Guillain Barre Syndrome is an acute poly neuropathy, a disorder affecting the peripheral nervous system. The typical symptoms are ascending paralysis, weakness starting at the feet and hands, migrating towards the trunk. Ours is a prospective study related to the effect of plasma pheresis in the treatment of Guillain Barre syndrome along with neurology & General Medicine departments. So far 10 patients were subjected to plasmapheresis along with the conventional treatment and physiotherapy. All the patients recovered completely.

Background: Staph. saprophyticus, hitherto; was considered solely as the laboratory contaminant & normal flora of the skin. Studies differ in their opinion about the incidence and age group distribution of this infection. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of Staphylococcus saprophyticus (Staph. saprophyticus). Methods: 200 urine specimens of women aged between 15-35 years, sexually active with symptoms of urinary tract infection, attending the hospital OPD, were analyzed. Results: Out of 200 samples, 85 (42.5%) specimens were found positive for bacterial growth on culture. Staph. saprophyticus was isolated from the urine of two (1%) patients, indicating the low prevalence of this organism as a urinary tract pathogen in our area. Antibiogram of the organism showed susceptibility to commonly used antibiotics. Conclusion: It is wise to subject urine samples to the identification of Staph. saprophyticus routinely for all isolates of coagulase negative Staphylococci to know the actual incidence of infection in the population.

Background: Transmissible infections such as HIV, Hepatitis and Syphilis are greatest threat to blood safety for the transfusion recipients. Infection with Hepatitis C virus [HCV] causes Hepatitis, Cirrhosis and Hepatocellular carcinoma. Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence of anti HCV antibody among blood donors. Methods: The study was conducted in Gandhi hospital Blood Bank for a period of five years from 2008-2012. A total of 43,390 healthy blood donors of both sexes were studied. Results: 1172 were sero positive and all of them are males. 90 of these donors found to be reactive for anti HCV antibodies yielding an overall prevalence of 0.207%. The age distribution ranges from 20-40 years with 80% [72/90] constituting replacement donors [family members, friends of recipients] and 20% [18/90] are voluntary donors. 60% [63/90] belong to urban population and 40% [27/90] are rural. Conclusion: The results of the present study shows that prevalence of HCV is high when compared with the Developed countries like US and England [0.001% and 0.0017%] but low when compared with Egypt[14%] and other cities of India Eg; Delhi[1.57%]. This represents a large reservoir of Hepatitis C infection capable of inflicting significant disease burden on the society.

Background: One in three people in India suffer from diabetes and this number is rising due to an epidemiological transition. An understanding of the impact of knowledge and self care practices is crucial to assuage the outcome of the condition. Objectives: To evaluate socio-demographic, clinical characteristics and knowledge among diabetic patients and To assess the self care practices pertaining to diabetes among them Materials and Methods: A cross sectional, hospital based study was conducted among patients attending the outpatient department in a tertiary teaching hospital through systemic random sampling. Informed consent was obtained and responses were obtained through a face to face interview regarding socio-demographic, clinical characteristics, knowledge regarding diabetes and self care practices. Statistical measures obtained included means, standard deviation, percentages and proportions. Results: A total of 150 patients consented and participated in the current study. 80 (53.3%) were male and 70 (46.7%) were female. Most of the respondents were aged between 40 – 50 years, with 72 (48%) of the respondents belonging to that particular age group. The mean duration of time since diagnosis of diabetes was 8.05 ± 5.84 years. Knowledge regarding diabetes was lacking with less than a third of the sample being able to identify the type of diabetes and the type they were suffering from. Self care practices were relatively more satisfactory than domains of knowledge. Conclusions: A lack of knowledge accompanied by satisfactory self care practices may indicate a lack of sustainability and warrants further study and evaluation. Adequate knowledge and an informed patient is the key to managing this accelerating prevalence of diabetes.

