Risk factors of osteoporosis in soldiers of the Armed Forces: A cross-sectional study from Western India.

Background: Osteoporosis may result from risk factors such as smoking, alcohol, low body mass index, less physical exercise, and dietary calcium deficiency. The risk of osteoporosis fractures can be reduced with lifestyle changes, which include diet, exercise, and preventing falls. The present study is an effort to measure the burden of risk factors of osteoporosis in adult male soldiers in the Armed Forces. Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional study among serving soldiers in South-Western part of India, and 400 participants consented to be included in the study. After obtaining informed consent, the questionnaire was distributed. Venous blood samples were collected to measure serum calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D, and parathyroid hormone (PTH). Results: The prevalence of vitamin D3 severe deficiency (<10 ng/mL) was 38.5%, and the prevalence of vitamin D3 deficiency (10-19 ng/mL) was 33%. Low serum calcium (<8.4 mg/dL) and serum phosphorus (<2.5 mg/dL) were found among 19.5% and 11.5%, respectively, whereas a raised serum PTH level (>66.5 pg/mL) was seen in 5.5% of the participants. A statistically significant association was found between consumption of milk and milk products and levels of calcium. With a cutoff value of 20 ng/mL for vitamin D3 deficiency, a statistically significant association was found for consumption of fish, physical activity, and sun exposure. Conclusion: A remarkably large percentage of otherwise normal healthy soldiers have deficiency or insufficiency of vitamin D and might be prone to osteoporosis. Despite significant advances in our understanding and management options for male osteoporosis, there still remain important gaps in knowledge which needs to be looked into.

COVISHIELD (AZD1222) VaccINe effectiveness among healthcare and frontline Workers of INdian Armed Forces: Interim results of VIN-WIN cohort study.

BACKGROUND: On 16 Jan 2021, India launched its immunization program against COVID-19. Among the first recipients were 1.59 million Health Care Workers (HCWs) and Frontline Workers (FLWs) of the Indian Armed Forces, who were administered COVISHIELD (Astra Zeneca). We present an interim analysis of vaccine effectiveness (VE) estimates till 30 May 2021. METHODS: The VIN-WIN cohort study was carried out on anonymized data of HCWs and FLWs of Indian Armed Forces. The existing surveillance system, enhanced for COVID-19 monitoring, was sourced for data. The cohort transitioned from Unvaccinated (UV) to Partially Vaccinated (PV) to Fully Vaccinated (FV), serving as its own internal comparison. Outcomes studied in the three groups were breakthrough infections and COVID related deaths. Incidence Rate Ratio (IRR) was used to compare outcomes among the three groups to estimate VE. RESULTS: Data of 1,595,630 individuals (mean age 27.6 years; 99% male) over 135 days was analysed. Till 30 May 21, 95.4% and 82.2% were partially and fully vaccinated. The UV, PV and FV compartments comprised 106.6, 46.7 and 58.7 million person-days respectively. The number of breakthrough cases in the UV, PV and FV groups were 10061, 1159 and 2512; while the deaths were 37, 16 and 7 respectively. Corrected VE was 91.8-94.9% against infections. CONCLUSION: Interim results of the VIN-WIN cohort study of 1.59 million HCWs and FLWs of Indian Armed Forces showed a ∼93% reduction in COVID-19 breakthrough infections with COVISHIELD vaccination.

An analysis of mortality and survival of COVID 19 patients admitted to a tertiary care hospital in Maharashtra, India.

BACKGROUND: After nine months of responding to the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic, the scientific fraternity is yet to unravel the mystery of those who are at most risk from mortality. Despite resistance to wear masks, the global public health response has beaten the grimmer projections of millions of deaths. The present study seeks to analyze the survival of COVID-19 patients at a tertiary care hospital and identify the risk factors of mortality. METHODS: Medical records of 1233 RT PCR confirmed COVID-19 patients admitted in a tertiary care hospital between 01 April and 30 September 2020 were retrospectively analyzed for calculating overall survival and to investigate the independent predictors of survival of COVID-19 patients. RESULTS: There were 72 (5.8%) deaths; which occurred in 24.9% of the elderly (age > 60yrs) people (P < 0.001), 76.0% in people with multiple comorbidities (having more than one comorbidity) (P < 0.001), 75.6% in people with diabetes (P < 0.001), and 75.5% in people with hypertension (P < 0.001). A significantly higher risk of mortality was observed in elderly patients, patients with comorbidities, and patients requiring oxygen while admitted in the hospital. CONCLUSION: Survival reflects the cure rates and is used by health professionals and policymakers to plan and implement disease control measures. The insights provided by the study would help facilitate the identification of patients at risk and timely provision of specialized care for the prevention of adverse outcomes in the hospital setting.

