This article attempts to appraise the methodology of estimating the people living with AIDS in India. In this estimation, the primary demographic data were obtained from Registrar General of India and Sample Registration System. HIV prevalence data was drawn from HIV Sentinel Surveillance conducted at 704 sites in 2005.The HIV prevalence at each site was estimated using the formula p ΁ 1.645Φ(pq/n), where p represents the proportion of HIV positives and n the number of attendees at the site. Statewise prevalence for each risk group was estimated with the help of the formula giving 90% confidence internal for median prevalence as Median of the proportion positive ΁ 1.645 x 1.2533Φ(pq/n), where 1.2533 was the adjustment for large variations involved. If the estimated median prevalence comes out to be zero, it was replaced by the actual prevalence of the low prevalent states for each risk group. In case of general population, the urban-rural ratio came out to be 1:1 in case of high prevalence states and 2.4:1 in case of other states. Having adjusted for age, the sex differential was 1.2:1 in gereralised epidemic states, 2:1 in concentrated epidemic states and 3:1 in low epidemic states. Overall additions were made for FSW by applying to them the HIV prevalence observed in FSWsites under TI. Prevalence in child population was done by applying the GFR to the women with HIV and then multiplying it by 0.3 (percentage infected).

Introduction and Objectives: Surveillance of HIV epidemic serves the important purposes of situation analysis for programme design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. For HIV surveillance among general population, HIV prevalence data from pregnant women attending sentinel sero-surveillance sites, and prevention of parent to child transmission (PPTCT) services as well as data from population based surveys are used. Data on HIV prevalence among voluntary donors can be yet another source of information on the prevalence and progress of HIV infection. Methods: HIV prevalence data from 10 PPTCT centers, 58 Government blood banks and 9-13 sentinel sero-surveillance sites during 2004-2006 in West Bengal were analyzed. Results: During this period, estimated HIV prevalence ranged between 0.40% to 0.86% among the ANC attendees of sentinel sero-surveillance sites, between 0.15-0.18% at PPTCT centers, and between 0.29-0.49% among voluntary blood donors. Conclusion: Data on HIV prevalence among voluntary blood donors can provide a fairly good understanding of trends and patterns of HIV prevalence among the general population specially among young males. For making meaningful inferences from such analysis, standardization in terms of blood collection, testing for HIV infection, reporting and analysis is called for. This is a very cost-effective method of estimating HIV prevalence, and is amenable to detailed analysis of spatial and temporal trends of HIV infection in the general population.

HIV surveillance has been held in the country since 1986,but the procedure has been standardized and adopted uniformly across the country since 1998 and is known as Annual Sentinel Surveillance for HIV infection. The method conforming to method laid down by WHO/UNAIDS follows the Unlinked Anonymous Strategy for blood collection from attendees of STD, ANC clinics or female sex workers (FSW), men having sex with men (MSM), intravenous drug users (IVDU) coming to drop in centres. The sites have been increasing over the years and at 703 in 2005, still lack coverage and adequate representation from all segments of the population and rural areas. The challenges are being addressed in the next round.

National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) identified five regional institutes (RIs) to monitor and supervise the 2006 round of annual HIV sentinel surveillance. The task mandated was quality control of both epidemiological data collection and HIV testing. The team at RI consisted of epidemiologist and microbiologist. We describe here the process of quality control and the quality of surveillance in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkand, and Delhi. The supervisors visited almost 90% of the sentinel sites. Performance of vast majority of the sentinel sites (92%) was satisfactory. The testing laboratories were found to be adhering to standard operating procedures. Concordance rate of test results between testing laboratory and the designated reference laboratory was high. Overall, the quality of sentinel surveillance was good. The lacunae found during the visit have been enumerated along with the recommendations for future surveillance round.

