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Background: Blood transfusion has become a specialized modality of patient management and every year saves the millions of lives. However, it is not always safe and may lead to many life threatening complications among which transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) such as hepatitis and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are most significant and detrimental for the recipients. Hence, an integrated strategy for blood safety is required for the elimination of TTIs and or provision of safe and adequate blood transfusion services to the people. Aims and Objectives: To assess the seroprevalence of HIV infections among whole blood donors at Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, Srinagar. Materials and Methods: This was a hospital-based study carried in the postgraduate department of blood transfusion and immunohematology SKIMS, Soura, Srinagar over a period of 7 years from January 2015 to December 2021. All donor samples were screened for HIV by the ELISA method. Results: Overall, seroprevalence of HIV was found to be 0.013%. All the positive cases were male donors. Seroprevalence was the highest among replacement donors (0.011%) as compared to voluntary donors (0.001 %). Conclusion: It is very important to continue the screening of donated blood with highly sensitive and specific tests and to counsel donors who are reactive to any of the infectious diseases (like HIV, hepatitis B virus, HCV, syphilis, or malaria) and conduct extensive public awareness programs and measures to make transfusion of blood and blood components safe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Upper gastrointestinal (UGI) bleed is a common emergency presenting to emergency departments all over the world. Since the spectrum of UGI bleeding varies from region to region, it is important to know the profile of UGI bleed for proper management approach. Here, we present the endoscopic profile of UGI bleed presenting to a tertiary care setting in Northern India. Aims and Objectives: This study aimed to determine the epidemiological and endoscopic profile of patients with UGI over twenty years. Materials and Methods: The retrospective and observational study included adults patients (above 18 years of age) of either gender, who presented with UGI bleed at our center over a twenty year period from January 1999 to December 2018. Results: A total of 13418 patients with UGI bleed had esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) done on them during this period. Six thousand one hundred and thirty-two patients (45.7%) were females while 7285 were males (54.3%). Mean age was 46±16 years. The common endoscopic findings were peptic ulcer disease in 7508 (48.25%) patients followed by erosive gastritis in 2305 (14.81%), UGI tract malignancy in 1152 (7.8%). Variceal bleed was seen in 900 (5.77%) patients. Conclusion: Peptic ulcer related bleed is the most common cause of UGI bleed in our center. Portal hypertension is relatively less frequent a cause of UGI bleed in our place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Helicobacter pylori eradication rates has been suboptimal despite multiple-drug regimens owing to increasing drug resistance. Purpose: To assess the efficacy of a novel sequential therapy based on moxifloxacin and nitazoxanide for eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection and ulcer healing. Material and Methods: From January 2018 to December 2019, 160 patients of duodenal ulcer related to H. pylori infection received this novel sequential therapy for 14 days. H. pylori infection was diagnosed on histologic evidence of H. pylori by modified Giemsa staining or a positive rapid urease test by gastric mucosal biopsy. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was repeated to assess for healing of ulcers. Successful eradication of H. pylori infection was defined as a negative 13C-urea breath test four weeks after the completion of treatment. H. pylori eradication rates, ulcer healing, treatment compliance and adverse events were end-points of the study. Results: The H. pylori eradication rate was 91.5%. The duodenal ulcer healing was complete in 96% and partial in 4% patients. The adverse events reported in 42 (27.2%) patients were mostly mild-to-moderate in severity. Conclusion: This novel sequential therapy based on moxifloxacin and nitazoxanide of Helicobacter pylori infection eradication was found to be highly effective. The duodenal ulcer healing rate was also very high. Moreover, it showed very good tolerability and safety profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]