Background: Obesity is known to be the first wave of an outlined cluster of noncommunicable diseases called “New World Syndrome” creating a huge socioeconomic and public health burden in poorer countries. In India, obesity has emerged as a crucial health problem, specifically in urban areas, paradoxically coexisting with undernutrition imparting “Double Burden of Disease Obesity”. Objective: To study the prevalence and associated factors of obesity among nationalized and private sectors' bank employees. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. There were around 160 total branches of banks in Rajkot. After explaining the purpose of the study, regional head of 70 banks gave permission to conduct the study. Employees working in nationalized and private banks and those who gave consent to take participation were included in this study. Total 800 bank employees participated in the present study. Results: Out of all employees, 36.4% and 11.5% of employees were found to be overweight and obese, respectively. Among all, 23.4% of employees had addiction. Out of all, 88% of employees took homemade lunch, while 28.3% employees skip their lunch. Around 82.2% took junk food as snacks. More than half of the employees were not doing any type of exercise at the time of the present study. Conclusion: Marital status, education, source of lunch food, and exercise were found to be significantly associated with obesity.

Background: The high level of out-of-pocket expenditures (OOPEs) increases the risk for catastrophic expenditure and may further increase the risk of impoverishment. Objective: To know the economic impact of hypertension (HTN) in urban Chitradurga. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 196 hypertensives aged more than 18 years taking treatment for more than 1 year. Newly diagnosed hypertensives and with other debilitating illness were excluded. This study was done in urban field practice area of Chitradurga, for a period of 3 months. Subjects were selected by simple random sampling by line listing all cases. Sociodemographic data and cost of treatment were collected. Along with this cost of consultation, medicine, travel, diagnostic cost, patient's wage lost for treatment and other expenditure details was collected. Results: It was found that most of the subjects were above the age of 60 years and unemployed. Only 29.6% of the participants chose to seek care from government hospitals. Around 67.9% of participants had associated comorbidities. Median monthly OOPE toward HTN was found to be Rs. 600 (400–750). When this was analyzed separately for hospitalized and nonhospitalized cases, total cost of expenditure due to HTN was Rs. 2583 and Rs. 700, respectively. The monthly direct cost of subjects seeking care in private hospitals is Rs. 850 which is Rs. 650 more than what the subjects who seek care in government hospitals pay. Total monthly cost was Rs. 400 and Rs. 1050 for government and private hospitals, respectively. Conclusion: High OOPE makes it a necessity for intervention.

Background: The different ambient temperatures of the upper and lower respiratory tract could influence the replication kinetics of the virus. Objective: This study is aimed to evaluate the effect of steam inhalation on clinical progression of COVID-19 and its subsequent impact on viral load that was evaluated in patients. Materials and Methods: A randomized control trial in mildly infected COVID-19 was undertaken. The participants were randomized either to standard treatment plus steam inhalation (test, n = 22) or standard treatment alone (control, n = 22). Steam inhalation was continued for 20 min thrice daily for 10 days. The first reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction swab was collected on day 1 before steam inhalation and the second swab was obtained after its completion on the fourth day. In the control group, the swabs were collected at the matched time-points. The clinical progression of disease and the need of oxygen therapy were observed for 10 days. Reductions in cycle-threshold levels were assessed at the completion of 4 days of steam treatment. Results: Only one patient from the test group and six patients from the control group progressed to moderate disease. No patient from the steam group required oxygen therapy, whereas three patients from the control group needed it. The median cycle-threshold levels pertaining to N-gene, E-gene, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, respectively, were nonsignificant. All the patients showed clinical recovery. Conclusions: The clinical trends support the use of steam therapy as add on over standard treatment in mildly infected COVID-19 patients.

Background: Early warning signs of prehypertension indicate a higher likelihood of developing hypertension later in life. Prehypertension was given a new classification in the Seventh Joint National Committee-7 report that distinguished it from hypertension that had already developed. Prehypertensive people were those with systolic blood pressure between 120-139 mmHg or diastolic between 80 and 89 mmHg. Objectives: The objective of this study is to study the prevalence of prehypertension and the factors associated with it. Materials and Methods: The current cross-sectional study was done in an urban field practice area of a medical college with a study population ranging from 20 to 40 years. The sample size was 420. The systematic random sampling method was used to select the subjects. Anthropometric measurements such as weight, height, waist, and hip circumference were recorded. Body mass index was categorized according to the South East Asian region (WHO). The institutional ethical board accepted the study protocol. Results: About 51.6% of people had prehypertension. Prehypertension was most common in people between the ages of 35 and 40 (35.4%). Prehypertension was more common in males and was highest in class IV socioeconomic status (37.3%). When compared to sedentary employees, moderate workers have a higher frequency of prehypertension (68.6%). Conclusion: Our study shows that prehypertension is becoming more common among young individuals in the age range of 20–40 years (51.6%), indicating that it is not an age-related condition.

