ABSTRACT

We report here a case of human ocular thelaziasis that was discovered accidentally during cataract surgery. A 58-year-old farmer attended an eye camp for diminished vision of the left eye, which was diagnosed later on as cataract. He was referred to a tertiary care hospital in Assam. During the cataract surgery, two small, motile, chalky white, translucent worms were removed from the left fornix. They were identified as female Thelazia callipaeda. Rare occurrence of this disease and its association with both extra and intraocular manifestations leading to ocular morbidity is the rationale for presenting this case.

COVID-19 (corona virus disease 2019) is a global public health emergency caused by a new corona virus with severe acute respiratory syndromelike characteristics (SARS-CoV-2). We aimed to evaluate whether gender and age are major risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection. For the study, 300 positive cases diagnosed during the period of July 2020 to September 2020 were included. Results showed that 69% of study samples were male of which 84% were in the >51 years old age group. And 31% of study samples were female of which 63% were in the 4-19 years old age group. ANOVAresults indicated that the means of Ct values varied signicantly between age groups (F=2.703; p-value= 0.045). The lower Ct values were recorded in males (29.01±4.35) in comparison to females (29.84±3.98) while, the difference between the means of the two groups was not signicant. Our study concluded that males have higher viral load than females and for both sexes, age was found to be a signicant risk factor for severity of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Intestinal parasitic infections constitute global health problems in various developing countries. They are endemic especially in tropical and subtropical countries. Hot and humid climate, environmental and sociocultural factors enhance parasitic transmission. Children are the prime victims of intestinal parasitism that affects their physical development, school attendance and learning ability. OBJECTIVE: The study was aimed to determine the prevalence of Intestinal parasitic infection among the school going children between 5-12 years of age in certain slum areas of Guwahati city of Kamrup Metro district of Assam. METHODS: A community based cross sectional study carried out between June, 2017 to May, 2018 at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital in the Department of Microbiology. Study group consisted of 170 school going children below 12 years of age. Stool samples collected aseptically were examined macroscopically and microscopically using standard Microbiological methods for presence of Intestinal parasites. RESULTS: Out of 170 school going children, 116 (68.2%) were found positive for Intestinal parasitic infestations. The most predominant Intestinal helminthes were Ascaris lumbricoides (66.4%) follwed by Trichuris trichiura (29.3%), hookworms (5.1%), Strongyloides stercoralis (0.9%) and Isospora belli (22.4%). CONCLUSION: The study reveals that the prevalence of Intestinal parasitic infection among school going children below 12 years of age in the slum areas of Assam is very high. Hence, it is utmost necessary to pay more attention to improve the sanitation, personal hygiene and implementation of health education of the parents for prevention of these parasitic infections.