Objectives: To assess HIV serostatus, knowledge, behaviour and practices regarding HIV/AIDS among blood donors, pregnant women and the general population in Ludhiana and to find out any association between these factors. Methods: The descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among blood donors attending the blood bank, pregnant women attending the antenatal clinics of the peripheral health centres of the department of Community Medicine, Christian Medical College Ludhiana, and the general population of the field practice areas of the Department, aged 15 years or more and willing to join the investigation. The study subjects were interviewed through a self-administered questionnaire and screened for HIV using ELISA technique. Seropositivity rates in the population groups and possible risk factors were compared, using EpiInfo 6.04d software. Results: Prevalence of HIV infection was found to be 0.30 % (95 % CI 0.10 - 0.70) in the general population studied, 0.12 % (95 % CI 0.05 - 0.28) in the blood donors, and nil in the pregnant women. The respondents were deficient in knowledge about the modes of spread of HIV/AIDS. No significant association was established between HIV sero-positivity and gender, age group, education, occupation, HbsAg status, or knowledge about the modes of spread of HIV/AIDS. Sexually active unmarried young people 15-24 years old, those indulging in extra-marital sex, and those addicted to opium/poppy-husk were observed to be at higher risk of HIV infection. Conclusions: The studied population groups have very low HIV seroprevalence. Misconceptions and lack of knowledge need to be corrected through education and awareness to avoid high-risk behaviour and prevent HIV infection.

A study was undertaken during November 2005 to October 2006 to assess about utilization aspects of ICTC at a tertiary care teaching hospital and a government district hospital in Karnataka. The average monthly numbers of persons visiting ICTC per month at the tertiary care teaching hospital (509) were higher than that of Government district hospital (222). However, the average monthly number of direct walk-in persons and follow up, attending the centre at district hospital were higher than that of teaching hospital. Thus optimal use of information, education and communication (IEC) techniques needs to be strengthened to improve the utilization of ICTC services at the tertiary care teaching hospital.

Blood safety comprises the provision of safe, adequate and quality blood components to the needy patients. A total of 6,179 donation were reviewed with 2377, 1561 and 2241 donations occurring in June to July in 1993, 1998 and 2003 respectively. Majority of the donors were males. 94.38% donors were in the age group of 18 - 45 years. The seropositivity of HBV infection declined over the three years but HCV and HIV infections showed an increase in 2003 following an initial decrease in 1998.

Background: A significant part of nosocomial infections are caused by methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Nosocomial MRSA are known to be multidrug resistant and thus difficult to treat. Methods: A 2 year study was conducted between January 2001 and December 2002 at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences Hospital, Hubli to assess the prevalence of MRSA and its antibiotic susceptibility pattern in various wards. Results: S. aureus was isolated from 714 patients, 283 (37.53%) of which exhibited methicillin resistance. Although these MRSA were multidrug resistant in all the wards, the problem was more severe in NICU and orthopedic wards. Conclusion: The results highlight the need for effective implementation of infection control measures in the hospital. There is a need for the judicious use of antimicrobial agents in the hospital and outside as their indiscriminate use can exert pressure in selecting out MRSA and other multidrug resistant organisms.

Objectives: Institute for Research in Medical Statistics, Indian Council of Medical Research, Delhi undertook a study to obtain all India estimate of utilization of Indian Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy (ISM&H). Methods: The study covered 35 districts spreading over 19 States of India. In this article, results for the State of West Bengal are being presented. Selected districts in West Bengal were Midnapore and Darjeeling where about 2400 sick persons from 2000 households were studied. Results: About 20% sick persons actually availed ISM&H treatment in the State. Majority availed Homeopathy followed by Ayurvedic medicines. Use of Unani and Siddha is negligible in this State. In case of minor ailments, ISM&H was preferred by about 15% in Darjeeling district and 42% in Midnapore district. In case of serious illnesses, about 12% in Darjeeling district preferred ISM&H, but very few (about 5%) preferred this in Midnapore. 39.4% and 20.8% of sick persons sought treatment from traditional healers in Midnapore and Darjeeling district respectively. Jaundice, snakebite, dog bite and 'bone setting' were some of the conditions for which traditional healers were mostly visited. Sizable proportion (30%-89%) of sick persons used various 'kitchen remedies' for conditions like indigestion, loose motion, constipation, fever, body ache, sprain and cough & cold.

