Background: Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. About 5 million people die every year due to tobacco use and this figure may increase to 10 million tobacco related deaths per year by 2020. The most susceptible time for initiating tobacco use in India is during adolescence and early adulthood, ages 15-24 years.Most tobacco users start using tobacco before the age of 18 years, while some start as young as 10 years.Tobacco consumption habit in adolescents is particularly an eye opening situation for any country. Methods: School based cross section study in school going adolescent male was carried out to find out prevalence of tobacco consumption among them and to identify factors affecting it. Chi-square test was applied as test of significance and p<0.05 was taken as statistically significant. Results: Prevalence of tobacco consumption in any form of tobacco in school going adolescent male was 54.25%. Prevalence of tobacco consumption was highest in age group of 17 to 19 years (55.29%). Chewing of tobacco in various forms was identified as main form of tobacco consumption by adolescent male. Family problems, social problems, economic problems, problems with friends and addiction in family members or friends were identified as main factors that affected tobacco consumption by school going adolescent male. Conclusions: It is urgent need of time to address the tobacco consumption by adolescent age group specifically adolescent male. Strengthening of various IEC activities and strict implementation of present laws related to substance abuse. Role of family and society should be identified and practiced for prevention and control of this novel epidemic.

Background: Dengue fever is one of the major public health problems among all the vector born diseases. It is an emerging disease of tropical and sub-tropical regions, affecting urban, peri-urban and rural areas. Twenty five cases of dengue fever were reported in our hospital and other private hospitals from Undera village, which is in the peri urban area of Vadodara, so an investigation was carried out. The objective of this study is to find out the incidence and demographic details of people affected by fever during the outbreak and to find the environmental factors responsible for the outbreak.Methods: Community based, cross-sectional, direct interviewing of community members of Undera village in Vadodara district was carried out on 21st August 2017 and 23rd August 2017.Results: In this outbreak investigation, 219 fever cases were reported from 2930 population residing in 645 houses. There were 25 confirmed cases of dengue fever, out of which three deaths were reported. This included one pregnant woman during this outbreak. Seventy percent of fever cases were in the age group 0-30 years. Daily wagers were affected more than other occupations. At least one fever case was reported from 109 houses. Breeding places for mosquitoes were observed surrounding the houses from were fever cases reported.Conclusions: The dengue fever outbreak was confirmed through laboratory as well as clinico-epidemiological correlation with confirmed clinical picture and presence of breading places of Aedes mosquitoes. The fatality rate was 12% and there were three complicated deaths.

Background: Disposal of biomedical waste is neglected issue even in the urban heath care settings. So chances of transmission of infection increase which leads to high morbidity and mortality. Spread of disease can also be controlled by establishing isolation ward and it can be monitored through Hospital Infection Control Committee. Methods: This is a cross sectional study conducted in urban and rural health care settings of Ahmedabad district to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of health care workers. In the present study 300 HCWs including Doctors, Nurses, Technicians and Servants were interviewed. Pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect the data regarding knowledge of infection control methods and various waste disposal practices. Results: Only 51% of health care workers were aware about the Isolation ward and 60% of HCWs were aware about hospital infection control committee. 87% nurses were correctly disposing gloves in urban health care settings. All the HCWs were using disposable syringe. Even in urban settings also 33% of doctors and 20% of nurses were recapping needle after using it. Conclusions: Constant reinforcement of knowledge should be done and regular training should be given to change the behavior regarding biomedical waste disposal.