A B S T R A C TBackground: Birth weight is an important determinant of child survival and development. It is also a subject of clinical and epidemiological investigations. This study was planned to fi nd out the epidemiological factors associated with low birth weight (LBW) among institutional deliveries so that suitable recommendation can be made to prevent LBW. Objectives: The present study was therefore undertaken to fi nd out some maternal factors that may have their association, if any with LBW. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at tertiary care hospital among 350 mothers delivering live born neonate in study place. All babies were weighed within 24 hours after the birth. The babies were weighed on beam type weighing machine up to 20 g accuracy. LBW was defi ned as a birth weight of <2500 gram. All mothers were examined and interviewed within 24 hours after delivery and fi ndings were recorded. The analysis was done using Epi Info package. Results: In this study, 40.0% mothers delivered LBW babies. Findings indicate that gestational age less than 37 weeks (76.5%), maternal age less than 20 years (58.5%), irregular antenatal checkup (70.5%), mother's height less than 150 cm (68.5%), mother's weight less than 50 kg (76.1%), hemoglobin less than 10 gm/dl (60.5%), severe physical work (78%), and tobacco chewing (58.5%) are signifi cant determinants of LBW. Conclusion: Our study indicates that gestational age, maternal age, regular antenatal checkup, mother's height, mother's weight, anemia, physical work, and tobacco chewing are signifi cant determinants of LBW. Prevalence of LBW can be reduced by increasing the gestational age, regular antenatal checkup, balanced diet during antenatal period, adequate rest during antenatal period, and avoiding the tobacco chewing.

Background: Transfusion transmitted infections (TTIs) are a major problem associated with blood transfusion practices. Aims & Objectives: The present study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of transfusion transmitted infections among blood donors in one of the blood bank in Bareilly city. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, we reviewed healthy blood donors, over a period of one year (Jan 2013-Dec 2013), from the records of the blood bank of Indian Medical Association (IMA) at Bareilly for HBsAg, Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), HIV and Syphilis, by using the appropriate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. HIV infection was confirmed using a standard immunoblotting technique. Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) was tested for surface antigen (HBsAg) and HCV by the immune chromatographic method. The Venereal Disease Reference Laboratory (VDRL) test was used for estimation of syphilis infection. The study was designed for a duration of four months from April 2012 to July 2012. Medical reports of the donors were accessed from the hospital records and analyzed. Results: A total of 28,395 blood donors were screened. 60.43% were replacement donors, and 39.57% were voluntary donors. 95.21% were males. The overall seroprevalence of HBV, HCV, HIV and Syphilis were 1.93%, 1.02%, 0.27% and 0.16% respectively. Conclusion: Strict selection of blood donors with emphasis on getting voluntary donors, and comprehensive screening of donors for TTIs using standard methods are highly recommended to ensure the safety of blood for recipient.

The deadly disease swine flu is, without a speck of doubt, causing a massive havoc among the common people of India and has created fear across the various strata of the society. The objective was to find out the awareness, perception, and myths of school going children of class 9 th to 12 th toward swine flu. The present cross-sectional study was carried out in two randomly selected (using random number table) senior secondary schools of Bareilly among 400 students of class 9 th to 12 th . A total of 200 students were selected from each school. Chi-square test was applied for statistical analysis. Almost all the students (97.75%) have heard about of swine flu and are aware of it as a disease entity. Fever was found to be the main symptom while coughing and sneezing were main way of spread of swine flu known to them. About 97% of the students mention use of mask as most effective way to prevent them from swine flu. Knowledge of availability of medicine was present in less than half of the students. TV was found to be the main source from which they get knowledge (79%), and they are trying to get knowledge (53.2%) of swine flu. Among them, 74% students were taking precaution against swine flu.

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