A comparative analysis of control measures on-board ship against COVID-19 and similar novel viral respiratory disease outbreak: Quarantine ship or disembark suspects?

BACKGROUND: Management of novel viral respiratory disease outbreak on-board a ship with person-to-person transmission can be a public health challenge because of close proximity of inhabitants due to confined space and air-conditioned environment. It has a potential to be explosive, with high secondary attack rate (SAR) and cause significant morbidity and mortality. This study compares control measures instituted on-board two ships with similar outbreaks and recommends a standardized evidence-based outbreak response against them. METHODS: This is a descriptive study, showing comparative analysis of control measures instituted on-board two ships, a cruise ship in case of COVID-19 and a warship in case of H1N1 influenza, with novel viral respiratory disease outbreak, at different span of time. Data of the date of onset, clinical details, laboratory results, history of travel, history of contact with positive case and control measures initiated were collected, analysed and compared. RESULTS: Of the two ships compared, one was a cruise ship with 712 COVID-19 cases, with an attack rate (AR) of 19.2% and 13 deaths, and other a warship with 14 cases of H1N1 influenza and an AR of 4.83%. The epidemic curve for both the outbreaks was plotted to study time distribution. CONCLUSION: Active surveillance, early self-reporting and immediate disembarkation of the suspects, along with strict compliance of hand hygiene, cough etiquettes and disinfection enhancement, will help in early mitigation of the outbreak. Health education should be undertaken to impart evidence-based knowledge and alleviate fear of the unknown. Vaccination may not be present but if available should only be administered after strict risk-benefit, cost-benefit and effectiveness analysis.

Crew awareness as key to optimizing habitability standards onboard naval platforms: A 'back-to-basics' approach.

BACKGROUND: A healthy habitable environment onboard warships is vital to operational fleet efficiency and fit sea-warrier force. Unique man-machine-armament interface issues and consequent constraints on habitability necessitate a multi-disciplinary approach toward optimizing habitability standards. Study of the basic 'human factor', including crew awareness on what determines shipboard habitability, and its association with habitation specifications is an essential step in such an approach. The aim of this study was to assess crew awareness on shipboard habitability and the association between awareness and maintenance of optimal habitability as per specifications. METHODS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 552 naval personnel onboard warships in Mumbai. Data on crew awareness on habitability was collected using a standardized questionnaire, and correlated with basic habitability requirement specifications. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel, Epi-info, and SPSS version 17. RESULTS: Awareness level on basic habitability aspects was very good in 65.3% of crew. Area-specific awareness was maximum with respect to living area (95.3%). Knowledge levels on waste management were among the lowest (65.2%) in the category of aspect-wise awareness. Statistically significant association was found between awareness levels and habitability standards (OR = 7.27). CONCLUSION: The new benchmarks set in the form of high crew awareness levels on basic shipboard habitability specifications and its significant association with standards needs to be sustained. It entails re-iteration of healthy habitation essentials into training; and holds the key to a fit fighting force.

Dengue, chikungunya and the missing entity - Zika fever: A new emerging threat.

Zika virus (ZIKV), a relative newcomer from the flavivirus group that includes dengue, Japanese encepahalitis and yellow fever, is one of the emerging pathogens that is fast transcending geographical boundaries. It is a vector-borne disease transmitted by the same Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, which cause dengue and chikungunya. In addition to the vector-mediated transmission of Zika fever, probable human-to-human transmission through exchange of body fluids, including sexual and perinatal transmission and through blood transfusion, makes containment of this new entity more challenging. Moreover, a high index of suspicion by an astute physician is necessary for diagnosis of Zika fever in view of the similarity of symptoms with dengue and chikungunya, especially in areas, where these two diseases are already endemic. Zika, till recently, has had minimal impact, but its true potential is unfolding with increasing detection of congenital malformities, Guillain-Barré syndrome and other neurological and autoimmune syndromes in patients with recent history of ZIKV infection, or when mothers get infected with Zika during first or second trimester of pregnancy. The association, however, needs to be established, nonetheless it is important that we keep a close vigil on this emerging vector borne disease - the 'ZIKA' fever.