Background: Non communicable diseases account for 63% of the deaths worldwide and 53% of the deaths in India. Occupation in itself is a risk factor for these diseases in addition to being a modifier of the lifestyle, diet practices and physical activity practices. Objectives: To evaluate socio-demographic factors, self reported prevalence of non communicable disease among corporate professional employees and to assess lifestyle practices and occupational risk factors risk factors modifying the risk of non communicable diseases Materials and methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among corporate professional employees across 20 states in India. Responses were obtained after informed consent through a self administered web based questionnaire with answers entered in a backend database. A semi structured questionnaire was administered with the following parts 1) Socio-demographic information 2) Self reported prevalence of non communicable diseases 3) Lifestyle and diet practices 4) Work related factors. Results: A total of 1582 employees consented and participated in the study. The workforce consisted of 1378 (87.1%) males and 204 (12.9%) females. The mean age was 32.88 ± 7.78 years. The commonest non communicable disease was diabetes with 350 (22.2%) reporting it followed by hypertension with 334 (21.1%) reporting it. Practices relating to exercise were moderately satisfactory, snacking was quite prevalent. Among the workers, 23.1% felt pressured, 19.8% faced difficulties in staying calm and 19% felt overburdened due to work. Conclusions: The study evidenced that corporate employees are exposed to behavioral, life style and dietary risk factors for non communicable diseases at a young age group and that emergent measures are required for rational and cost effective prevention of non communicable diseases to reduce the burden of disease and work days lost among this productive population.

Background: Screening of transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs) among blood donors is a cost-effective approach to monitor the prevalence, distribution, and trends of the infections among healthy-looking individuals. The study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of four TTIs, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and syphilis, among blood donors in a hospital attached blood bank , suraram , hyderabad. Objectives: The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of transfusion transmitted infections in blood donors in a small scale hospital attached blood bank. Methods: All the donors reporting to the blood bank were screened for HBsAg, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), HIV by using the appropriate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).The Venereal Disease Reference Laboratory (VDRL) test / Rapid Plasma Reagin Test was used for estimation of syphilis infection. Results: The study was designed for duration of two years from January 2012 to December 2013. A total of 2039 blood donors were screened, of which voluntary donors were 644 (33 %) replacement donors were 1369 (67 %). Seroprevalence in 2012 prevalence rate for HIV, HBV, HCV and Syphilis were 0.62%, 2.04%, 1.53%, and 1.47% respectively. In 2013 prevalence rates for HIV, HBV, HCV and Syphilis were 0.66%, 2.47%, 1.70% and 1.15%. Blood is still one of the main sources of transmission of infections. HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C viruses and syphilis are prevalent among blood donors. Conclusion: Voluntary donations are safer when compared to replacement donors. Replacement donations are to be discouraged and promotion of voluntary blood donation should be done. Our study shows is an increase in HBV prevalence, especially among replacement males above 30 years of age.

Background: Organophosphorus compound poisoning forms an important public health problem especially in developing countries and rural population. Apart from its agricultural benefit its increasing use in agriculture, the farmer's and those involved in its manufacture are at increased risk. Objectives: To study the incidence of Organophosphorus compound poisoning and to study the profile of patients admitted with Organophosphorus compound poisoning. Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study was carried out from September 2002 to August 2003. A total of 200 patients were studied who were admitted to the hospital with Organophosphorus compound poisoning. Data was recorded in a pre designed questionnaire and proportions were used for analysis of the data. Results: Maximum cases of Organophosphorus compound poisoning (41%) were in the 21 – 30 years of age group. Both among males and females, maximum cases were married. It is seen that as the level of literacy increased the incidence of Organophosphorus poisoning is decreasing. Ingestion is the most common route of poisoning as seen in 99% of patients. Maximum i.e. 29.50% of poisoning cases were due to family conflict followed by marital conflict/disharmony. Most common Organophosphorus compound used for poisoning purpose was Roger i.e. Dimethoate in 43.5%. Conclusion: Thus we found that maximum cases were in the age group of 21 – 30 years, married group and among farmers and reported during June to October. Ingestion was the most common route of poisoning and family and marital conflicts were the most common reasons leading to poisoning. Among insecticides, Roger was the most common compound used for poisoning.

The number of street children worldwide is estimated to be between 100 million and one billion. Street children are exposed to a number of health problems. Present study is a cross sectional study carried out among street children enrolled with NGO Suvidha, Lucknow from July 2012 – November 2012 to study the common physical health problems among the street children. All the 64 children of age 10-15 years meeting the operational definition and enrolled with NGO- within 7 days were included in the study. Majority (46.87%) had common cold followed by hearing difficulties in 28.12%. On clinical examination, it was found that 22(34.3%) had pallor, 10(15.6%) had lymphadenopathy. Out of 64 only 9 street children had taken any medication in the last 3 month & 58 did not visit to any for health checkup. Thus we can say that majority of street children are not healthy. There is a need for community mobilization, advocacy & sensitizing about issues pertaining street children.

