Magnitude and Impact of Workplace Violence Against Obstetric Healthcare Personnel: A Multicentre Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Workplace violence is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as incidents where staff is abused, threatened or assaulted in work settings. In emergency predominated branch like obstetrics, there is a need to study the magnitude and impact of violence against healthcare workers (HCW). Materials and Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Obstetrics at 2 centres in Lucknow district, for a period of 6 months. The study population included trainee residents, senior residents, nursing staff and consultants. Standard definitions from the WHO were used to define the types of violence. The validated questionnaire was designed in English with 25 questions to understand the incidence of workplace violence, prevention policy, reporting and follow-ups of incidents and impact of violence. Results: With a response rate of 90%, 274 HCW participated in the study. In total, 172 HCW (62.7%) either faced physical or verbal assault. In 70% of incidents, patient, their relatives or public were perpetrators of violence, and the rest 30% incidents were by colleagues or management. Majority of the incidents were in emergency areas. Only 22% of the abused reported to the concerned authorities. At least 123 (71.5%) HCW were extremely dissatisfied with the action taken. Action was taken against only 9.8% of the perpetrators. None of the respondents received any training to handle workplace violence. Conclusion: There is an alarming high prevalence of workplace violence by patients and colleagues. Adequate training to handle these incidents, improvement of working environment and unconditional support from management will bring a positive work experience. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13224-023-01809-0.

Scrub Typhus Co-Infections in a Young Boy With Varicella and Malaria: A Rare Case Report.

Scrub typhus is one of the leading causes of acute febrile illness of unknown origin in India. Though several co-infections of other vector-borne diseases have been described in the literature, few such cases have been described in children. As such, it is challenging to diagnose scrub typhus alone and becomes that more complicated when a varicella infection precedes it. This is the first reported case where scrub with varicella infection also had concomitant malaria. In such cases, prompt diagnosis and initiation of the correct drug are imperative. Here we describe a six-year-old child with a past history of varicella infection and co-infected with scrub typhus and malaria.