An evaluation of the utilisation of reproductive and child health services provided by government to the rural community of Anand District, Gujrat.

A multi-indicator thirty cluster survey was conducted during February- March 2008 in the rural areas of Anand district of Gujrat state to assess the utilization of the reproductive and child health services provided through government sector. In each selected village minimum 40 households were visited till total eight children in age group 12-23 months, at least two antenatal mothers in last trimester and five mothers who delivered in last year were studied. A total of 555 children of age less than three years & 1481 women in reproductive age group were included in the study. 74.8% of the children had institutional delivery. Birth registration was almost 100%. Immunization coverage was 84.5%. Registration of children and pregnant mothers under Mamta Abhiyan(MA) were 91% and 84 % respectively. Only 53% children were brought to Mamta Diwas Kendra regularly. Vitamin A coverage to children was 76.9%. Tetanus toxoid coverage of pregnant women was 85.1%, while Iron tablets were provided to 48.3% women. 43% of the postnatal mothers had no post-partum visit. Utilization of government schemes among postnatal women was 9% to 20%.

Geriatric Respondents and Non-Respondents to Probiotic Intervention Can be Differentiated by Inherent Gut Microbiome Composition.

SCOPE: Probiotic interventions are known to have been shown to influence the composition of the intestinal microbiota in geriatrics. The growing concern is the apparent variation in response to identical strain dosage among human volunteers. One factor that governs this variation is the host gut microbiome. In this study, we attempted to define a core gut metagenome, which could act as a predisposition signature marker of inherent bacterial community that can help predict the success of a probiotic intervention. METHODS AND RESULTS: To characterize the geriatric gut microbiome, we designed primers targeting the 16S rRNA hypervariable region V2-V3 followed by semiconductor sequencing using Ion Torrent PGM. Among respondents and non-respondents, the chief genera of phylum Firmicutes that showed significant differences are Lactobacillus, Clostridium, Eubacterium, and Blautia (q < 0.002), while in the genera of phylum Proteobacteria included Shigella, Escherichia, Burkholderia and Camphylobacter (q < 0.002). CONCLUSION: We have identified potential microbial biomarkers and taxonomic patterns that correlate with a positive response to probiotic intervention in geriatric volunteers. Future work with larger cohorts of geriatrics with diverse dietary influences could reveal the potential of the signature patterns of microbiota for personalized nutrition.