A cross sectional study was conducted on health status of hotel workers of Pune city. Out of estimated 1000 hotel workers 516 were selected by stratified random sampling technique. The study revealed that 71.5% hotel workers were suffering from one or other type of morbid condition. Anemia was the commonest morbidity with prevalence of 40.3%. 187 (36.2%) of hotel workers had extramarital sexual relations. A total of 77 (14.9%) hotel workers were having STDs at the time of study.

Measles incidence and vaccination coverage survey was carried out in Ahmedabad urban slums in February 2000. A total of 3073 children between 9 to 59 months were studied. The incidence rate of measles was 11.2% (95% C.I-10.04-12.36). Measles vaccination coverage was only 59.88%. There was no gender difference in vaccine coverage or measles incidence rate. Diarrhoea was the most common complication observed among both vaccinated and unvaccinated children and it was significantly more among unvaccinated children. Among 1840 vaccinated children only 529 (28.75%) children received vitamin A along with measles vaccination.

Use of larvivorous fishes Gambusia and Poecilia for mosquito control has been a well established option. The study evaluated the larvivorous potential of some ornamental fish vis-a-vis Gambusia and Poecilia in the laboratory settings using standard testing protocol. Gold fish and Blue Gourami were found to be as effective larvivores as Gambusia affinis, the mosquito fish. The study recommends introduction of Goldfish and Blue Gourami in ornamental tanks for control of mosquito breeding as well as providing aesthetic beauty.

In order to assess the health problems of the elderly people and its relationship with advancement of age, a field based cross sectional study was carried out in two selected villages in the rural field practices area in Varanasi district. 88.8 % were found to suffer from one or more illness at the time of study. This resulted in the morbidity load of 1.93 illnesses per person. The morbidity was directly proportional to the age. The most common morbidity was arthritis with overall prevalence of 57.08% followed by cataract (48.33%), hypertension (11.25%). But the prevalence of old age related morbidities increased with advancing age (p<0.008). Compared to married people higher percentage of widow / widower (91.5%) suffered from old age related morbidities (p<0.01).

A cross-sectional study was conducted among a total of 598 men and women to investigate age and sex variations in the prevelence of overweight, obesity and hypertension among adult (>18 years) residents of Dearah, Hooghly District, West Bengal. Height, weight and systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure mesurements were made on each subject. Prevelence of overweight was significantly higher among women. There existed significant age-group differences among men in the frequency of overweight and obese individuals. The overall (both sexes combined) prevelence of hypertension was 25.9%. There was significant age-group difference in the prevelence of hypertension. There was a consistent trend in increasing rates of hypertension as well as mean BMI, SBP, DBP and mean arterial pressure (MAP) with increasing age.

The study was carried out in three randomly selected Primary Health Centres (PHCs) of district Pune. During three months of study period all the patients with animal bite attending PHCs were enrolled for the study. All the animal bite cases (451) were due to dog bite and 61.4% were reported to be bitten by pet dogs. In spite of having the knowledge about seriousness of illness, immediate care like washing of wound with soap and water was practiced by only 23.5%. Majority of them did not report immediately to PHC for treatment after dog bite.

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for establishing a multidiscipline Geographical Information System for environment public health surveillance in the state of Goa. Sectors networking for the Geographical Information System encompass Directorate of Health Services including peripheral health setup, Public Works Department, State Pollution Control Board, Irrigation Department, Inspectorate of Factories and Boilers, Town and Control Planning Department, Meteorological Department etc. the applications of which would predict potential outbreaks / epidemics of water borne diseases, malaria, diseases linked to pollution and would support disease control activities. In addition to health applications, the data generated would be used by the respective sectors for their other planning and programming needs.

