Indian Journal of Communicable Diseases

  Background: Vector borne diseases (VBD) account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases world-wide. VBD pose a serious public health problem in several parts of the world including the Caribbean region. Awareness of VBD, their means of transmission and knowledge of measures for preventing their spread is essential for the control of these diseases. The present study assesses the awareness of high school and pre-medical students in St. Kitts about the important aspects of vector borne diseases. Methods: Demographic data on pre-medical students of WUSOM and form 4 and 5 of a secondary school were collected. Structured questionnaires comprising 18 multiple choice questions were framed to elicit from the participants knowledge on type of vectors of common diseases. Results: In general the form 4 and form 5 students, and also the pre-medical students demonstrated a low level of awareness of VBD, their means of transmission and prevention, though form 4 and pr-medical students had a relatively better knowledge of these aspects. Discussion: There is urgent need to involve school children in prevention activities through school health programme and by sensitizing principals of all government and private schools. 

Keywords: Vector-Borne Diseases; Awareness;
High Schoo; Pre-Medical Students; St. Kitts; West
Indies.

  Introduction: Malaria is a global health problem. Nearly 2 billion of world’s population is at risk of malaria. In 2016, there were 216 million cases of malaria and 4,45,000 of deaths. India is the poorest performer in the South East Asia. Though there has been a decline in malaria cases during last decade, India’s numbers remain a problem due to alarmingly low surveillance. India had 649 million population at risk in 2010 and reported 1018 deaths. Now, it has 698 million population at risk with 331 reported deaths. Dakshin Kannada, a city in Karnataka, has been relatively free from malaria until early 1990 but, since 1990, it has made a dramatic comeback accounting for highest number of cases in entire Karnataka during the recent years. Methods and Material: This is a record based retrospective study of last five years i.e. 2012 to 2016. The data was collected from the records of district malaria office to analyze the trend of malaria using indicators like API, ABER, SPR, PF%. Results: The data reveals that highest number of cases in Dakshin Kannada were in the 2014 (.7708) while the lowest cases were in 2013, (5314). Mangaluru was single largest contributor of malaria (94.76% of all cases) to Dakshin Kannada,. Conclusion: The study reveals a significant decline in all Talukas in Dakshin Kannada since 2012, except in Mangalore where Malaria burden continues to be still a major health issue and a cause
of concern and needs urgent remedial measures.

Keywords: Annual Parasite Index (API); Annual
Blood Examination Rate (ABER); Slide Positivity Rate
(SPR); Plasmodium Falciparum % (Pf %).

  Introduction: Dengue in infants is not often studied in detail due to practical limitations and the information in Indian literature regarding the same are limited to only a few case series. However, even primary Dengue illness can have life threatening complications in infants. Methods: In this single institution retrospective study, case records of all the infants admitted with confirmed Dengue fever between January 2013 and December 2017 were analyzed for their clinical presentation, physical examination findings, laboratory and radiological parameters, complications and final management outcome. Results: Out of the 295 confirmed pediatric Dengue cases, 14 cases (4.8%) were infants. Predominant clinical presentation was fever, rash, irritability, vomiting and poor oral intake. Complications like hemodynamic instability, internal and external hemorrhages, hepatic dysfunction and disseminated intravascular coagulation were more common in infants as compared to other age groups. Conclusion: Infantile Dengue cases, although being rare, are at more risk for life threatening complications and thus require intensive clinical and biochemical monitoring, judicious fluid rehydration and other symptomatic management as required. Larger studies with greater sample size are required to clearly elucidate the novel pathogenetic mechanisms for increased virulence of primary Dengue illness in infantile age group and also to optimize the management for these cases.

Keywords: Dengue; Infants; Hemorrhages

 The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies dengue as a disease important in public health. In the absence of an effective vaccine it is essential to impart other remedial measures to reduce the morbidity and mortality rates of dengue fever. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge and practice of prevention of dengue fever among rural residents of Chemmaruthy Panjayath. A cross sectional survey was conducted in a sample of 400 people residing in the study area. The study revealed that majority of samples (57.8%) had average knowledge on prevention of dengue fever. Majority of samples (77.8%) had limited extent of dengue prevention practices.