No abstract

Background:Access to reproductive health services in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) programs can greatly enhance program's potential to limit the spread of disease, reduce unintended pregnancies and safeguard the health of infected people.Objectives:To assess (i) knowledge, attitude, and use regarding contraceptives; safe sex and dual protection; (ii) fertility desires and unintended pregnancies post HIV and (iii) symptoms of reproductive tract infection/sexually transmitted infection (RTI/STI) among women infected with HIV.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional study among 300 currently married HIV-positive women who had not undergone permanent sterilization with no immediate desire for pregnancy. Study site was Integrated Counseling and Testing Centers (ICTC) in tertiary hospitals of Mumbai and women were interviewed using a semistructured questionnaire.Results:In spite of good awareness about modern methods, 42.7 felt that contraceptives other than condoms were harmful to use due to their HIV status. Knowledge on dual protection was limited to condom (75%). Condom use increased from 5.7% pre-HIV to 71.7% post-HIV, with 89.6% reporting regular use. Future fertility desire was expressed by 8.7% women. Induced abortions post-HIV was reported by16.6% women, as pregnancies were unintended. About 69% wished to use dual contraceptive methods for effective protection if it was not harmful to be used by people living with HIV (PLHIV).Conclusion:Data reveals a need to promote modern contraceptive methods along with regular condom use to prevent unintended pregnancies and improve health-seeking behavior for contraception. Health system models that converge or link HIV services with other reproductive health services need to be tested to provide comprehensive reproductive healthcare to infected women in India.

Background: Dengue an endemic disease in most subtropical and tropical regions of the world is causing severe epidemics in India. An alarming rise of dengue has also been seen in Mumbai, during the recent years. Aim and Objective: The study was conducted to know the prevalence of dengue infection, based on laboratory rapid screening tests for IgM and IgG antibodies and the confirmatory IgM ELISA test and to study the seasonal variation and the clinical profile in these cases. Material and Method: A retrospective study of laboratory test results and clinical profile of suspected dengue cases was carried out in a tertiary care hospital over a period between January 2004 and November 2007. Result: Of the 3 677 samples processed by rapid test for antibodies against dengue (Denguchek), 503 (13.67%) gave positive results. Fifty-six samples (26.41%) were positive by IgM Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test, of 212 rapid positive samples processed by ELISA test. Our study comprised of 315 adult and 188 pediatric cases. The common symptom of dengue was fever, icterus, myalgia, and headache. Thrombocytopenia (platelet counts <75 000/cmm) was seen in 386 (76.74%) cases. Seventy-seven cases (15.30%) positive by rapid screening tests for dengue antibodies were also positive for IgM/ IgG antibodies against Leptospira by Dridot test (Rapid test). Of these, 49 (63.64%) were confirmed to be positive for dengue antibodies by the ELISA test. Conclusion: As dengue causes increased morbidity and mortality and requires prompt diagnosis and treatment for the proper management of these cases, the rapid screening test for IgM/IgG antibodies helps clinicians toward achieving this goal.

No abstract

No abstract