The study was conducted to assess the prevailing complementary feeding practices. Strikingly 30.9 percent infants were not receiving complementary foods. 21.9 percent mothers initiated complementary feeding at the right age. This was significantly associated with the literacy status of the mothers (p<0.05). 87.1 percent infants were receiving family pot feeding. The complementary foods fed to the infants were mostly (88.60%) of semi-solid consistency. Demand feeding was being practiced by 66.7 percent mothers. The practice of cleaning hands before feeding was very poor with only 17.1%. Thus to conclude the complementary feeding practices were not satisfactory in the rural area of Agra and need to be improved.

A cross-sectional study conducted among 400 'consumers' at G.M.C.Hospital, Miraj revealed 91% consumers had one/more grievance/s. Higher grievances reported in illiterates, lower social class, indoor patients, surgical patients. Lower grievances reported in age < 15 yrs and 31-45 yrs, rural dwellers. Sex and new / old status of patients not affected grievance- reporting. 10 grievances out of 38 were found to be of serious nature. Some grievances (e.g. post-operative complications, discharge without clinical relief, absence of counselling, cursory clinical examination etc.) might have potential as possible medical negligence.

The present population based group comparison study was undertaken to study the circumstances, motivations and influencing factors for seeking abortion in women in Chandrapur District of Maharashtra. Participants of the study included 500 cases of induced abortion and the equal number of normal delivered women during the same period and in the same area as comparison group. Having two children, domestic problems and unwanted pregnancy were conditions acceptable to study subjects to terminate the pregnancy. Family and domestic problems, poor socio-economic status, short inter-pregnancy interval and completed family size were some of the important reasons quoted by study subjects for not desiring to continue the current pregnancy. Majority of the subjects felt that the decision to terminate or keep pregnancy is usually taken jointly by both the husband and wife. Family and domestic problems, poor socioeconomic status and short inter pregnancy interval were the important reasons quoted by abortion cases for seeking abortion in the current pregnancy. Only 1.80% of the cases reported failure of contraceptive method as a cause of seeking abortion services. In 78.4% of abortion cases as compared to 5.4% subjects from the comparison group, pregnancy was un-planned.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Delhi to assess the practices and knowledge regarding tetanus immunization among nursing personnel. Majority of the study subjects had received their last dose of tetanus toxoid injection only after injury and just 4.4% received it to complete the immunization schedule. More than 12% subjects did not know whether they had received any tetanus toxoid injection or not, another 5.5% had their last dose of tetanus toxoid more than ten years back. As many as 20 (22.2%) subjects stated that TT should be given after every injury. Of the remaining 70 subjects only 22.9% correctly knew why TT was not required. Only one third of the subjects knew the indications of anti tetanus serum.

A cross-sectional study at Howrah General Hospital, West Bengal for prescription analysis and assessment of drug dispensing in 341 patients revealed that the average number of drugs prescribed per encounter was 2.98΁ 1.69, 38.2% drugs were in generic name and majority were from essential drugs list. 18.6% and 5.2% encounters used antibiotics and injections respectively. Average consultation and dispensing time were short. Majority of drugs were dispensed but unlabeled. 46.8% patients knew correct dosage of drugs. Only 4.7% patients were treated without drugs. Average drug cost per encounter was Rs. 31.32+30.89 where antibiotics and injections shared 36.5% and 4.6% respectively.

A cross sectional survey was conducted in 2005 among 358 school children from 8 communities in the district of Pondicherry to assess the iodine content of salt at consumer level. School children were asked to bring salt consumed at their houses and 290 salt samples could finally be analysed. Only 26.2% of the population in the district were found to consume salt with more than 15 ppm iodine. Consumption of non-iodised salt was more in rural areas (96.4%) as compared to urban areas (71.3%). 39 salt samples from different retail shops in Pondicherry showed a mean value of 35.6±10.7 ppm.