Obesity, overweight and central obesity and sedentary behaviour coexist with undernutrition, and have become a public health problem in all the five cities of India. The prevalence of obesity and sedentary behaviour was significantly greater in Trivandrum, Calcutta and Bombay compared to Moradabad and Nagpur. Sedentary behaviour was significantly associated with obesity compared to non-obese subjects in both sexes, which may be due to greater economic development in metro cities.

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Oxidative stress is considered to play an important role in the pathogenesis of diabetes-induced cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is invariably associated with abnormal blood lipid profile, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Stress, smoking, high saturated fat intake as well as low fruit and vegetable intakes have been shown to increase oxidative stress and hyperlipidemia, which increase the predisposition of diabetic subjects to atherosclerosis, stroke and coronary heart disease. The oxidation of low-density lipoprotein by oxidative stress is essential for the development of atherosclerosis, and the reduction in oxidative stress as well as blood glucose and cholesterol is considered critical for the prevention of diabetes-induced CVD. Although epidemiological studies have demonstrated that vitamin C and vitamin E decrease the incidence of coronary heart disease, different clinical trials have failed to support the beneficial effect of these antioxidants. Nonetheless, it has been suggested that natural forms of these vitamins may be more efficacious than synthetic vitamins, and this may explain the inconsistencies in results. Antioxidants, N-acetyl-L-cysteine and resveratrol, have also been shown to attenuate the diabetes-induced cardiovascular complications. It has been indicated that the antioxidant therapy may be effective in a prevention strategy rather than as a treatment for CVD. The evidence presented here supports the view that cardiovascular complications in diabetes may be induced by oxidative stress and appropriate antioxidant therapy may be promising for attenuating the progression of diabetes-induced CVD.

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Background: To isolate the pathogenic bacteria and to know the antibiotic sensitivity in the community acquired neonatal sepsis. Methods: It was a prospective study undertaken on 300 neonates suspected of community acquired neonatal sepsis admitted in Pediatrics Department of Government Medical College,Amritsar over a period of one year from January2014 to December 2014.All these cases fulfilled the inclusion criteria required for the study.Blood culture of these cases was performed by Mackie and McCartney method and antibiotic sensitivity by Kirley-Baner's disc diffusion method. Results: 227 (79%) cases showed positive blood culture.Gram negative isolates (N=156;65.82%) were more frequent than gram positive isolates (N=81;34.18%). Most common isolate was KlebsiellaPneumoniae (N=77%;32.48%) followed by Staphylococcus Aureus (N=66;27.84%), E.Coli(N=37;15.66%), Pseudomonas Aeroginosa (N=28;11.81%), Acinetobacter (N=14;5.90%), Enterococcus(N=8;3.37%) and Coagulase Negative Staphylococcus Aureus (N=7;2.99%). Both gram negative as well as gram positive isolates showed high resistance to ampicillin and gentamycin. Gram negative isolates were highly sensitive to Polymixin B and Meropenem whereas gram positive isolates were highly sensitive to Linezolid and Vancomycin. Conclusion: Gram negative bacteria were more frequent causes of community acquired neonatal septicemia than gram positive isolates. Both gram positive and negative isolates showed poor sensitivity towards conventional first line antibiotics, rather were mainly susceptible to higher antibiotics. So the knowledge of the pattern of bacteriological isolates and their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern can be very helpful for prompt treatment of such patients, to decrease neonatal morbidity and mortality as well as reducing the emergence of multi-drug resistant organisms.

Visceral Leshmaniais (VL) is caused by Leshmania donovani, and is transmitted by the bite of female phlebotomine sandfly. This disease is widely prevalent in the world, and is endemic in a few states of India. Clinical features of this disease include fever, anemia, weight loss, lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly. Hematological features in VL include anemia, neutropia, lymphocytosis and thrombocytopenia. Bone marrow examination shows reticuloendothelial cell hyperplasia, erythroid hyperplasia, reduction of neutrophils, eosinophic myelocytes and plasma cells. The ratio of granulocytes to non-granulocytes is decreased. The ability of megakaryocyes to form platelets is also decreased.

Background:We investigated German measles outbreak as a suspected one of measles to confirm diagnosis and recommend for control and prevention. Materials and Methods: We defined a case of German measles as the occurrence of febrile rash in any resident of the eight villages from 20 th October to 16 th January, 2007. Case patients were line listed and information on age, sex, residence, date of onset, symptoms, signs, traveling, treatment history, vaccination status, and pregnancy status were collected. The outbreak was described by time, place, and person characteristics. Diagnosis was confirmed clinically, epidemiologically, and serologically; first to measles, scrub typhus and later to German measles viruses. Results: We identified 116 cases in eight villages (112/116 clinically and 04/116 laboratory confirmed). The overall attack rate (AR) was 11%; highest in the age group of 11-20 years (range 13% to 44%). Sex specific AR for male was 12%. All case patients were <20 years of age with a median age of 12 years. Complication rate was 05%, but no death reported on account of German measles. No pregnant woman was found to be affected. None of them were immunized against rubella. Four tested positive for immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies to rubella out of eight samples. Thirty three percent (38/116) had their treatment of choice to the modern medicine. Conclusion: German measles outbreak was confirmed in unvaccinated populations, which was possibly due to the frequent traveling of Bengali colony vendors' case patients to other areas. We advised the local health authorities to provide MR vaccination to the unexposed in eight affected and neighboring villages.

Background: Approximately 15% to 20% of tuberculosis (TB) cases in India are estimated to have extrapulmonary tuberculosis, and tuberculous effusion being the second most common extrapulmonary manifestation after tuberculous lymphadenitis. Due to its paucibacillary nature, it is difficult to demonstrate tubercle bacilli by the standard staining procedures which is the gold standard for diagnosis, thus leading to a large number of cases being undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Now, it has further been complicated by the emergence of multidrug resistance. In December 2010, World Health Organization endorsed the Gene Xpert MTB/RIF technology for diagnosis of mycobacterium tuberculosis and rifampicin resistance which is providing result within 2 hour. Aims: This study was done with an aim to know the role of Gene Xpert in the diagnosis of tubercular pleural effusion. Results: A total of 136 patients of pleural effusion with strong clinico-radiological and pathological suspicion of tubercular etiology were included in our study and their pleural fluid was examined for Gene Xpert MTB/RIF. In 20.58%(28) patients, Mycobacterium tuberculosis was detected and out of these, 21%(6) had rifampicin resistance. Conclusion: Because of its rapidity, simplicity, and sensitivity, Gene Xpert MTB/RIF technology is emerging as a novel and promising technique to diagnose tuberculous effusion and rifampicin resistance, which was undiagnosed most of the time. Although, it has limited availability at present, and for this more research studies should be conducted.