c l i n i c a l e p i d e m i o l o g y a n d g l o b a l h e a l t h 4 ( 2 0 1 6 ) s 2 2 -s 2 8 a r t i c l e i n f o Article history:

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Introduction Asthma is a chronic lung illness marked by a reversible airway blockage. Both genetic and environmental factors influence higher asthma rates. The present study aims to assess the various socio-demographic and environmental factors influencing the causation of childhood asthma among patients attending the Paediatric Department of Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Assam. Materials and Methods A total of 150 clinically diagnosed asthma patients of 3–12 years as cases and patients of the same age group free from respiratory diseases with no history of asthma in a 1:1 ratio as controls were selected. A predesigned and pretested proforma was used to collect data, and written informed consent was obtained from all the legal guardians of the participants. Data were analyzed by chi-square test and binary logistic regression using SPSS V20, considering a p-value <0.05 significant. Results Urban and male children were found to be at higher risk of developing asthma. Children belonging to the urban locality (OR= 4.53; 95% CI: 1.57–13.09; p <0.05), damp environment (OR= 5.21; 95% CI: 1.23–22.10; p <0.05), lower socioeconomic status (OR= 3.48; 95% CI: 1.34–9.01; p <0.05), presence of pets (OR= 6.77; 95% CI: 1.76–25.99; p <0.05), family history of atopy/ allergy (OR= 43.29; 95% CI: 5.80–323.15 p <0.05), smoking/passive smoking (OR=23.54; 95% CI: 1.41–394.21 p <0.05) and mixed feeding (OR= 4.47; 95% CI: 1.46–13.63 p <0.05) were the significant risk factors of childhood asthma. Conclusion Children are vulnerable to environmental-induced asthma. Awareness and preventive measures are necessary to control and reduce the burden of childhood asthma.

Background: The objective of study was to determine prevalence of needle stick injuries among health care workers in a tertiary care hospital of Assam and to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices on needle stick injuries among them.Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted from June 2016 to August 2016 amongst health care workers of a tertiary care centre of Assam. Sample size was calculated to be 90. A total of 10 departments were selected purposively based on their magnitude of risk exposure and the required sample size was allocated proportionally among these 10 departments. The required numbers of health workers from each of the ten departments were selected by using simple random sampling. A predesigned and pretested proforma was used to collect the data. Data were presented in terms of percentages and significance was tested using chi-square and Fisher’s exact test.Results: Prevalence of needle stick injury among the health workers was found to be 21.1%. Regarding spread of diseases after an accidental needle stick injury, 100% were aware of HIV, 98.9% were aware of Hepatitis B and 67.8% were aware of Hepatitis C. Regarding their attitude to report to in-charge medical officer, only 21.1% had reported about their injury. Around 58.9% of health care workers used gloves regularly for prevention of such injuries. Practice of recapping among the health care workers was 66.7% and out of total needle stick injuries, recapping contributed to 26.3%. While considering sharp waste disposal, 37.8% health care workers did not follow proper waste disposal guidelines. Only 26.3% of health care workers had done screening for HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B after their injury.Conclusions: There is a need to have a pre-employment training to improve the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding accidental needle stick injuries among the health care workers.

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