Infant and young child feeding practices amongst children referred to the paediatric outpatient department.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, sub-optimal breastfeeding still accounts for deaths of 1.4 million children aged less than five years. Optimal infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices have been recognised as the most important intervention for improving child survival and development. Causal association has been found between exclusive breastfeeding with infection-specific infant morbidity and mortality. METHODS: A cross sectional study was undertaken to assess the IYCF practices among 100 caregivers of children aged less than five years, using a semi-structured questionnaire, attending the Paediatric OPD. RESULTS: Children from higher income groups were not given colostrum at birth. 57% mothers started breastfeeding within an hour and 88% of the mothers admitted to have given prelacteal feed. Healthy complementary food was found to be given by most of the mothers. Prevalence of infections was found to be higher (p < 0.05) in children whose birth weight < 2.5 kg and in bottle fed children. CONCLUSION: Traditional beliefs and practices, besides lack of knowledge regarding current feeding recommendations, were found to have played an important role in the feeding practices. Creating an enabling environment for comprehensive nutrition education of mothers by health care providers is required.

A longitudinal study to determine association of various maternal factors with neonatal birth weight at a tertiary care hospital.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal birth weight is a powerful predictor of infant growth and survival and maternal factors like poor knowledge and insufficient dietary intake are significant risk factors. Other preventable determinants like pre pregnant BMI <18.5, low gestational weight gain (GWG) and anemia are also associated with low birth weight. This study was carried out to identify the impact of these maternal factors with risk of low birth weight (LBW). METHODS: A longitudinal study was carried out on 124 booked antenatal cases at a tertiary care center. A validated protocol containing socio demography, food frequency and anthropometry was administered at the 3rd trimester. Birth weight of the newborn was noted after delivery. RESULTS: 26.28% children had low birth weight (<2500 g), 14.6% mothers were thin (BMI < 18.5), 55.3% mothers had a weight gain of less than 9 kgs and 45.5% were anemic. 81.81% mothers with BMI >18.5 and 28.92% women who were educated till high school had a baby with LBW. Most mothers consumed milk and vegetables daily and a few consumed non vegetarian foods but quality and quantity of food were grossly inadequate. GWG levels and Hb levels were significantly different in different birth weight groups and also were significantly associated with low birth weight. CONCLUSION: Quality and quantity of maternal dietary intake during pregnancy, even in normal weight mothers (BMI > 18.5), are important determinants of birth weight. Nutritional counseling for mothers during the antenatal period is the cornerstone for healthy mother and healthy child.

Statins: Can we advocate them for primary prevention of heart disease?

The discovery of cholesterol-lowering agents, namely HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors or statins, ushered in a series of large cholesterol reduction trials. The first of these studies was the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (4S) in which hypercholesterolemic men with CHD who were treated with simvastatin had a reduction in major coronary events of 44% and a reduction in total mortality of 30%. Many more secondary prevention trials followed to establish unequivocally the benefit of cholesterol reduction. Strategies that aim to improve primary prevention are important for managing the overall burden of disease. Recently therefore, the role of statin in primary prevention is being debated. The JUPITER trial and more recently the Cholesterol Treatment Trialists collaborators, proved that incidences of first major cardiovascular events in apparently healthy individuals were reduced by statins. Statins have also been discussed to be having certain pleiotropic effects on other diseases like diabetes, cancer and osteoporosis. However, issues of cost effectiveness and adverse effects like myositis, and transaminitis still loom large. The medical community needs to debate and evolve a possible consensus on the path breaking subject.

A clinicopathological analysis of 26 patients with infection-associated haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and the importance of bone marrow phagocytosis for the early initiation of immunomodulatory treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the clinicopathological presentation, outcome and importance of bone marrow haemophagocytosis in patients with infection-associated haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (IA-HLH) in a tertiary care hospital in Northern India. STUDY DESIGN: Between January 2007 and December 2009, 26 consecutive patients meeting the diagnostic criteria for IA-HLH, based on the HLH2004 protocol of the Histiocyte Society, were followed up for between 12 and 34 months (median 20 months). RESULTS: IA-HLH was diagnosed in three of the five patients who died 5-6 weeks after the onset of the illness, whereas diagnosis in the remaining group was made a median of 2 weeks after the onset of the illness. The predominant presenting features were fever (100%), hepatomegaly (69%), splenomegaly (58%) and anaemia (96%). All patients showed >3% haemophagocytosis on bone marrow studies-in four cases after serial aspiration/biopsies. Twenty-one (80.8%) cases were non-fatal and five (19.2%) patients died. The non-fatal cases included eight (38.1%) cases of viral infection, seven (33.3%) bacterial infections, two (9.6%) fungal and four (19.0%) protozoal infections; whereas four (80%) bacterial infections and one (20%) viral infection were associated with the fatal cases. The mean of the nadir blood counts of white blood cells, absolute neutrophil counts and platelets; the mean of all the peak biochemical parameters of liver function tests, lactate dehydrogenase and ferritin and the lowest fibrinogen values before treatment, differed significantly (p<0.05) between the non-fatal and the fatal group, being worse in the latter. CONCLUSIONS: IA-HLH is important because it can obscure the typical clinical features of the underlying primary disease, thus delaying the diagnosis and having a negative effect on the outcome. Although bone marrow haemophagocytosis is not a mandatory diagnostic criterion, we found it to be a useful tool together with biochemical parameters for early recognition of HLH, especially in developing countries lacking molecular and flow laboratories. The severity of pancytopenia and derangement in biochemical markers were significantly higher in the patients who died.

