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Objectives:This study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge of health care providers regarding anaphylaxis and its management at a tertiary care teaching hospital.Materials and Methods:A pretested structured questionnaire was administered to interns, MBBS Phase II students, and nursing students. The subjects were asked to answer the questionnaire, which included questions regarding anaphylaxis and its management.Results:Of 265 subjects, 151 (56.9%) of subjects answered correctly that adrenaline is the first line of drug for the treatment of anaphylaxis. Among 151 subjects, 40 (26.4%) answered the correct dose of adrenaline, of which 25 (16.5%) subjects selected intramuscular injection as the most appropriate route of administration. Medical students' performance was better than interns and nursing students on questions regarding dose, route, and site of adrenaline administration.Conclusion:Knowledge regarding the management of anaphylaxis was inadequate in almost all the health care providers who were included in the study. Improved education and training of health care providers are necessary for better management of anaphylaxis.

Multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) are emerging global health threats. Bedaquiline is a new antituberculous drug belonging to the diarylquinoline class that efficiently inhibits the adenosine triphosphate synthase enzyme of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It is a bactericidal and long-acting drug. It inhibits both dormant as well as replicating bacterial sub-populations and thus shortens the duration of TB treatment. This drug has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration in December 2012 for the management of multidrug resistant-TB. The drug marks the introduction of a new addition to the TB armamentarium after four decades.

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Background: Drug utilization research is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as marketing, distribution, prescription, and use of drugs in society, with special emphasis on the resulting medical, social, and economic consequences. Drug utilization study identifies the problems that arise from prescription and highlights the current approaches to the rational use of drugs. The main aim of the study is to assess the pattern of drug usage and the rationality of drug use in Otorhinolaryngology out-patient department (OPD).Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in the OPD of Otorhinolaryngology at tertiary care hospital, Mandya, Karnataka, over a period of one year. Prescriptions of all OPD patients were collected, relevant information entered in a specially designed proforma and analysed using descriptive statistics.Results: A total of 21058 drugs were prescribed out of 8028 prescriptions. Majority of the patients were male (51%). Antimicrobials were the most commonly prescribed drugs (28%), followed by antihistamines (25%), antipyretics (20.5%).Most of the drugs 18576 (88.2%) were prescribed by oral route, followed by topical route. Majority of the drugs were prescribed by the generic names (86.5%). Most common type of infection was ear infection (3176), followed by throat infection (2848) and nose infection (2004).Conclusions: The present study showed that among antimicrobial agents, β lactams were commonly prescribed drugs in the department of Otorhinolaryngology. The maximum number of cases was diagnosed with ear infections and majority of the drugs were prescribed orally.