The incidence of liver diseases associated with hepatitis B virus remains a global public health problem. Medical personnel are the first contact between such patients and health care and medical students are indeed at risk of the same. Present cross-sectional study was undertaken among second year medical undergraduates of MGMC and RI, Puducherry during August 2012, to assess the attitude and practices of medical students towards hepatitis B vaccination (HBV) and find out the vaccination coverage among them. After brief introduction about rationale of the study a pre-tested, self-administered, anonymous questionnaires was distributed. Information regarding background characteristics of participants, Hep-B vaccination coverage and reasons for poor acceptance/compliance were collected. The questionnaires were distributed on a single day in order to avoid sharing of information. Data was analyzed using statistical software using SPSSversion 16.0. Out of total 150 questionnaires circulated, 120 (response rate 80%) were returned (Male 53.3%, Female 46.7%). Among them 21 (17.5%) students had already received three doses of Hep-B vaccination. 22 (18.3%) students didn't receive any dose. Reasons for poor coverage and/or non-compliance of Hep-B vaccination among medical students include forgot to complete the course (43.4%), not a mandatory process in the institution (26.3%), not compulsory for every individual (18.2%), fear of injections (4%) and expensive (5.1%). Coverage of Hep-B vaccination was poor among medical undergraduates in the present study. Concerted efforts should be made to motivate medical students and their family members towards Hep-B vaccination with support from medical college and medical council of India. The admission day can be utilized as an avenue for this initiative.

Adenosine deaminase (ADA) activity was assayed in pleural fluid and serum of 78 subjects with pleural effusion. 48 of them had tuberculosis (TB) pleural effusion and the remaining 30 had pleural effusions due to non TB respiratory diseases. It is a retrospective study conducted in the biochemistry department, Niloufer hospital, Hyderabad. Serum and pleural fluid ADA activities were assayed spectrophotometrically by the method of guisti and gallant. The aim is to evaluate the value of (ADA) concentration in the pleural effusions for differentiating TB pleural effusions from non TB pleural effusions. The mean pleural ADA (99.78±75.80), serum ADA (79.19±59.17), and pleural fluid/serum ADA ratio(1.26±0.21) are significantly higher in TB pleural effusion cases as compared to non TB pleural effusion cases (The mean pleural ADA 23.10±11.92, Serum ADA 21.69±8.98, Pleural fluid/serum ADA ratio 1.07±0.47) respectively. Using the cutoff value 1.26 the ratio of pleural fluid/serum ADA was found to have a sensitivity of 40% and specificity of 81.25% for the diagnosis of tuberculosis in children. From this study it is concluded that ratio of pleural fluid ADA to serum ADA is a useful tool to diagnose tuberculous pleural effusion cases in children.

An increasing urban population in India brings to focus the need to improve health care services to meet the demands. Knowledge on health-seeking practices of the target population would be an essential first step to achieve health care for all. This was a short-term survey conducted between January and March 2012 in an urban area of Tamil Nadu. Majority of the participants (92.5%) were aware of health care facilities at accessible distance. But knowledge regarding curative and immunisation services available in the hospitals was inadequate (61.5% and 88.5% respectively). A positive preference towards public facilities was observed. 86% sought hospitals, 4% Over-the-counter drugs and 6% sought home remedies for common illness. Only 73% of the participants had awareness about health insurance schemes, only 23% of the families were covered by health insurance. The health-seeking practices reflected the inadequate awareness related to health services. These findings stress the need for equipping the population with adequate information regarding the availability of services and motivate appropriate utilization.

JSY is a safe motherhood intervention under the NRHM being implemented with the objective of reducing MMR and NMR by promoting institutional delivery among the poor pregnant women. The study was carried out in the villages Kirtanpur and Singahi among 212 and 342 married women respectively to assess the awareness about JSY among married rural women in rural area. Women who have delivered in the past one year were included. Women who have delivered their third child were excluded. Of the 75 women from Singhi village, who knew about JSY, 42(56%) women knew about ANC check-up being done under JSY scheme, 28(37.3%) women knew about Injection TT, 54(72%) women knew about institutional deliveries, 18(24%) women knew about transport assistance services, while 74(99%) knew about cash assistance. Of the 65 women in Kirtanpur village, 18(27.6%) women knew about ANC check-up, 17(26.2%) women knew about injection TT under this scheme, 41(63%) women knew about institutional deliveries, 24(36.9%) women knew about transportation assistance and 55(84.6%) women knew about cash assistance benefit. ASHA & ANM are the functionaries behind the knowledge of JSY among the rural folks. This was evident from the fact that the source of beneficiaries was 100% ANM/ASHA in both the villages.

