ABSTRACT
AIMS: The objective of the study was to assess epidemiological and anti-rabies vaccination status in animal bite patients attending the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Lucknow. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A longitudinal survey was conducted in the Infectious Diseases Hospital of Lucknow from January to December 2013. During this duration a total of 390 patients presenting with animal bites were included. RESULTS: A majority (63.3%) of patients were in the 16-59 years age group. 75% of patients had attended the IDH for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) within 24 hours. The male to female ratio was 2.98:1. A majority (79.5%) of patients were injured by dogs. 9.0% patients were in close contact with rabies patient. On the basis of WHO classification, 4.2% of animal bite patients were placed in grade I, 88.2 in grade II and 7.6% in grade III. In 73.3% of patients wound were in lower limbs. Complete vaccination was found in 65.0% and the use of human rabies immune globulin was only in 11.1%. CONCLUSION: Outcome of an animal bite can be fatal. The only preventive/curative measure available is anti-rabies vaccination and the use of human rabies immune globulin, hence to assure 100% compliance for the same awareness campaign is required.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assess hospital waste management in nonteaching hospitals of Lucknow city. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted on the staffs of nonteaching hospitals of Lucknow from September 2012 to March 2013. A total of eight hospitals were chosen as the study sample size. Simple random sampling technique was used for the selection of the nonteaching hospitals. A pre-structured and pre-tested interview questionnaire was used to collect necessary information regarding the hospitals and biomedical waste (BMW) management of the hospitals. The general information about the selected hospitals/employees of the hospitals was collected. RESULTS: Mean hospital waste generated in the eight nonteaching hospitals of Lucknow was 0.56 kg/bed/day. About 50.5% of the hospitals did not have BMW department and colored dustbins. In 37.5% of the hospitals, there were no BMW records and segregation at source. Incinerator was used only by hospital A for treatment of BMW. Hospital G and hospital H had no facilities for BMW treatment. CONCLUSION: There is a need for appropriate training of staffs, strict implementation of rules, and continuous surveillance of the hospitals of Lucknow to improve the BMW management and handling practices.
