Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) are a major cause of death in children under five in rural Bangladesh. A popular strategy for lowering ARI mortality in such settings includes detecting and managing pneumonia in children at the community level. The success of programs using this approach requires a well-trained community-based cadre of health workers and the appropriate utilization of services provided. Determinants of health care seeking behavior are clearly of interest in this regard. A qualitative study was conducted in Matlab, Bangladesh to describe community perceptions of signs and symptoms of ARI, case management behavior, and constraints to service utilization. Mothers recognized pneumonia and thought it to be caused by "exposure to cold." They were able to identify labored breathing, chest retractions, lethargy, and inability to feed as signs of severe disease needing treatment outside the home. Nevertheless, similar illnesses were sometimes believed to be due to attack by evil influences. In these cases, spiritual healers were sought and allopathic treatment was avoided or delayed. The mothers' observance of purdah and "proper" behavior were reported to play a role in prevention of child death from disease. Implications of this belief and its impact on service utilization are discussed. Suggestions for program managers are made in addition to recommendations for further research.

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IntroductionSince there is a paucity of data on the epidemiology of the non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), particularly in rural areas in Asia, we undertook such a study among the population of a rural community in Bangladesh with the aims to (1) determine the prevalence of non-obese and obese NAFLD, (2) compare the sociodemographic clinical and metabolic characteristics between non-obese and obese NAFLD subjects, and (3) determine the risk factors of NAFLD and no-nobese NAFLD.MethodsIn this door-to-door survey, clinical examination, anthropometric measurements, biochemical tests and ultrasonography were performed on the adult population (≥18 years) of three villages in Bangladesh.ResultsOf 1682, 1353 (80.44%) responded. After the exclusion of 48 subjects for alcohol consumption, HBsAg or anti-hepatitis C virus positivity, 1305 ((mean age 41.28±15.10 years, female 908 (69.6%)) were included in the final analysis. On ultrasonography, among the study population, 57 (4.4%) non-obese, 185 (14.2%) obese and, overall, 242 (18.5 %, (male 23.40%, female 16.4%, p=0. 003)) participants had NAFLD. NAFLD was detected in 57/804 (7.1%) of non-obese and 185/501 (36.93%) obese participants. Among the lean subjects, 24/592 (4.1%) had NAFLD. Among NAFLD subjects, 57 (23.55%) were non-obese, and 53 (22%) had raised alanine aminotransferase. On multivariate analysis, age >40 years, male gender, metabolic syndrome (MS), diabetes mellitus (DM), abdominal obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia and obesity were found as the risk factors for NAFLD. There were no differences in sociodemographic characteristics, DM, MS, abdominal obesity, hypertension and dyslipidaemia between non-obese and obese NAFLD (all p>0.05).ConclusionIn this community study in Bangladesh, NAFLD was present in 18.5% participants, one-quarter of whom were non-obese. Apart from body mass index, the metabolic profile was comparable between obese and non-obese NAFLD. Public health measures are needed to control and prevent NAFLD and MS and their adverse health consequences.

Background: Healthcare professionals (HCPs) are one of the vital and persuading means of information, prevention and control, and incentive of vaccination to content a pandemic. Therefore, knowing the status of HCPs' perception about symptoms, transmission, preventive measures, and attitudes towards a vaccine against COVID-19 is crucial. Methods: This multi-center cross-sectional descriptive study was one of the first and foremost ones in Bangladesh among the HCPs -doctors, nurses, and other subordinates (MLSS) engaged at COVID-dedicated hospitals. The study was conducted from February 5, 2021, to March 7, 2021, using a convenience sampling method among 550 HCPs using structured questionnaire with twenty-five questions on a three-point scale of responses. Results: The age range of the respondents were 18 to 64 years with the mean 36.17 ±10.94 years of 524 HCPs, of which the majority of the respondents were female 323 (61.6%) and 201 (38.4%) were male with the 95.27% response rate. Almost all participants had "high" or more than sufficient perception (94.34%) about the symptoms of COVID-19. But all categories of HCPs expressed their poor or fair practice about restraining from shaking hands, and only 6.84% of nurses, 8.33% doctors, and 11.59% of MLSS avoided crowded public gatherings as a practice of prevention. A majority (95.99%) of the HCPs showed positive attitudes about the availability of vaccines free of cost, and 87.40% showed trust in the efficacy and safety of the vaccine against COVID-19. Conclusion:The majority of the HCPs from the COVID-dedicated hospitals have a good perception and positive attitude towards vaccination; nevertheless, have a poor practice of prevention toward COVID-19. This may play a vital role in motivation and wide acceptance of vaccine among the general population and contribute in comprehensive strategic planning to fight back against the pandemic in the country with the restricted resource.

Objective(s): To assess the association between the haematocrit value and severity of preeclampsia.Materials & Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in the department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology of Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Dhaka during the period of January 2012 to December 2013. Total of 100 patients were studied and they were divided into two groups – group-A and group-B. Fifty preeclamptic patients were included in the group-A and 50 normal pregnant women were included in the group-B.Results: Majority of preeclamptic women (68%) and normal pregnant women (76%) were in the age group of 20-30 years with the mean ages of group-A and group-B subjects were 26.50±5.71 and 26.26±4.91 years respectively. Eighty six percent of group-A and 70% of group-B women were of lower socioeconomic status. Majority of the study subjects (74% of group-A and 80% of group-B) were housewife. More than half (54%) of the preeclamptic women were primigravid and 60% of normal pregnant women were multigravid. Among the preeclamptic subjects 16 (32%) had mild hypertension (DBP<110mmHg) and 34 (68%) had severe hypertension (DBP ? 110 mmHg). Out of 50 preeclamptic subjects 45 (90%) had severe proteinuria (+++) and only 5 (10%) had moderate (++) proteinuria.The mean haematocrit value of preeclamptic patients was 34.881±3.03 and that of normal pregnant women was 31.94±1.2. It was statistically significant (P value 0.001). The mean haematocrit value of normal pregnant, mild and severe preeclamptic women were 31.94±1.2, 33.31±2.57 and 35.62±2.95 respectively. It was also statistically significant (P value 0.001).Conclusion: This study shows that haematocrit value of preeclamptic patients is significantly higher compared to that of the normal pregnant women (P<0.05). There is a strong association of increasead haematocrit and preeclampsia.Bangladesh J Obstet Gynaecol, 2015; Vol. 30(2) : 80-85