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A study was conducted covering a total of one hundred chicken farmers in tribal dominated Boko Block of Kamrup district in Assam to assess different productive and reproductive traits of Desi, Vanaraja and Srinidhi birds under field condition. Information was obtained on mean body weight at various ages, age at first egg, annual egg production, fertility and hatchability and mortality rate. Body weight, egg production and egg weight were significantly(P<0.05) higher in Vanaraja and Srinidhi birds compared to Desi chicken. The age at first egg was significantly (P<0.05) higher in Desi chicken while compared with Vanaraja and Srinidhi under traditional system of management. However no significant (P<0.05) difference was found between Vanaraja and Srinidhi in their body weight and egg production at various ages. Higher mortality percent in Vanaraja (12.23'1.62) and Srinidhi (11.34'1.23) were recorded during 0 to 5 week. No significant (P<0.05) differences were found among all three groups of birds in fertility and hatchability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To study the association of various risk factors and epidemiological variables of mycotic keratitis treated at a tertiary referral hospital of upper Assam. Materials and Methods: In this hospitalbased prospective study a total of 310 consecutive corneal ulcer cases att ending the ophthalmology outpatient department of Assam Medical College were enrolled between April 2007 and March 2009. Aft er clinical and slit-lamp biomicroscopic examination in all suspected cases, smears and culture examination for fungus was done to establish the etiology. Demographic information and associated probable risk factors of individual cases were noted in a predesigned questionnaire. Results: In 188 (60.6%) cases fungal etiology could be established. Out of them 67.6% were males. The most commonly aff ected age group was 41-50 years (25.5%). The maximum (23.4%) cases were reported during the paddy harvesting season in Assam (January and February). Fungal element could be demonstrated in 65.2% cases in direct potassium hydroxide (KOH) mount. The commonest predisposing factor was corneal injury (74.5%). While diabetes was a signifi cant systemic predisposing factor in mixed bacterial and fungal infections in 11.1% cases, blocked naso-lacrimal duct was the local predisposing factor in 11.1% of cases. Fusarium solani (25%) was the commonest isolate followed by Aspergillus species (19%), Curvularia species (18.5%) and Penicillium species (15.2%). Yeasts were isolated in 2.7% (n=5) cases. Conclusions: Ocular trauma was the commonest cause of fungal corneal ulcer in Assam and Fusarium solani was the commonest species responsible for it. Most of the mycotic ulcer cases come from rural areas including the tea gardens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: A study was conducted to evaluate the preventive efficacy of insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITMNs) and mosquito repellent (MR) in a malaria-endemic foothill area of Assam, India, with forest ecosystem. During the first year, a survey was conducted in four demarcated sectors (A–D) to observe the malaria endemicity and vector prevalence patterns before implementing intervention measures. All four sectors were endemic for malaria. The prevalence of established malaria vectors such as Anopheles dirus, A. minimus and A. philippinensis was observed. During the second year, intervention measures were implemented in the four sectors as follows: A, ITMN + MR; B, ITMN; C, MR; D, no intervention. The most effective intervention was in sector A, followed by sectors B and C. Sectors A and B exhibited significantly higher (P < 0.001) malaria protective efficacy during both the first and second years of intervention compared with sector D. The total vector population in the three intervention sectors decreased significantly compared with that of the non-intervention one. Information–education–communication activities motivated the residents to participate actively in the intervention programme. The finding could be an effective model for containment of high malaria morbidity in inaccessible forest fringe areas of the northeastern region of India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An epidemiological study on alcohol and tobacco (smoking and nonsmoked tobacco) use was carried out in tea garden population of Assam, one of the largest agroindustries of India. A total sample of 2,264 individuals (male, 1,033; female, 1,231) aged 15 years and older was interviewed in 2002–2003 to collect information about alcohol and tobacco use using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire. Age-adjusted prevalence of alcohol consumption was 59.2% (male, 69.3%; female, 54%). Smoking was more common among males (13.2%) than females (2%). However, use of nonsmoked tobacco was almost as popular among female (71.9%) as among males (75.3%). More than half of the respondents (54.7%) were multiple users of alcohol and tobacco. Prevalence of alcohol consumption, nonsmoked tobacco use, and smoking among the young age group (15–24 years) was 32.2%, 52.5%, and 2.2%, respectively. Prevalence of smoking increased with age, and more than a quarter of males above 54 years were smokers. Similar age trends in the prevalence of alcohol and nonsmoked tobacco was not observed. Sociodemographic correlates, like education, occupation, and marital status, emerged as important predictors of substance uses irrespective of sex. Association of income with substance use was weak in this study, perhaps due to homogeneity of income level. Users of alcohol and tobacco were mostly illiterate, manual workers, and widows/widowers. However, smokers were more common among sedentary worker. Not withstanding the limitations of the study, the findings of the study are useful for planning interventional strategy to control alcohol and tobacco use for better health outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: During June-September 2008, an illness characterized by fever, headache and joint pain was reported in Assam state, northeast India. It presented characteristic features resembling chikungunya or dengue virus infection based on clinical symptoms. Dengue and chikungunya IgM antibody was detected in 10.0% (28/280) and 3.6% (10/280) patients respectively. The chikungunya positive patients did not travel to and from any endemic region confirming indigenous transmission. Persistent arthralgia and hearing loss has been observed in a recovered patient. Entomological surveys revealed the presence of vectors viz. Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. This is the maiden report of chikungunya occurrence in Northeast India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including AIDS are becoming a major public health problem in developing countries worldwide. Aims: All the adult patients attending VCTC and STD clinics of Assam Medical College between May 2002 and December 2005 were enrolled in the study. Methods: Records of patients with high-risk sexual behavior and presence of STD on clinical examination were recorded in a predesigned proforma. Results: Of 479 individuals, 186 (38.8%) had evidence of STD and 70 were positive for HIV. Most (64%) were in the age group of 15 to 30 years. Candidiasis (vulvovaginal candidiasis in women and candidal balanitis/balanoposthitis in men) was the most common finding on clinical examination (21.5%) followed by syphilis (17.2%), genital warts (15%), herpes genitalis (11.3%), non-gonococcal urethritis (10.8%), and gonococcal urethritis (7%). Conclusion: High percentage of unmarried people (>45%) reporting with STD, which points to potential danger of HIV transmission in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mites belonging to Pyemotidae family are an important cause of human dermatoses. Though their bites are painless, yet, afterwards severe itching and possible secondary infection. Most of the time mites could not be demonstrated from the lesion. We are presenting a case where mites could be seen in scrapping from a typical lesion in man. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is one of the dreaded mosquito borne viral diseases mostly prevalent in South Asian countries including India. It is important to study the detail of the JE affected areas in terms of environmental and social factors that determines the outbreak of the disease. A comprehensive study was conducted during the period 2003-2007 in Dibrugarh, a JE endemic district of Assam. Effect of landscape and socio-economic factors on mosquito vector density was investigated with remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) inputs and developed the methodology .for predicting spatial distribution of occurrence JE in the district. The methodology was validated during subsequent 5 years (2008-2012) and accuracy of forecasts has been assessed. Wetlands have been found to be the most preferred habitat type for majority of the JE transmitting mosquitoes followed by paddy growing areas and ponds. Based on the spatial distribution of habitat types, villages in the district divided into three categories of vector abundance and hence the risk of JE. Among socio-economic determinants, pig rearing habitat of the villagers have been found to be most significant. Based on the pig rearing distribution pattern in the village, all the villages have been categorized into three categories of JE virus reservoir abundance viz. high, medium and low. Along with these two categorization approaches, villages were also categorized into three relative scale based on retrospective data on disease intensity. Final JE risk map was prepared with integration of vector abundance map with the map of host abundance and retrospective disease intensity in GIS domain. JE risk maps were prepared at the beginning of the disease season that is at the beginning of April for past five years (2008-2012). Actual cases occurred in the district was overlaid on the JE risk map to verify the accuracy of forecasts. It has been observed that about 70-81% JE cases reported from the High JE risk areas identified under the study during past five years (2008-2012). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In north–eastern India, Anopheles minimus, An. dirus and An. fluviatilis are considered the three major vectors of the parasites causing human malaria. The role in transmission of the other Anopheles species present in this region is not, however, very clear. To examine the vectorial role of the more common anopheline mosquitoes, the heads and thoraces of 4126 female Anopheles belonging to 16 species (collected using miniature light traps set in human dwellings in a foothill village in the Jorhat district of Assam state) were tested, in ELISA, for the circumsporozoite proteins (CSP) of Plasmodium falciparum or the VK-210 and VK-247 polymorphs of P. vivax. Sixty-five pools of head–thorax homogenates, representing 10 different species of Anopheles , were found reactive, giving an overall minimum prevalence of infection (MPI) of 1.58%, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.21%–2.0%. Among the CSP-reactive pools of mosquitoes, 31% were positive only for P. falciparum , 45% only for P. vivax VK 247, 6% only for P. vivax VK 210, and 18% for both P. falciparum and P. vivax VK 247. The results indicate that not only the proven vector, An. minimus s.l. (MPI = 0.71%), but also several species of Anopheles previously considered unimportant in the epidemiology of malaria, especially An. aconitus (MPI = 3.95%), An. annularis (MPI = 5.8%), the An. hyrcanus group (MPI = 0.48%), An. kochi (MPI = 1.28%), the An. philippinensis-nivipes complex (MPI = 0.94%), and An. vagus (MPI = 3.87%), are important vectors in the foothills of Assam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]