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This study examines the factors associated with food security after three years of implementation of the National Food Security Act, 2013. Fifteen hundred and fourteen households in three states of India—563 from Bihar, 557 from Uttar Pradesh, and 394 from Haryana—were surveyed. Data on beneficiary status, calorie consumption, economic status, social status, health status, and women empowerment were analyzed using binary logistic regression. Findings suggest that beneficiary had more employment in families, normal and deficit calorie intake, used cow dung cake as fuel, more children enrolment in primary and secondary schools, and adoption of family planning measures. These improvements have occurred after three years of implementation of the Act, and through supply of food grains to poor families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & objectives: Of the two reservoirs of infection of kala-azar Le., patients of kala-azar and post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL), PKDL provides easy access for the sandfly to pick up the parasites. In the last epidemic of 1977 in India, the importance of PKDL as a potential cause of increase in number of kala-azar cases was ignored. During recent years, we found an increase in the cases of kalaazar whereas cases of PKDL were decreasing in Bihar. We undertook this study to find out reasons for this phenomenon. Methods: These three different settings were selected to study the trends of the disease. (i) Cases of PKDL registered in the Dermatology Department of Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), one of the largest and oldest teaching hospital in Bihar, between 1970 and 2005; (ii) Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna (RMRIMS), a research institute exclusively devoted to kala-azar (2000 and 2005); and (iii) interviews with two leading dermatologists of Patna selected by lottery on the incidence of PKDL and possible causes of its decrease, if any. The number of eases of kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis, VL) from Bihar was studied from Malaria Departments of the Government of Bihar and Government of India, the two nodal departments dealing with the kala-azar. Results: Analysis of data from Dermatology Department of PMCH showed increase in number of cases of PKDL from two in 1970 to 12 in 1976, a year before the first epidemic of kala-azar in 1977 with 100,000 cases. Kala-azar cases decreased to 11,120 in 1982 due to control measures taken between 1977- 1979 but cases of PKDL reached 28 and kept on increasing. During 1950 to 1977, low dose and short duration regimen of sodium antimony gluconate (SAG) was mainly used in the treatment of kala-azar. Between 1977-1991 increasing incidence of unresponsiveness to SAG, led to the usage of longer duration and higher dose regimen of SAG, more use of amphotericin B (AMB) for SAG resistant cases and also as a first line drug for kala-azar and PKDL. The number of kala-azar cases started decreasing after control measures taken during 1992-1994 but cases of PKDL continued decreasing. The effect of control measures on the incidence of kala-azar was visible upto 2002, but decrease in number of PKDL cases continued. In 2005 the number of PKDL cases was 14 but number of kala-azar cases reached 21,177 in Bihar. In the interview, the two dermatologists also opined that PKDL was decreasing due to increased use of amphotericin B in the treatment of kala-azar. Trend analysis done on the data of PMCH and RMRIMS showed that PKDL will decrease in coming years and kala-azar will increase. Interpretation & conclusion: Incidence of PKDL decreased in PMCH and RMRIMS and also suggested by two dermatologists that extensive use of amphotericin B in the treatment of kala-azar might be responsible for decrease in number of cases of PKDL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: Newborn screening (NBS) aims towards early detection of congenital disorders or prevention of intellectual and physical defects and life-threatening illness. Three disorders namely congenital hypothyroidism (CH), congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G-6-PDD) were selected for a preliminary study for NBS. The study aimed to establish NBS in the Indian scenario that could lay a framework for future such initiatives. Methods: A screening programme was conducted at a tertiary care hospital for 1 year. All the neonates born at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna, were screened for their blood levels of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD), 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Heel-prick blood samples were collected within 48–72 h of birth, and the level of these parameters was accessed by enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Results: A total of 492 neonates were born from January 2020 to December 2020, of which 369 newborns were screened for CAH, CH and G-6-PDD. Of 369 neonates, one case (male) had an increased level of TSH, six cases (all males) had an increased level of 17-OHP and no case was found with G-6-PDD. Interpretation and Conclusions: Preliminary data on the prevalence of various genetic disorders revealed that CAH is the most prevalent disorder followed by CH in the population of Bihar. More efforts need to be undertaken to create awareness and to make screening a successful programme in India. A cost-effective nationwide screening programme is highly recommended for the detection of such cases at the earliest to avoid their future complication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flooding is the most widespread and frequent natural disaster in developing countries. Until recent years, determining flood extent and inundation depth were undertaken using hydrodynamic models but have pertinence constraints in data-scarce regions. This has given the new potential to characterize floods (e.g., inundation, depth, duration) at a large-scale using a geomorphic approach. The SAR data was employed to derive flood extent and the 12.5 m resolution DEM-based geomorphic method was applied to determine inundation depth in flooded domains of Kosi River Basin (KRB) in North Bihar (India) to characterize 2017 floods. The total inundated area in flooded domains over KRB was estimated at 4,108.2 km2 (20.88%). Most of the area (2,750 km2, 14%) of flooded domains over land had a water depth of 0.1 to 1 m. The geomorphic approach is appropriate for characterizing floods over large-scale and data-sparse basins like KRB and afforded a new horizon for flood risk assessment on flood vulnerable areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An outbreak of Haemorrhagic Septicaemia was reported in Simara Village of Aurangabad, Bihar, India with mortality of twenty cattle and buffaloes in mid February, 2010. Thereafter, Haemorrhagic Septicaemia affected animals were successfully controlled by using enrofloxacin along with meloxicam and corticosteroid. The preventation and control measures suggested were animal movement control, proper disposal of carcasses by deep burial with strong lime powder treatment and lime powder was also sprinkled in the animals shed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]