BackgroundVisceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the Indian subcontinent is a fatal disease if left untreated. Between 1994 to 2013, the Ministry of Health of Bangladesh reported 1,09,266 cases of VL and 329 VL related deaths in 37 endemic districts. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) using dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was used by the national programme in the 1960s to control malaria. Despite findings of research trials demonstrating that the synthetic pyrethroid deltamethrin 5 WP was very effective at reducing vector densities, no national VL vector control operations took place in Bangladesh between 1999 to early 2012. In 2012, IRS using deltamethrin 5 WP was re-introduced by the national programme, which consisted of pre-monsoon spraying in eight highly endemic sub-districts (upazilas). The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of IRS on VL vectors, as well as the process and performance of the spraying activities by national programme staff.MethodsFive highly endemic upazilas of Mymensingh district were purposively selected (Fulbaria, Trishal, Mukthagacha, Gaforgaon and Bhaluka) to conduct the present study using the WHO/TDR monitoring and evaluation tool kit. IRS operations, conducted by 136 squads/teams, and 544 spraymen, were observed using check lists and questionnaires included in the WHO/TDR monitoring and evaluation tool kit. A household (HH) acceptability survey of IRS was conducted in all study areas using a structured questionnaire in 600 HHs. To measure the efficacy of IRS, pre-IRS (two weeks prior) and post-IRS (at one and five months after), vector density was measured using CDC light traps for two consecutive nights. Bioassays, using the WHO cone-method, were carried out in 80 HHs (40 sprayed and 40 unsprayed) to measure the effectiveness of the insecticide on sprayed surfaces.ResultsOf the 544 spraymen interviewed pre-IRS, 60%, 3% and 37% had received training for one, two and three days respectively. During spraying activities, 64% of the spraying squads had a supervisor in 4 upazilas but only one upazila (Mukthagacha) achieved 100% supervision of squads. Overall, 72.8% of the spraying squads in the study upazilas had informed HHs members to prepare their houses prior to spraying. The required personal protective equipment was not provided by the national programme during our observations and the spraying techniques used by all sprayers were sub-standard compared to the standard procedure mentioned in the M&E toolkit. In the HH interviews, 94.8% of the 600 respondents said that all their living rooms and cattle sheds had been sprayed. Regarding the effectiveness measurements (i.e. reduction of vector densities), a total of 4132 sand flies were trapped in three intervals, of which 3310 (80.1%) were P. argentipes; 46.5% (1540) males and 53.5% (1770) females. At one month post-IRS, P. argentipes densities were reduced by 22.5% but the 5 months post-IRS reduction was only 6.4% for both male and female. The bioassay tests showed a mean corrected mortality of P. argentipes sand flies at one...
Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has undergone multiple mutations since its emergence, and its latest variant, Omicron (B.1.1.529), is the most contagious variant of concern (VOC) which poses a major and imminent threat to public health. Since firstly reported by World Health Organization (WHO) in November 2021, Omicron variant has been spreading rapidly and has become the dominant variant in many countries worldwide. Omicron is the most mutated variant so far, containing 60 mutations in its genome, including 37 mutations in the S-protein. Since all current COVID-19 vaccines in use were developed based on ancestral SARS-CoV-2 strains, whether they are protective against Omicron is a critical question which has been the center of study currently. In this article, we systemically reviewed the studies regarding the effectiveness of 2-or 3-dose vaccines delivered in either homologous or heterologous manner. The humoral and cellular immune responses elicited by various vaccine regimens to protect against Omicron variant are discussed. Current understanding of the molecular basis underlying immune escape of Omicron was also analyzed. These studies indicate that two doses of vaccination are insufficient to elicit neutralizing antibody responses against Omicron variant. Nevertheless, Omicron-specific humoral immune responses can be enhanced by booster dose of almost all type vaccines in certain degree, and heterologous vaccination strategy may represent a better choice than homogenous regimens. Intriguingly, results of studies indicate that all current vaccines are still able to elicit robust T cell response against Omicron. Future focus should be the development of Omicron variant vaccine, which may induce potent humoral as well as cellular immune responses simultaneously against all known variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Piper sylvaticum Roxb., (Family: Piperaceae), commonly known as pahaari peepal, is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of rheumatic pain, headache, asthma, chronic cough, diarrhea, and wounds. To provide scientiic proof for its traditional use, the present study was designed to investigate the antinociceptive and anti-inlammatory properties of methanol extract of P. sylvaticum stem (MEPSS) in pain models. Additionally, computational studies viz. molecular docking, ADME and toxicological property predictions were performed to identify the potent phytochemicals of this plant for antinociceptive and anti-inlammatory activities with good oral bioavailability and safety features. Quantitative phytochemical analysis of MEPSS was performed using established protocols. The antinociceptive activity was determined using acetic acid and formalin test in mice at the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg while paw edema induced by carrageenan used for anti-inlammatory activity. Molecular docking study was performed by Schrödinger Maestro 10.1 whereas the SwissADME and admetSAR were used for ADME and toxicity prediction respectively. The total phenolic and lavonoid contents of MEPSS were 93.39 and 53.74 mg gallic acid and quercetin equivalent/g of extract respectively. The methanol extract exhibited signiicant and dosedependent antinociceptive and anti-inlammatory efects in experimental pain models. Also, our docking study showed that piperine, piperlonguminine, and sylvamide have the best binding ainities to cyclooxygenase enzymes with good ADME/T properties. This study conirmed that MEPSS possess signiicant antinociceptive and anti-inlammatory activities which could be due to the presence of phytochemicals and three bioactive compounds (piperine, piperlonguminine, and sylvamide) were found to be most efective in computational studies.
Knowledge about the existing disease pattern and health seeking behavior is essential to provide need based health care delivery to any population and to make the health care system more pro-poor. A community based cross sectional study was conducted among 493 systematically selected households in the Modhukhali Upazilla of Faridpur District to determine the prevailing disease pattern and health seeking behavior in rural Bangladesh. Data were collected through face-to-face interview of the selected respondents. More than half of the respondents gave history of illness of her or her family members during the preceding 15 days. Fever (33.2%), gastrointestinal diseases (24.9%) and respiratory diseases (17.8%) were the most reported complaints. Overall, there were no discernible differences in the likelihood of seeking traditional or any kind of care considering socio-demographic variables and prevailing disease types. Occupation of household head as day labor or in agriculture and suffering from gastrointestinal diseases positively predicted use of para-professionals. Use of un-qualified allopths was negatively predicted by the male gender or literacy of the household head and presence of gastrointestinal, respiratory and other types of diseases and positively predicted by occupation of the household head in agricultural field or as day labor. Use of qualified allopaths was positively predicted by respiratory, skin/eye/ENT and other types of diseases and also by standard of living and relationship of the respondents with household head and negatively predicted by agricultural or day labor work of the household head. Existence of several distinct therapeutic systems in a single cultural setting was found to be an important feature of health care system in the study area. This study concluded that it is important to develop a need based health care delivery system and actions should be taken to improve the overall scenario of health system of rural Bangladesh. Key words: Disease pattern; health seeking behavior; rural area; Bangladesh DOI: 10.3329/fmcj.v6i1.7408 Faridpur Med. Coll. J. 2011;6(1): 32-37
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