The study aimed to assess the adverse events following COVID-19 vaccine (Covaxin) immunization at a tertiary care institution and also assess the predictors of the adverse events following immunization (AEFI). The prospective observational study was conducted in a tertiary care institute among the Covaxin beneficiaries between June 28 and September 6, 2021. A total of 1826 participants were assessed for any local or systemic adverse events after seven days of vaccination. A telephonic interview was conducted, and the beneficiaries were assessed according to the adverse event grading. A total of 1826 participants were assessed for AEFI, and 544 (29.8%) reported at least one of the AEFI. No severe adverse events were reported, and about 1.6% had moderate AEFI. Pain at the injection site (14.6%), fever (9.7%), and myalgia (5.9%) were the common adverse events reported by the participants. AEFI incidence was higher in the first dose (38.1%) when compared to the second dose (26.4%), and this finding was significant with a p < 0.001. The major factors associated with AEFI were female sex, history of an allergic reaction, presence of comorbidities, acute infection in the past 3 months, and intake of chronic medications. Precaution needs to be taken while vaccinating individuals having allergies, comorbidities, acute infection in the last 3 months, and individuals on chronic medication.

Background The study was conducted to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of obstetric fistula in the rural area of the south eastern community of India and the training of community health workers for its prevention. Methods A population-based cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in the south eastern rural community of India. A total of 3939 women were included in the study and Probability proportional to size sampling was used in the study. Frequency distribution and logistic regression were computed to analyse the data using STATA version 11.2. Results Out of 3939 participants interviewed, 23.7% women reported obstetric fistula symptoms whereas after clinical diagnosis and speculum examination the obstetric morbidity pattern was: Obstetric fistula 0.3%, stress urinary incontinence 20.0%, pelvic inflammatory diseases 1.2%, uterine prolapse 1.4% and urinary tract infection 3.8%. The awareness level of the rural women regarding the obstetric fistula was assessed by a structured knowledge questionnaire and found to be very poor, hence community based fistula training was implemented among community health workers as a health system based strategy for its prevention. Obstetric fistula found to be more prevalent among women of poor educational level, low socioeconomic status, less no of antenatal visits, delay in accessing the emergency obstetric care and prolonged labour (p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion Finding of the study indicated that the prevalence and risk of developing obstetric fistula was associated with less number of antenatal visits, prolonged labour, delay in timely intervention, delay in accessing emergency obstetric care and more number of movements from home to the delivery place. Finally, our study suggests that emphasis needs to be placed on training of community health workers to facilitate early screening for identification and referral of women with obstetric fistula.

India approved COVID-19 vaccine called Covaxin, developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research and Bharat Biotech Ltd. The primary objective of the study was to estimate the effectiveness of Covaxin in preventing breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers (HCWs). A test-negative matched case-control study was conducted among HCWs of tertiary care hospital in Eastern India. Any HCW who tested positive for COVID-19 using RT-PCR during April and May 2021 was taken as the case. The HCWs who tested negative for COVID-19 by RT-PCR were considered as controls after matching with the date of testing and profession of the cases. Vaccination data were collected from the institution’s vaccine database and recall. In case of discrepancy, it was confirmed from the CoWIN portal (cowin.gov.in). The sample size was 670 participants (335 pairs). Conditional logistic regression models were used to calculate the adjusted odds ratio for breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection. Vaccine effectiveness was calculated using the following formula: VE = (1-aOR) × 100%. Sensitivity analysis was done for effectiveness of Covaxin, excluding Covishield vaccination. The mean age of participants was 29.1 years (SD = 7.1), and the majority were males (55.2%). Among the study participants, 60% were completely vaccinated, 18.51% were partially vaccinated, and 21.49% were unvaccinated. After adjusting for age, gender, type of household and past history of COVID-19 disease in conditional logistic models, the vaccine effectiveness was 22% (aOR 0.78, 95% CI: 0.52–1.17; p = .233). Sensitivity analysis with Covaxin showed an effectiveness of 29% (aOR 0.71, 95% CI: 0.47–1.08; p = .114) for preventing breakthrough SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) being an acute respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is transmitted in most instances through respiratory droplets, direct contact with cases, and also through contaminated surfaces/objects. Though the virus survives on environmental surfaces for varied periods, it gets easily inactivated by disinfectants. Therefore, this article aims to highlight the role of surface disinfection and hand disinfection during the COVID-19 pandemic. Disinfection with appropriate and recommended physical or chemical disinfectants will not only reduce the spread of the disease but also play a significant part in flattening the curve. Alcohol-based disinfectants and other chemical disinfectants play major roles. Ether, ethanol, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hypochlorite, other chlorine-containing disinfectants, peracetic acid, chloroform used under appropriate concentrations and techniques are necessary to stop the chain of transmission. Hand disinfection using soap and water or alcohol-based hand rubs are also of equal importance. Irrespective of the importance, the judicious use of disinfectants is also necessary. Therefore, the fastest, easiest, and most effective way to halt or reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2 the virus resulting in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is through surface disinfection and handwashing with soap and water and its role in the COVID-19 pandemic is highly important.

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Anemia is a major public health problem in India affecting over half of population in almost all age groups. It has devastating effect on human health and affects the socio-economic development. Government has devised several programs like National Nutritional Anemia Control Program (NNACP), Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS), National Iron Plus Initiative (NIPI) etc to combat anemia. The facts remain that in spite of all the programs, no marked improvement has been noticed in the magnitude of anemia. A holistic approach is required with special emphasis on community awareness about consequences of anaemia and benefits of Iron Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation, uninterrupted supply availability of Iron folic Acid tablets and syrups, hard to reach areas and monitoring and review system to find out adequacy in terms of participation and frequency of meetings and problem-solving in NIPI

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Background: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are one of the prime causes of morbidity and mortality, increase in hospital stay and socioeconomic burden on the patients. Periodic monitoring aids in formulating methods for safe usage of medicines in hospitals. This study was undertaken to study the patterns, assessment of causality, severity, preventability, body systems affected from ADRs received by the Pharmacovigilance cell, Department of Pharmacology between April 2018 to June 2019.Methods: The present study is an observational, retrospective, non-interventional analysis of voluntarily reported ADRs. Demography of patients, causative drugs, reactions, outcome, and severity are recorded. Data were analysed and expressed in numbers, percentages.Results: A total of 180 ADRs were spontaneously reported. Dermatology (42.8%), psychiatry (23.9%) and general medicine (18.3%) are the major departments reporting ADRs in our hospital. 60.6% reports were in males. The body system with maximum reactions is dermatological (51.1%). Drug class most commonly affected is anti-microbials (36.1%). Paracetamol (8.9%) is the most common drug with reactions. Causality assessment stated that 41.7% ADRs are probable and 58.3% were possible. Severity assessment showed 86.7% as mild and 13.3% as moderate. Preventability assessment stated that 93.3% ADRs not preventable, 5.6% probably preventable and 1.1% definitely preventable.Conclusions: The study provides a valuable insight with regards to the pattern of ADRs in our hospital. This will be useful in initiating a reporting culture, increase awareness, reducing under-reporting of ADR in our set up.