Background: Lymphatic filariasis (LF) impairs the lymphatic system causing pain and physical disability. A total of 859 million people in 50 countries require preventive chemotherapy to stop the infection. Mass drug administration (MDA) strategy was started to eliminate LF by 2020. In India, filariasis is endemic in 257 districts. Hence, this study aimed to assess the coverage and compliance following MDA toward filariasis in Warangal. Objective: The objective was to estimate the coverage rate, compliance rate, effective coverage rate, and coverage compliance gap of MDA toward filariasis in Warangal. Materials and Methods: The study was done in Warangal district, in which four clusters were chosen. The multistage sampling technique was adopted. Four villages were selected randomly from four PHCs. Each village included 30 households. All household members were interviewed with pretested, semi-structured questionnaire. Data were entered in Excel, and descriptive statistics were used. Results: In total, 476 were eligible for MDA administration. The total coverage rate was 80.4%, total compliance rate was 94.2%, effective coverage rate was 75.8%, and coverage compliance gap was 5.7%. The most common reason for nonconsumption was people thought that drug was not needed. The side effect after consumption was 1.6%. Conclusion: The overall coverage rate (80.4%) was less than the recommended level (85%) for the elimination of LF. The compliance rate was 94.2%, which says that most of the people consumed the tablet. Effective coverage (75.8%) reflects the actual coverage which has to be improved. One of the reasons for not consuming the tablet was fear of side effects, but only 1.6% had side effect.

Background: A mosquito-borne disease, dengue is present in many places of India since a long time. Studies have shown that, despite many efforts, the knowledge and practices of people, especially urban slum dwellers remain low. The factors responsible for inadequate knowledge and practices have to be explored and addressed. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and practice about dengue fever among urban slum dwellers of Andhra Pradesh, India. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among the urban slum dwellers (community-based study) in one district of Andhra Pradesh state. Study variables included knowledge about symptoms of dengue, mode of transmission, and complications. Practices to prevent dengue were also studied. Results: In the present study, males were 85 (30.4%) and females were 195 (69.6%). The awareness about dengue among urban slum dwellers is good (75.4%). Awareness of dengue was significantly higher in females than in males. No significant association of awareness of dengue was found with age, literacy status, socioeconomic status, and occupation. Recognition of symptoms of dengue was significantly better among females compared to males. Conclusions: The study concludes that the awareness of dengue among urban slum dwellers is good (75.4%). The practices related to mosquito control measures are improving, but, there is still a need to improve knowledge and practice.

Background: There is evidence that the population's knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) influence the implementation of nonpharmacological therapies. Given the paucity of research in this area, we felt compelled to conduct an immediate study of public knowledge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Objective: The objective is to estimate the level of KAP regarding COVID-19 among the general population. Materials and Methods: In the Western Indian District of Pune, a descriptive research was carried out. The study used a sample size of 400 people. Participants in the study were selected from residents of the study region who were at least 18 year old and willing to take part. A semi-structured, self-reported respondent-friendly questionnaire was used. Using the proper statistical tests, KAP scores according to various sociodemographic factors were compared. The confidentiality and anonymity of the study participants were maintained. Results: The participants' average age was 30.53 years (standard deviation [SD] 6.98). The average score for knowledge was 15.28 (SD 2.63), attitude was 111.26 (SD 13.2), and practice was 13.43 (SD 1.1). We found a statistically significant knowledge gap across a range of age and educational categories. With the participants' advancing age, there was a significant variation in attitude (P = 0.02). Statistics showed that there were significant differences in practices for different age groups and educational levels. Conclusion: According to the results of our study, it is frequently necessary to target vulnerable groups with information education and communication programs targeted at mobilizing and enhancing KAP relevant to COVID-19.

Birth defects refer to those conditions that exist right from the time of birth and account for structural alterations in one or more parts of the newborn. It has been reported that 0.24 million and 0.17 million newborns have lost their lives within the first 28 days of life and between the ages of 1 month to 5 years respectively on an annual basis. Apart from deaths, birth defects have been linked to long-term disability, which accounts for significant impairment in the quality of life of individuals, their families, the community, and the health care delivery system. This calls for the need to take specific measures to ensure the prevention of birth defects either via eliminating the potential risk factors or through reinforcement of protective measures. To conclude, birth defects are a global public health concern linked to morbidity, disability, and mortality. Acknowledging the fact that most birth defects are either preventable or treatable, it is the need of the hour to take comprehensive and prompt measures to improve the existing scenario and thereby ensure improvement in the quality of life of individuals, families, and community.