The study estimated the prevalence of chronic respiratory conditions among the cooks exposed to the burning of solid biomass cooking fuel. Questionnaire-based survey and lung function tests were administered to capture the self-reported respiratory health symptoms and lung health respectively. The estimated prevalence of chronic bronchitis was 3.14%,

Background: Human umbilical cord blood is often discarded as a biomedical waste. We aimed to standardise a local cord blood reference range for the West Bengal population. The cord blood haematological values differ depending on ethnic, regional and genealogical groups, so we primarily focussed our study on the international and intra-national differences of cord blood parameters. Comparison between the cord blood values of urban and the rural population along with normal and caesarean deliveries was not recorded before. Methods: Umbilical cord blood was procured from consenting mothers (average age: 26.1 and 38-40 weeks gestation period), post-delivery at Medical College, Kolkata. Cord blood parameters were divided into two major groups: urban and rural population, each group was further divided into two sub-groups depending on the mode of delivery: normal and caesarean delivery. Comparison was also drawn on the basis of other international groups having different ethnic backgrounds and inter-state individuals having similar ethnic background. Results: Our results showed West Bengal’s cord blood WBC value was higher and monocyte count was much lesser when compared globally. The neutrophil value was higher in rural as compared to urban and both the lymphocyte and platelet values of urban were recorded more than rural. Slight differences were recorded among urban-normal, urban-caesarean, rural normal and rural caesarean groups. Conclusion: A new angle in terms of urban and rural population study is introduced in cord blood analysis. The standardisation of cord blood reference range for the West Bengal population is a new step for neonatal studies.

Umbilical cord blood is a biological waste, and it is an excellent source of low immunogenic hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. 1 Studies revealed cord blood parameters are similar to that of the neonate or foetus venous blood 2 enabling it to be a safer and painless alternative source for various haematological studies, 3,4 blood transfusion in case of hematopathological conditions and therapies. During the procurement of stem cells from cord blood, RBCs of neonates are usually discarded and less importance is given