with abnormal vaginal discharge. It can lead to complications like preterm birth, infertility, post partum endometritis and first trimester loss. Nugent's criteria are used to diagnose bacterial vaginosis. Objectives: This study was done with the objective of analyzing the type of bacteria causing vaginosis in different age groups during the reproductive period of a woman's life. 100 women with vaginal discharge (test group) and 50 women (control group) attending the gynaecology outpatient for other problems were included in the study. Three high vaginal swabs were taken and examined for clue cells and mobiluncus spp. pH of the vaginal secretions was noted. Gram stain was done to quantify bacterial morphotypes. Diagnosis was done using the Nugent's scoring system. Results: A significantly high incidence (p<0.05) was found in the test group. 53% of women with vaginal discharge were in the age group of 21-30 years indicating that vaginosis is very common in the early reproductive years. Mobiluncus spp. was found only in the test group. 46% had an abnormal Nugent's score and 53% of test group women had all the 4 criteria to diagnose as bacterial vaginosis. Conclusion: Screening asymptomatic women and quantifying the bacteria in symptomatic patients to provide appropriate treatment would reduce the incidence and prevalence of bacterial vaginosis in the population.
Introduction:Leprosy an infectious disease still remains a major public health hazard. Though it has been eliminated from the world and from India, it has not been completely eradicated. New cases continue to occur indicating an active transmission of the disease from person to person. Therefore this present study was conducted to ascertain the incidence and clinical profile of leprosy cases at a tertiary care center in Hyderabad, Telangana. This study further proposed various strategies to help reduce incidence rates, as this disease, for the most part, is acquired by contact with the infected persons. Material and methods: This retrospective study collected data on the occurrence of incidence cases by reviewing health records in our hospital setting. Clinical records of the patients provided useful information on the demographic profile, type of leprosy, details of clinical examination, and treatment protocol followed to help assess the incidence and clinical profile of the leprosy cases. Slit skin smear examination for acid-fast bacilli helped to confirm clinically suspected cases of leprosy. Results: From a total of 97 clinically assumed cases reporting to our hospital 24 were found to be positive for acid-fast bacilli. These cases were neither previously diagnosed as leprosy nor had undergone any treatment for leprosy. The majority of the diagnosed cases belonged to the middle age group (50%). 75% of incidence cases were males. Borderline tuberculoid (33%) was the most frequent type of leprosy observed in this study. Conclusion: This study concluded that although the prevalence rate has decreased over a period of time, incidence cases still do occur indicating an active transmission of the disease from the infected persons to the contacts. This study further addressed various strategies which could help decrease these incidence cases.
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