Background: Anaemia is currently one of the most common and intractable nutritional problems globally. During the period of adolescence, iron requirements increase dramatically in both boys and girls resulting in a higher probability of anaemia. The objective of the study was done to find out the prevalence of anaemia among adolescent boys and girls in Ambalapuzha Taluk and to assess the scholastic performance of the anaemic and non-anaemic in the study group. Methods: The setting was different schools of Ambalapuzha Taluk and the study was cross sectional in nature. Study subjects were children studying in 5th -10th standards selected from aided, unaided and government schools. The total sample size of the study was 2789 subjects. Statistical analysis: Data was entered in Microsoft excel and was analysed using SPSS 16.0 versionResults: The prevalence of anaemia in the whole population was 53.5% (C.I-51.64-55.34%). The anaemia prevalence in females was 62.0% (C.I -59.33-64.6) and in males was 46.1% (C.I -43.55-48.61). Out of the total population 0.4% were severely anaemic [male 0.3% (5) and female 0.5% (6)]. The prevalence of moderate anaemia was 3.4% [male 2.8% (41) and female 4.2% (54)] and that of mild anaemia was 49.7 [male 43% (640) and female 57.4% (746)]. The factors that were found to be significantly associated with adolescent anaemia were female gender (62% vs. 46.1%), being overweight (59.7% vs. 53.2), not taking WIFS regularly (56.5% vs. 51.8% and 28.6% among irregularly taking WIFS and regular takers) and children coming from families with monthly income less than INR 1000. Conclusions: On comparing the academic performance of anaemic and non-anaemic children it was found that the aggregate marks was significantly lower in the anaemic group (178.11 marks) compared to the non-anaemic group (217.63 marks) (p=0.001).

BACKGROUNDIn clinical practice, disorders of thyroid are common worldwide and incidence of which varies with geographical as well as nutritional factors. About twelve percent of Indian adults have palpable goitre. Nowadays, thyroidectomy is a routine surgical procedure offering the chances of cure to many patients having goitre.Aim of the study is to find out the common indications of thyroidectomy in our centre and to study the frequency and histopathological spectrum of follicular cell derived lesions in thyroidectomy specimens.

Background: Maternal care services are intended to take care about the pregnant during the antenatal, intra natal and post natal periods so as to reduce maternity related health problems. The current study tries to assess maternity care services among pregnant women in a coastal area in central Kerala, India.Methods: The setting was Mararikkulam south panchayat and the study was cross sectional in nature. The minimum sample size of the study was calculated to be 213. A house to house survey was conducted in all the 23 wards to find out those who had a live or still birth in the last one year (2014-2015) who were our study subjects. The maternity care services were assessed using multiple indicators. In statistical analysis, data was entered in Microsoft excel and was analysed using SPSS 16.0 versionResults: As per the current study the number of pregnancies registered early i.e. within 12 weeks was 72.2%. Only 68% had all the antenatal check-ups while 26.1% had less than 4 antenatal check-ups and 5.9% had no regular antenatal check-ups. 67.7% of the mothers had taken iron and folic acid for the prescribed period of pregnancy. Ultrasound examination was done at least once during the pregnancy in 63.3% of cases and not done in 36.7%. For tetanus prophylaxis 84.5% had appropriate course of TT vaccination. 73.5% of the mothers were well aware of the danger signs of pregnancy and 21.2% were partially aware and 5.3% were unaware of the danger signs.

BACKGROUNDSpiritual Health is one of four dimensions to well-being as defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO), which include physical, social and mental; it is a highly unaddressed and valuable component yet to be explored. Medical school is recognised as a stressful environment that often exerts a negative effect on the academic performance, physical health and psychological well-being of the student. This study aims to measure the spiritual health status and describe the coping skills of young medical graduates who are the caregivers of the future and to determine the association of spiritual health status of the study population and their coping skills.

Background: With the emergence of several new variants of the Severe acute respiratory syndrome- coronavirus disease-2 (SARS-CoV 2) virus, concerns regarding the effectiveness of vaccines arise and the threat of breakthrough infections increase. This study was conducted among health care workers who developed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection to assess their vaccination status and describe their morbidity profile.Methods: A record based descriptive study was conducted among staff of Govt medical College, Kottayam, who became COVID-19 positive between March 2021 and September 2021, using a structured proforma. Data was coded and entered in Excel sheet and analysis was done using IBM Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20.Results: A total of 444 health care workers at Govt College Kottayam tested positive for COVID-19 during the study period. 369 of the health care workers had taken at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, of which 273 (61.4%) were fully vaccinated. As on 31st August 2021, 4917 health care workers have been fully vaccinated, therefore the breakthrough infection rate in the present study was 5.6%. Of those with breakthrough infection 63% were females, 23.1% had history of comorbidities, and 88.6% were symptomatic. The mean interval between receipt of second dose of vaccine and diagnosis was 99 days (range between 16 and 24).Conclusions: Breakthrough infection rate of 5.6% among health care workers presents a major public health challenge in ending the pandemic. Further studies including genomic variant analysis would be more helpful especially with in wake of new variants.