<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Blood is scarce; its demand far outweighs the supply. In addition to limited supply, the issue of safety especially with regard to the risk of transfusion transmissible infection is also an issue of utmost concern especially in the developing countries. Blood transfusion services in India have gained special significance in recent years and forms a vital part of national health care system. Voluntary Non-Remunerated Blood Donation (VNRBD) is the safest of all types of blood donations. One of the potential sources that can be tapped for blood donation is the young and physically fit students from educational institutions across India.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> A cross-sectional study was carried out among students from Mumbai University, India during May–June 2017. Two hundred and fifty students were approached to participate in the study of which 201 agreed to participate (males: 104; females: 97). Pretested questionnaire was distributed and collected data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 23. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> High number of participants agreed about encouraging general public about voluntary blood donation (96%; 193/201), lack of awareness about VBD in general public (82%; 164/201). But not a single participant was able to respond to the knowledge part of the questionnaire with 100% accuracy. Almost all the participants had correct knowledge about blood groups (98%; 196/201) and blood matching need (195/201; 97%).</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Participants showed good attitude but demonstrated poor knowledge about voluntary blood donation. Details about blood donation should be incorporated in the undergraduate curriculum and periodic awareness programs should be organized for students.</p>
Background: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a specific form of rampant caries that initially affects the primary maxillary anterior teeth of infants and children. According to American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) 2011, early childhood caries is defined as the presence of one or more decayed (non-cavitated or cavitated lesions), missing (due to caries) or filled tooth surfaces in any primary tooth in a child under the age of six. The objective of this study was to assess the association between early childhood caries and relationship of Streptococcus mutans in saliva of mother, child and sibling pairs.Methods: Group 1 consists of fifty children with early childhood caries along with their mothers and siblings with the child age between 15 months to 5 years and sibling’s age between 4 years to 10 years, whereas group 2 consists of fifty caries free children along with their mothers and siblings. For both groups, saliva samples were taken from the child, mother and sibling pairs to estimate the Streptococcus mutans count and to determine pH of saliva in these children. DMFT scores, debris scores checked for child, mother and sibling pairs.Results: Streptococcus mutans count was significantly high in group 1 than that of the group 2. Mothers were more co related to the children in the acquisition of Streptococcus mutans than the siblings. Increased no of meals of the child, pacifier use, low socio-economic status and low maternal education showed significant high correlation with caries prevalence. Low pH score was also significantly correlated with the increase in caries rate.Conclusions: Maternal factors such as high DMFT scores, low education levels, prolonged bottle-feeding with sweetened milk, pacifier use are strong risk indicators for identifying high caries-susceptible children.
Background: By the end of 2019, the world has witnessed a pandemic of COVID-19 caused by novel coronavirus and is referred to as SARS-CoV-2.
Aims and Objectives: The purpose of our research was to show how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected patient`s quality of life after infection with the virus post recovery.
Materials and Methods: It was a questionnaire based cross sectional study. Study tool included a reliability checked self-made questionnaire with 30 questions. It was disseminated through mobile and web-based social media platforms to recovered COVID-19 patients hospitalized at centre, in and around Surathkal. Sample collection was done between September 2020 to December 2020 for about 3 months duration with a total of 550 recovered patients. We found significant stress with increasing age, which was more among males and housewives. Data analyzed by the descriptive statistics association.
Results: Out of 550 recovered patients, with 314 (57.1%) of them being males. The average age was 41.02 years (SD) (16.86). Gender (p=0.017), occupation (p=0.0002), and age (p=0.001) were found to be related to stress levels. Age (p=0.001), occupation (p=0.001), and gender (p=0.002) were found to be related to feelings of isolation. The majority took all precautions, such as social distancing and disinfectant use.
Conclusions: Significant increase in stress with increasing age, which was more among males and housewives. Reduced quality of life in males and elderly patients of covid-19 infection predominantly because of psychological discomfort, but family and friends played a major role as coping mechanisms.
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