Familial Monosomy 7 Syndrome Associated with Myelodysplasia

Indian Journal of Pediatrics -     

Socio-Demographic Correlates of Injection Drug Use Among Male Drug Users: A Cross Sectional Study in Nepal

Drug abuse is one of the major public health problems in Nepal. The objective of this study is to explore the factors responsible for the injecting drug use in Nepal. A cross sectional study was conducted among drug users in Pokhara sub metropolitan city in Nepal. Taking prevalence of 20 % at 95 % confidence interval and 20 % non-response rate, 448 samples were calculated for face to face interviews. Most of the study participants were >24 year’s age. Sixty-one percentage of the participants were unemployed. The largest percentage belonged to Gurung/Rai/Pun (37 %) ethnic groups, and had completed secondary level of education (47.5 %). In the logistic regression analysis occupation, motivating factors for drug use, ever been to custody, age at first drug use, age at first sex, money spent on drugs, ever been rehabilitated and age of the respondents showed a statistically significant association with injecting drug use status. The respondents having business [Adjusted Odds ratio (aOR) 4.506, 95 % CI (1.677–12.104)], service [aOR 2.698, 95 % CI (a1.146-6.355], having tragedy/turmoil [aOR 3.867, 95 % CI (1.596–9.367)], family problem [aOR 2.010, 95 % CI (2.010–53.496)], had sex at >19 years [aOR 1.683, 95 % CI (1.017–2.785)], rehabilitated >2 times [aOR 4.699, 95 % CI (1.401–15.763)], >24 years age group [aOR 1.741, 95 % CI (1.025–2.957)] had higher odds of having injecting habits. Having money spent on drugs >3,000 NRs (300 USD) [aOR 0.489, 95 %CI (0.274–0.870), not been to custody (aOR 0.330, 95 %CI (0.203–0.537)] and having curiosity for drug use [aOR 0.147, 95 % CI (0.029–0.737)] were found to be protective for injecting drug use. This study recommends the harm reduction program specifically focused on drug users of occupational groups like business, service and the youths through public health actions to stop transiting them to injecting drug use.     

Does antiretroviral therapy alter the course of Parkinson’s disease in people living with HIV?

Journal of NeuroVirology - South Africa has the world’s largest antiretroviral programme which has resulted in an increase in life expectancy in persons living with HIV. Parkinson’s...     

Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Intratumoral Darleukin/Fibromun (L19IL2 + L19TNF) in Patients with Clinical Stage IIIB/C Melanoma (Neo-DREAM)

Annals of Surgical Oncology -     

Frosted branch angiitis associated with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis

Simultaneous occurrence of frosted branch angiitis and immune-mediated rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis is reported. The two diseases possibly share a common immune mechanism. Patients of frosted branch angiitis should undergo complete systemic evaluation including renal function tests even if the patient is systemically asymptomatic.     

The need for linking healthcare-seeking behavior and health policy in rural Nepal

In Nepal, little emphasis has been placed on the need to link healthcare-seeking behavior (HCSB) with health policy. The purpose of this study is to identify the HCSB of 405 households that were randomly selected from 28 communities in a hilly region of central Nepal. In assessing HCSB, we found that some form of illness strikes about 50% of households each year. When rural Nepalese are moderately or severely ill, they seek healthcare from traditional healers first, before visiting other health workers. Mild illnesses are treated at home. To improve the health of the rural population, health planners should recognize these realities and incorporate them into the development of health policies.     

A traditional healers' training model in rural Nepal: strengthening their roles in community health

In this paper, we evaluated a western medical training model for traditional healers (THs) in rural Nepal. We used semi-structured interviews to compare 48 trainees with 30 randomly selected untrained THs, 1 year after the training was completed. We asked them about their knowledge of the causes, prevention and treatment of common illnesses and HIV/AIDS, and their relationship with government health workers (GHWs) in the area. Nine GHWs were also interviewed about their perceptions of THs. We found that trained THs had a better knowledge of allopathic medicine, practised modern treatment using first aid kits, and were more likely to refer patients to GHWs. They also improved their relationships with the GHWs. Up-scaling this model is a challenge for improving community health care in Nepal in the future.