Ludwig's angina is a potentially life-threatening, rapidly spreading, bilateral cellulitis of the submandibular spaces. It uncommonly occurs in adults and children and its early recognition is paramount especially in children due respiratory obstruction by neck swelling. With early diagnosis, airway observation and management, aggressive intravenous antibiotic therapy, and judicious surgical intervention, this disease should resolve without any complications. Here, we report a case of Ludwig's angina in a 14-year-old girl. We also review the relevant anatomy and discuss the clinical presentation and current management of this disease.

Schwannomas are benign tumors of peripheral and cranial nerves. They occur frequently in head and neck region. Schwannomas occurring in the axillary region is extremely rare. Cystic change is common in longstanding cases and in such cases aspiration may yield only macrophages leading to misdiagnosis of a case. We report one such case of solitary axillary schwannoma with extensive cystic degeneration, which was misdiagnosed on cytology, later confirmed by histological examination.

Fibroadenomas are the most common benign breast tumors in young women. Infarction is rarely observed in fibroadenomas and when present, it is usually associated with pregnancy or lactation. Spontaneous infarction is an uncommon complication of fibro adenoma of the breast. Although infarction following fine needle aspiration (FNA) has been reported in the literature, infarction encountering on first time aspiration is very rare. Lack of knowledge of this entity may lead to a false diagnosis of inflammatory lesion like mastitis and carcinoma on cytology smears. In young patients with breast lumps, if the aspirated material is necrotic, the probable diagnosis of spontaneous infarction should always be kept in mind. Viable fibroadenomatous tissue should be searched for in the FNA smears.

Of all the pediatric malignancies, lymphomas account for about 10-15% of the cases with half of them diagnosed as Hodgkin's lymphoma. Remarkably, this malignancy has a high cure rate with a 5-year survival rate approaching 95%. Hodgkin's lymphoma has an overall incidence rate of 14 per 100,000 less than 15 years of age. It has a typical bimodal distribution with respect to age. In developed countries, the peak incidence is seen in young adults and the elderly. While, in developing countries the incidence is higher among children and young adults with a male preponderance. Histologically, mixed cellularity subtype of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma occurs commonly in the children and in developing countries. We report three typical cases of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma, mixed cellularity subtype with early-stage unfavorable disease presenting as a slightly painful right cervical mass and “B” symptoms. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate was elevated. Ultrasound neck scan suggested tuberculous lymphadenitis. Other laboratory and radiological findings were normal. Fine needle aspiration smears and histopathology helped in arriving at diagnosis of classical Hodgkin's lymphoma, mixed cellularity subtype.

Lymphadenopathy can masquerade as other pathological entities due to their proximity to many sites, thus clinical misjudgment can happen. Ours is such example where Granulomatous cervical lymphadenopathy is clinically thought of as Pleomorphic adenoma of Parotid gland. They need careful review, radiological correlation before committing for final impression.

Desmoid are rare soft tissue tumours most commonly seen in females between 20-40 years of age.They are known for their infiltrative pattern of growth and local recurrence. Diagnosis through clinical presentation imaging and histopathology forms the key to differentiate Desmoid tumours from other soft tissue sarcomas like Fibro sarcomas to offer correct treatment.Here we report one such case of Desmoid tumour of the anterior abdominal wall in a female patient which was removed by radical resection.

Pleomorphic adenoma also called benign mixed tumor, is the most common salivary gland tumor. Most of these tumors occur in major salivary glands; Parotid gland happens to be the commonly involved one (about 90 %) and about 10 % of these occur in the minor salivary glands. The most common sites for pleomorphic adenoma of minor salivary glands are the palate, followed by the lips, the cheeks, floor of the mouth, tongue, tonsil, pharynx, the retromolar area and the nasal cavity. FNAC of intraoral swellings is rarely advised. Here, we are reporting a rare case of pleomorphic adenoma arising from the palate diagnosed on FNA Cytology. We conclude that FNAC is a useful diagnostic tool before surgery even in intraoral swellings.

Castleman's disease is a benign lympho proliferative disorder of an unknown aetiology, occurring rarely in the paediatric population. It primarily occurs at the sites like chest, abdomen and rarely in the neck. We report two cases of Castleman's disease in 7-year-old girl and 11 year old girl presenting with a localised mass in the left and right neck region respectively, complaints of vague clinical symptoms and local examination revealed a soft, non-tender and immobile mass in the neck. Laboratory studies were non-contributory. Ultrasonography of the head and neck helped in defining the neck mass, though the findings were non-specific. The mass was surgically excised and subjected to pathological examination. Histopathological assessment was consistent with Castleman's Disease, hyaline-vascular type. Follow up studies for a period of 6-months showed no evidence of recurrence of the lesion.