Background: The neonatal mortality rate (NNMR) is more in rural India (54.3 in males; 49.0 in females) than in urban India (37.8 in males; 28.8 in females). Objectives: To what extent the rural mothers and the communities are responsible for this situation? Methods: A cross-sectional community based comparative study in urban and rural settings .Statistical techniques: Cluster sampling; proportions; Chi-square tests. Method: Three hundred mothers (150 urban and 150 rural) were surveyed regarding 40 selected newborn care (NBC) practices by a pediatrician and three resident doctors using a predesigned questionnaire. Results: Rural mothers were falling behind urban mothers in 25 out of 40 selected NBC practices. The major lapses with rural mothers were with regard to Early initiation of breast feeding, Exclusive breast feeding practice (Urban 52% Rural 15% P<0.0000), Colostrums feeding (Urban 79% Rural 7% P<0.0000), Poor drying and wrapping the child (Urban 90% Rural 48% P<0.00000), poor thermal protection (Urban 81% Rural 31% P<0.00000), mother- child skin contact ( P<0.00001), poor cord care (P<0.00000), inappropriate treatment when child is sick (Urban (7 % Rural 23% P<0.00000), delay in seeking medical help ( P<0.00000). Community level failures were: Preferring home deliveries (P<0.000084), Delivery by untrained Dai (P<0.0110), lack of early new born checkups (Urban 42% Rural 15% P<0.00000), less affordability of treatment (P<0.000005), and poor community awareness about NBC (P<0.00001) etc. Conclusion: Rural mothers new borne care practices were deficient in most of the aspects in this study.

Background: Corneal ulcer constitutes a major cause of loss of vision all over the world. There are many factors which contribute to corneal ulcer. Hence the epidemiology is complicated. Many infectious agents are also involved as causative agents. They cause corneal scarring which lead to loss of vision. The prevalence is different for different countries. Trauma or injury to eye is the most common risk factor. And this factor is mostly under-reported. Many people use traditional eye medicines, and this is also a major risk for corneal ulcers especially in developing countries. Prevention is most important as cure rates are discouraging. Objective: To study the prevalence and risk factors of corneal ulcers among patients at a tertiary care hospital. Methods: A Hospital based cross sectional study was carried out among a total of 42 cases at Department of Ophthalmology, Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, Hubli from November 2010 to May 2012. Institutional Ethics Committee permission was sought before the start of the study. Informed consent was taken from all patients. Data was entered in the pre designed pre tested questionnaire. Data analysis was done using proportions. Results: Maximum cases were found in the age group of 41-50 years. The males were double than females. The male to female ratio was 2:1. Maximum incidence of corneal ulcer was observed among farmers followed by manual labourer and housewives. In the present study, left eye was found to be more commonly affected than right eye. Incidence of corneal ulcer was more among rural dwellers as compared to urban dwellers. The most common risk factor for corneal ulcer was trauma followed by chronic dacryocystitis. Pain and redness was present in all cases. Conclusion: Trauma was found to be the most common and important risk factor of corneal ulcer. Certain occupations like farmers who are frequently exposed to trauma had higher incidence of corneal ulcer. Age groups who are more active and predisposed to trauma had also higher incidence of corneal ulcer.

Background: The provision of safe blood for transfusion to needy donors is a significant responsibility for any blood bank in a hospital setting. An awareness of the prevalence of Transfusion Transmitted Infections [TTI] is mandatory for Blood Bank Officers. Objective: This study was undertaken to study the prevalence of these transfusion transmitted infections in our geographical area among the voluntary and replacement blood donors. Methods: The data pertaining to the incidence of transfusion transmittable diseases detected during routine screening of blood taken from voluntary and replacement donors in a large tertiary multi – specialty hospital located in Hyderabad, Telangana State, over a period of three years, from January 2013 to December 2015, were collected and analyzed to assess the incidence of Transfusion Transmittable Infections [TTI] amongst the dependent population. Results: The male gender was predominant (98.4%) among the blood donors, whether voluntary or replacement. 2.26% of the total samples had transfusion transmittable diseases. HBsAg was the most common with 1.2 % samples being positive while no malarial parasites were detected in any donor blood samples in the past three years. HIV was 0.28 % and HCV 0.79 %. Conclusion: Transfusion Transmittable Infections pose a threat to patients admitted in any health care facility and if not carefully screened for will cause significant morbidity. Careful screening of all donor blood units in the blood bank of a hospital is absolutely necessary to prevent any untoward incidence of TTI in patients admitted to a health care facility.

50 eyes of 50 patients with pseudoexfoliation syndrome were studied in order to note incidence of different intraoperative complications during cataract surgery, early postoperative complications and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and also the measures to minimize the incidence of complications. Our study concluded that pseudoexfoliation is commonly seen in old age, usually a bilateral condition with male predominance. Pseudoexfoliation leads to difficulty in achieving adequate pupil dilatation and thus leads to various intraoperative complications and poor outcome after surgery. Thus in patients with pseudoexfoliation detailed preoperative evaluation, good communication with patients regarding surgical risks and proper management of intraoperative and postoperative complications are needed to improve surgical outcomes.

Background: Allergic Rhinitis (AR) is a common disorder in patients attending Otorhinolaryngology (ENT) department. It has considerable impact on the life of affected individual. Many studies have linked certain psychological disorders to AR. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of psychological stress in AR patients and assess its relation to duration and severity of the disease. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of AR patients attending ENT OPD during 6 months period. AR patients were diagnosed and classified as per ARIA guidelines. Then they were subjected to standard psychiatric interview and their psychological stress was measured using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results: Of 1804 new patients attending ENT OPD, 58 were diagnosed as suffering from AR. Among them, 29 (50%) were found to have significant stress; 12(20.69%) have Anxiety Disorder and 3(5.17%) were found to have Depressive Disorder. Among AR patients, those with persistent moderate-severe type were found to have high prevalence rate which is statistically significant. There is no relation between intensity of symptoms and duration of illness to significant psychological stress in AR patients. Conclusion: Patients with AR have significant psychological stress which should not be overlooked during treatment. It may be related to inherent pathological factors like IgE level, psychological and social factors rather than intensity and duration of illness.

Background: Stroke is the second major cause of death worldwide. Objective: The aim of the study was to analysis the prevalence and risk factors among ischemic stroke (IS) patients. Methods: The study was a retrospective, record based study conducted at CAIMS Hospital, Karimnagar. A total of 70 ischemic patients were included in this study. The data were collected from entire medical records from January 2015 to December 2015. Results: A total 70 subjects males 37(52.86%), and 33 (47.86%) females with ages ranged from (Mean ± SE 60.28 ± 1.64 years). In this study, Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus, Smoking, Alcohol, Obesity, Cholesterol and CHD were considered as risk factor and were analyzed according to Age (50< years and 50 ≥ Years and by Gender. Conclusion: We concluded that hypertension was identified as an independent risk factor of stroke in 50< years. Compared to ischemic stroke in elderly alcohol use, smoking which are known risk factors were higher in elderly patients.

We present our experiences with non O1 Vibrio cholerae bacteremia cases from a single centre without prior history of consumption of sea food or contact with marine environment. The importance of its emerging nature as a pathogen and the course of infection with this unexpected organism has been reviewed and discussed.

Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor is a relatively rare tumor in general population with an incidence of 0.001%. But in patients of Neurofibromatosis the incidence is 2 -5%. It usually affects the extremities in these patients and rarely occurs in other sites like trunk, head and neck, intra spinal region, scalp and Intra cranial regions. We present a case of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor of the chest wall in an elderly patient with Neurofibromatosis with review of literature.