Impact of a behaviour change intervention model for promotion of condoms amongst young adult males in an occupational setting.

BACKGROUND: Studies have justified that social and cultural factors influence young people not to use condoms. Sexually active people associate condoms with lack of trust, while others believe carrying them could imply sexual inexperience. The aim of this study was to provide an intervention model based on this social perception and assess the impact of the intervention in improving condom use. METHODS: 2083 personnel in the intervention group were subjected to behaviour change intervention based on perception and use of condoms. Using a cluster design, we randomly assigned 40 departments to department-based intervention (20) or assessment (20) groups. Around 100 persons in the same age group of 18-45 years were again randomly assigned to each group. Chi Square test was used to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. RESULTS: Over 6% individuals in the control group (Table 2) had non-regular partners and out of them 23.5% had used a condom. Again, in the same group (Fig. 1), 45.36% individuals thought it is acceptable for single men to use condoms with their partners and 8.15% agreed that it is alright for married women to use condoms with their husbands. The perception significantly increased in the intervention group (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study thus highlights the importance of continued behavioural intervention in filling certain gaps in the social and structural perception to improve condom use for effective HIV prevention in the community.

Prevalence of prehypertension in young military adults & its association with overweight & dyslipidaemia.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Estimation of prevalence of prehypertension in a population and its association with risk factors of cardiovascular disease is important to design preventive programmes. This cross-sectional study was carried out in a healthy military population to assess the prevalence of prehypertension and its association with risk factors such as overweight, abdominal adiposity and dyslipidaemia. METHODS: The study included 767 participants (130 officers and 637 from other ranks). The blood pressure, serum triglycerides and serum cholesterol (total, HDL and LDL) were assessed along with anthropometric measurements such as height, weight, waist-hip ratio in apparently healthy military personnel. Information on smoking, alcohol intake, dietary habits and physical activity was collected using pretested questionnaire. Prehypertension was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) 120-139 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) 80-89 mm Hg. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of prehypertension was high (about 80%). The prevalence of other risk factors such as overweight (BMI>23 kg/m²), serum total cholesterol > 200 mg/dl, serum LDL cholesterol > 130 mg/dl, serum HDL cholesterol <40 mg/dl, serum triglyceride > 150 mg/dl in the total group was 30, 22, 22, 67, and 14 per cent, respectively. Most of the personnel undertook moderate or heavy exercise. A significantly higher proportion of individuals with prehypertension had clinical and behavioural risk factors such as overweight, dyslipidaemia and adverse dietary practices like saturated fat and added salt intake. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, prehypertension had significant positive association with BMI>23 kg/m² (OR 1.75), age (OR 1.89), serum triglyceride >150 mg/dl (OR 2.25)and serum HDL cholesterol <40 mg/dl (OR 1.51). INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of prehypertension and its association with overweight and dyslipidaemia in this young, physically active military population indicates an urgent need for targeted interventions to reduce the cardiovascular risk.

Psychosocial Variables of Voluntary Blood Donors at Blood Bank of a Medical College.

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to study the motivational factors leading to voluntary blood donation and understanding the psychosocial variables of blood donors. METHODS: 300 blood donors were selected by systematic random sampling method. RESULT: It was observed that most of the voluntary donors were males (89.3%) and belonged to age group 16-25 years (48%). Most of the donors (93.46%) had studied upto high school and above and 84.33% of the donors belonged to the middle class. 27% of the donors had donated blood previously. The common motivational factors to donate blood were for 'a good cause', 'for the society' and 'to save a life'. 4.67% of them donated blood for self satisfaction. CONCLUSION: Motivation, recruitment and retention of voluntary blood donors are important criteria to achieve safe blood donation.