Background:Sepsis is a complex condition defined by the systemic response to infection. Severity assessment scoring systems are used to aid the physician in deciding whether aggressive treatment is needed or not. In this study, various severity assessment scoring systems, namely Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II), Rapid Emergency Medicine Score (REMS), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Multiple Organ Dysfunction Score (MODS), Predisposition, Infection, Response, and Organ Dysfunction (PIRO), and Mortality in Emergency Department Sepsis (MEDS), were compared to assess their sensitivity and specificity.Materials and Methods:A prospective cohort study was conducted over 6 months. The study was conducted in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary care teaching hospital. All patients above 18 years of age with confirmed sepsis diagnosis and a well-defined outcome were included in the study.Results:A total of 193 patients were included in the study. The mean age was 57.2 ± 15.3 (mean ± standard deviation) years. Majority of the patients were male, 125 (64.76%). Overall mortality was 108 (55.9%). The calculated area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.86 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.80–0.90) for APACHE II, 0.81 (95% CI: 0.75–0.87) for REMS, 0.80 (95% CI: 0.74–0.86) for SOFA, 0.74 (95% CI: 0.67–0.80) for MODS, 0.78 (95% CI: 0.71–0.84) for PIRO, and 0.77 (95% CI: 0.71–0.83) for MEDS. Sensitivity and specificity for APACHE II were 81.5 and 75.3, respectively.Conclusions:In our study, APACHE II score was found to be the most sensitive and specific in predicting the severity of sepsis compared to other scores.
The world is suffering from the Coronavirus pandemic and is undergoing some drastic changes in day to day lives. The survey was conducted to analyze the situation of Pharmacy students in India. What are the types of challenges being faced by them during this lockdown due to the Pandemic COVID-19 and how are they getting adapted to the situations? A cross sectional survey was conducted via snowball sampling technique in which 226 participants submitted their response. The chief issue of concern to students was the change in the study pattern which has made the process much difficult for both the faculties and students. Online examination was also be reported as a point of concern. The normal life that we used to have is not acceptable in today’s scenario, hence, the institutions have to make the students more comfortable and adaptable towards the online studies and make the most out of it.
The iodine intake in a pregnant woman has been closely correlated with development of transient congenital hypothyroidism which leads to decline in neurocognitive abilities of the child later in life as the effects are very subtle at birth. Both low and excess ingestion of iodine has been found to contribute to this cause, although iodine deficiency is more commonly observed in women of underdeveloped nations. It poses risks not only to the foetus but also to the mother leading to obstetric complications such as still birth and spontaneous abortions. It can be prevented using WHO recommended daily iodine supplementation in deficient regions or decreasing the excess load in groups exposed to high iodine. Programmes designed to screen the new-born at birth can also help in improving the quality of life of the child. The deficient iodine condition is managed by administration of levothyroxine in dosage range of 10-15 mcg/kg/day. Generally, the prognosis of infants starting treatment early in life have a better neurocognitive outcome as compared to the treated infants late age at a later age. Avoidance of agents causing iodine exposure has resulted in decrease in the abnormal thyroid function levels.
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