Treatment seeking behaviour of malaria patients in desert part of Rajasthan, India.

Malaria remains to be the most important cause of morbidity and mortality in India and in many other tropical countries with approximately 2 to 3 million new cases arising every year. In spite of arid conditions prevailing in desert part of Rajasthan, malaria is a major public health problem. A longitudinal study on social determinants of malaria has been undertaken in different villages of Ramgarh PHC of Jaisalmer district, Rajasthan. The study aims to know treatment seeking behabiour of malaria patients in the desert communities which is significantly different than the non-desert part of India. Out of 60 villages, 12 villages and 573 malaria patients were selected randomly. Interview technique was used for data collection. Information was recorded on pre-tested schedules. Self diagnosis 423 (73.8%) was more common among the respondents and 443 (77.3%) had taken treatment at home with local herbal remedies as the first treatment action. Desert population was not used to laboratory test for the malaria diagnosis. Symptoms based treatment was practised. They used private and government health facilities for the treatment of malaria. Self diagnosis for malaria was common but practised more by the poorer households. A large part of the population did not complete the full course of malaria treatment as a result drug resistance was more common. They did not use the government health facility as a first step of malaria treatment. There is need for health education with campaign emphasizing the role of mosquitoes in malaria transmission and the need for prompt medical intervention. The use of Government health services for the diagnosis and treatment of malaria by the poor should be encouraged through appropriate information, education and communication (IEC) which on the long run will be more cost effective for desert population under the national malaria control programme.

Feasibility studies for assessing internal exposure to 233U.

The potential internal occupational exposure encountered as a consequence of the 232Th-233U fuel cycle are likely to arise predominantly from the inhalation of 232Th, 233U and (232Th + 233U) compounds of absorption Types M and S. In the past, although direct and indirect methods for assessments of internal exposure to 232Th and its daughters were developed, standardised and employed, no such attempts have been made with regard to 233U and 233U + 232Th. Therefore, feasibility studies for assessing internal exposure to 233U have been conducted using three methods: urine bioassay, in vivo counting and measurement of thoron gas in the exhaled breath of a worker. This paper describes details of these studies and discusses the results obtained.

Distribution of uranium in human organs of an urban Indian population and its relationship with clearance half-lives.

This organ burdens of uranium were estimated for an urban Indian (Bombay) population living in a normal background environment, using the technique of neutron activation analysis, in combination with post-irradiation chemical separation. The total organ burdens were: skeleton > muscle > soft tissue > lungs > kidney > liver > heart. A comparison was made between the observed organ burdens of uranium for skeleton, kidney, and muscle with those obtained by applying the metabolic model of uranium as recommended by International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) to its daily intake by urban population. The observed organ burdens for kidney and muscle were found to be 4 and 70 times higher than the derived burden values; however, the two estimates were similar in the case of skeleton. This observation indicated that the clearance half-lives for uranium present in kidney and muscle tissue are likely to be longer than those reported by ICRP. For skeleton, however, the clearance half-life reported by the ICRP appeared to be reasonable.

Biological activity of some Schiff bases and their metal complexes.

Schiff bases derived from salicylaldehyde and 2-substituted aniline and their metal chelates with Cu(II), Ni(II), and Co(II) ions were synthesized and screened for the antiinflammatory and antiulcer activity. The compound salicylidene-anthranilic acid (SAA) was found to possess the antiinflammatory and antiulcer activity. The copper complexes showed an increased antiulcer activity. The SAA is perhaps acting by influencing prostaglandin biosynthesis.

Self-limiting acrodermatitis enteropathica. A follow-up study of three interrelated families.

A variant of acrodermatitis enteropathica is described that has its onset before weaning and clears when the child starts its normal solid diet. A pedigree with three interrelated families is reported where 10 children were afflicted with this variant. They had symptoms of hypozincemia for a brief period during infancy. At the time of this study, they were symptom-free and their serum zinc levels were found to be within normal limits. The term "self-limiting acrodermatitis enteropathica" is proposed for the variant. In one lactating mother, the mammary zinc secretion was determined and was found to be deficient and unresponsive to oral zinc supplements. The possible mode of inheritance is also discussed.