Background: Hepatitis B infection is a global threat for people of all age groups and is common in Bangladesh and other South Asian countries. Blood donors and blood donation can present important risk for hepatitis B infection. Our objective was to identify seroprevalence of hepatitis B virus among blood donors in Faridpur, Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 719 blood donors in the Faridpur district of Bangladesh from April to July 2013. Data was collected by non-probability convenient sampling maintaining inclusion and exclusion criteria. Face-to-face interview, blood grouping test, and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) screening were conducted. Results: About 30% of the blood donors were between 19 and 23 years of age, and 87.5% of them were males. Two-thirds (64.1%) of the donors were replacement donors, while the remaining 35.9% of them were voluntary donors. The overall seropositivity of HBsAg was found to be 1.5%. All infected blood donors were males. Hepatitis B infection was more prevalent in the 34–38 years age group and least prevalent among those older than 48 years of age. About 2% of replacement blood donors were infected with hepatitis B virus, compared to 0.7% among voluntary blood donors. Conclusion: Hepatitis B infection among blood donors is relatively lower than in other high-risk groups for hepatitis B infection in Bangladesh. Predominance of HBsAg among older adult groups, replacement donors, and the male gender can be a matter of public health concern.

No abstract

Evans syndrome, a combined clinical condition of autoimmune haemolytic anaemia (AHA) and idiopathic thrombocytopaenic purpura (ITP) and has non-specific pathogenesis. The clinical cases are extremely rare, since only 4% of AHA or ITP are incorporated with Evans. It is distinguished from differentials, such as lupus, IgA deficiency, and acquired immunodeficiency, by peripheral blood film, bone marrow, Coombs test, and coagulation profile. A case of adult female from Pabna, Bangladesh is documented in this report. She complained of high grade intermittent fever, exertional dyspnea, icteric skin and sclera. Other features included mild splenomegaly, dark urine, and profuse sweating after fever. Investigation reports were consistent with AHA and ITP, with normal coagulation and viral profile. However, the patient was treated with corticosteroids, platelet and blood transfusion. And in follow-up visits, there was a pattern of gradual decline in erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and reticulocyte count, with normalization of haemoglobin, red cell, and white cell count. No association with other diseases was found in this case. Bangladesh Med J. 2018 Jan; 47 (3): 37-40

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, multisystem disorder that can affect any organ of the body. Approximately 80 percent of patients develop skin disease at some point in their disease course. The association with SLE varies among the subtypes of cutaneous lupus erythematosus (LE). Better understanding of cutaneous manifestations can help in more effective management. This study aimed to evaluate the pattern of cutaneous manifestations of SLE and to find out association with organ involvement. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted in the Green Life Medical College Hospital from January 2019 to December 2020. Sixty four lupus patients who fulfilled the SLICC 2012 classification criteria and having new onset or preexisting skin complaints were enrolled. Mixed connective tissue disease and other overlap syndromes were excluded. All patients were evaluated by a dermatologist and diagnosis was done as per modified Gilliam Classification criteria. Results: Out of 64 patients, 56 were female and 8 were male. Female and male ratio was 7:1. Mean age was 28.4±9.6 years. Among the cutaneous manifestations, LE specific was 38 (59.4%), LE non-specific was 41 (64.1%). Among LE specific, 66% were acute (ACLE), 42% were sub-acute (SCLE) and 37% patients were chronic (CCLE). Among ACLE, 72% had malar rash and 84% had photosensitivity. Among SCLE, most common was papulosqumous (68%). DLE (86%) was the most common CCLE. Among LE non-specific, 85% had non-scarring alopecia, 52% had vascular abnormalities. Most common organ involvement was musculoskeletal (84%), then renal (56%). DLE had negative association with renal involvement [OR (-0.04)]. No other cutaneous manifestations showed any significant association with any other organ involvement. Conclusion: Cutaneous manifestations are important feature in SLE. LE non-specific was more common than LE specific manifestations in this study. Better understanding can help in efficient diagnosis and management. BIRDEM Med J 2022; 12(1): 57-61

This review is an attempt to consolidate the earlier studies on this subject and to get a broad based idea if there exists any relationship between full moon and various physiopsycological aspects on human like behavior, sleep cycle, cardiovascular system, endocrine system, birthrate, reproductive system. MethodologyData were collected from review of literatures from various scientific studies conducted so far globally. To meet our objectives, we try to do a study and see what actually occurs in the human body during full moon. To find out the related up-to-date topics we searched through PUB Med central, Goggle Scholar and related bibliographic databases. Only peer reviewed articles were chosen which were supposed to be of high quality. Database was created in the Endnote software and full text articles were collected by Endnote software. If there was a lack of information we contacted the corresponding authors for further clarification.