Background:Menopause is a physiological event in the women's life that can strongly affect the quality of life (QOL). More than 80% of women state that physical and physiological symptoms commonly accompany menopause and affect women's health and well-being.Objective:The aim of the study was to assess the menopause-related symptoms and their impact on the women's life.Materials and Methods:We have done a hospital-based descriptive study at the Outpatient and Inpatient Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Kochi, Kerala, with 150 postmenopausal women. The data were collected using the structured Menopause-specific QOL (MENQOL) questionnaire. The data were collected for 4 weeks from the Outpatient and Inpatient of Department of OBG with inclusion criteria of women who were coming as bystanders' age in between 50 and 65 years.Statistical Analysis:Mean, standard deviation, frequency, and proportions were calculated. The association between the MENQOL scores and selected demographic variables was found using one-way ANOVA test.Results:Among 150 postmenopausal women, 51 (34%) were in the age group of 55–59 years and more than half of the study population (n = 116, 77.3%) were married. The management of menopausal symptoms was followed by 28 (18.7%) women. The prevalence levels of the classical menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness in women aged 50–65 years were 75.3%, 58%, and 30.7%, respectively. The overall MENQOL mean total score was found as 112.47 ± 28.80. The majority of them experienced the mean physical symptom, which was found to be 62.05 ± 17.82. The associations between QOL scores with educational status and socioeconomic status were statistically highly significant with P < 0.01 and with marital status statistically significant with P < 0.05.Conclusion:From the present study, we have concluded that the postmenopause-related physical symptoms are frequently reported by the middle age group classifications. The association between QOL scores with educational status, socioeconomic status, and marital status was statistically highly significant. By nursing education, creating appropriate awareness and health education on the management of postmenopausal symptoms to that age group and it could be reducing the burden of the women population.

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INTRODUCTIONDengue is one of the world's emerging and rapidly spreading pandemic disease of public health importance. The word dengue was derived from the "ka-dinga pepo" which means "cramp like seizure" in Swahili. Dengue virus was first isolated in Japan in the year 1943, followed by India at Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1944 from serum samples of US soldiers.1 Dengue fever is a viral infection caused by Dengue Virus belonging to Flaviviridae family.2 Dengue virus has four serotypes, DENV-1, DENV-2, DENV-3 and DENV-4. 3 Infection by serotype provides lifelong immunity against that particular serotype, but further infection with other serotypes leads to deadlier form of dengue infection. But each serotype is able to produce the full spectrum of ABSTRACT Background: Dengue is one of the world's emerging and rapidly spreading pandemic disease of public health importance. High rainfall and low temperatures are associated with increased number of dengue cases. Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study was conducted between 15 th August 2013 and 15 th October 2013. With a sample of 200 in a tertiary care multi-speciality hospital in Puducherry using pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire. The study protocol was approved by ICMR and Institutional (PIMS) Ethical Committee. Participants were included in the study based on the following criteria: (1) More than 20 years of age. (2) Permanent resident of Pondicherry. Results: Out of the 200 participants 68% were males and 32% were females. Most of them (64%) had gone to schools, while 9.5% were illiterates. Of the 200 participants, 180 (90%) knew that mosquito is the vector for Dengue. 162 (81%) of participants felt hospitalisation is necessary for dengue management. 80% of participants mentioned use of ceiling fan as a predominantly used preventive measure against mosquito bite, whereas 43% of them use mosquito coils to avoid mosquito bites. Majority of the respondents (66%) spend less than Rs.100 ($ 1.47) in a month for various mosquito preventive measures. Conclusions: The knowledge about dengue was good, although more awareness needs to be created to identify the clinical signs of dengue. The overall attitude and practices of the participants towards dengue care, prevention and control is good.

Background: An Iodine deficiency disorder causes a major problem of brain damage in human beings and it is a major public health problem in India and worldwide. Objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding use of iodized salt among households and to find the iodine content level at the traders and retail vendors in the rural study areas of the Marakkanam block. Methods: A community based descriptive study on IDD was conducted in Marakkanam block population, Tamil Nadu with a sample size of 1233 individuals. Results: The goiter prevalence was high in female gender when compared with male and higher goiter prevalence rate was found in the lower economic group. Among 1233 individuals, 796 (64.6%) were heard about iodized salt, whereas 437 (35.4%) were not heard about it. Only 294 (23.8%) of the respondents were aware that iodine deficiency caused some disease or health problem. Total of 525 salt sample packets was collected at the traders' level and it that 99% of the salt samples were iodized but most of them weren't adequately iodized. Conclusion: From our present study, we have concluded that nearly one fourth of the study population didn't have enough knowledge about IDD and its consequences. To eliminate the lack of their knowledge on IDD by conducting an effective awareness programs. Try to eradicate IDD related diseases in the study areas by encouraging the community people to use iodized salt, encourage the retail shop owners, vendors to sell an adequate iodized salt packets and by reducing the cost of the iodized salt packets through Government of Tamilnadu or private Non-Governmental Organizations.