Iron-deficiency anemia is a more serious problem among reference children, however, zinc deficiency also prevails. The suboptimal iron and zinc status pose a serious threat to the physical and mental growth of these children. Hence to curb these deficiencies necessary steps should be taken.

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Vitamin C has a therapeutic role in allergic rhinitis by reduction of oxidative stress and inflammation. The present study has been undertaken to evaluate the improvement or otherwise in the clinical manifestations of allergic rhinitis, following supplementation of this vitamin.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>40 subjects of allergic rhinitis were selected from the allergy clinics of Dayanand medical college and hospital. The study period was one and a half year. Vitamin C in the dose of 1 gm per day was administered in the case group and in the placebo group a sugar tablet was administered by the oral route. Plasma levels of ascorbic acid and its effect on the symptoms and signs of rhinitis were recorded.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> The mean duration of illness in the patients with allergic rhinitis was 10.15±3.4 years, with 25 patients having duration of less than 10 years, 10 patients were with of illness between 10 to 20 years and 5 having duration more than 20 years. The most common complaint in patients with allergic rhinitis was of nasal obstruction (57.5%).</p><p>All the patients who showed improvement had increase in plasma ascorbic after the respective treatment but not all the patients showing increase in plasma ascorbic acid post-treatment showed improvement.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Vitamin C ameliorates the signs and symptoms of allergic rhinitis by raising the plasma ascorbic acid levels.</p>

Background: In pre-analytical phase of Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory, sample rejection is a very frequent and important source of error. It affects the overall quality of laboratory services and patient care by increasing cost and turnaround time. It leads to test abandonment and causes inconvenience to patients and staff. Aims and Objectives: The aim of the study was to implement the define, measure, analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) method of six-sigma to decrease the rate of sample rejection in Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory. Materials and Methods: In this prospective study, sample rejection rates were analyzed in a clinical Biochemistry Laboratory before and after implementation of DMAIC method of six-sigma. Baseline rejection rates were calculated for a year and classified based on cause of rejection and patient location. Current defects per million opportunities and six sigma values were calculated. This was followed by root cause analysis and implementation of corrective and preventive measures. Reanalysis of the baseline measures was done to observe the impact of these measures. Results: After implementation of DMAIC, the overall rejection rate fell from 1.07% to 0.49% with an increase in sigma value from 3.8 to 4.1. Conclusion: Six-sigma tool like DMAIC can be successfully implemented to improve sample rejection rates ultimately improving the quality of laboratory services in resource limited setting with minimal financial implications.

Abstract:The effect of iron deficiency on infection stages in 312 women (15-45 years) and 312 children (6-59 months) belonging to the families of agricultural labourers and of small and marginal farmers residing in rural areas of Ludhiana district of Punjab was assessed. The blood hemoglobin levels were below normal in 50.64% of women and 55.77% of children. No significant difference in the mean values of C-Reactive protein (CRP) and Alpha-1acid glycoprotein (AGP) was observed among non-anemic and anemic women and children, however the average total leukocyte count was significantly (p≤0.01) higher in anemic as compared to non-anemic women and children. CRP indicating acute stage of infection was raised in 10.58% of women while AGP representing chronic infection was higher in 8.65% of the women. The CRP values were high in 7.7% in children, however AGP values were higher in 23.4% of the children. On the basis of combined levels of CRP and AGP, 11.7% of non-anemic and 15.3% of anemic women were detected with infections while 18.8% of non anemic and 26.0% of anemic children were in infection state. The results suggest that iron deficiency is quite frequent in children and women. The blood picture showed that more number of anemic women and children were in acute or chronic infection stages as compared to non-anemics, hence, a comprehensive research on the role of iron deficiency anemia in immunity is needed as lower immunity is one of the significant factor of malnutrition which is the most important nutritional challenge for the global community.

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