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Airborne contact dermatitis (ABCD) is a commonly occurring form of allergic contact dermatitis with varied aetiology, often posing a diagnostic challenge in management. A study was carried out on patients with a clinical picture and history consistent with ABCD due to exposure to Parthenium hysterophorus (parthenium weed), who were patch tested. There were 50 patients with parthenium-induced ABCD (36 men and 14 women; age range 24–75 years). The majority (90%) of the patients were farmers and most of the patients (74.5%) had exacerbations during summer. The most common type of dermatitis was the classic pattern (46%) followed by the mixed pattern (30%), erythroderma (14%) and chronic actinic dermatitis (10%). Of the 40 cases patch tested with the Indian standard series of antigens, 36 (90%) cases had patch-test results positive for parthenium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Forcibly displaced individuals typically encounter daily stressors, which can negatively impact mental health above and beyond direct exposure to war-related violence, trauma and loss. Understanding the perspectives of war affected communities regarding daily stressors can enhance the integration of mental health into local primary care. The aim of the current study was to explore how daily stressors are conceptualized in a post-conflict setting. Data collection was completed with 53 adult participants who were recruited from primary healthcare clinics in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Individual interviews were conducted in Tamil, audio-recorded, translated from Tamil to English, and transcribed. Themes emerging from the data were organized into an analytical framework based on iterative coding and grounded in the daily stressors framework. Stressors were conceptualized as chronic stressors and systemic stressors. Findings indicate that chronic stressors, such as loss of property, permeate daily life and have a profound impact on psychological wellbeing. Interviewees additionally reported that systemic stressors stemmed from unresolved grief for missing family members and limited support from institutions. The results of the current study complement existing literature, suggesting the value of multipronged approaches which identify and address symptoms of complicated bereavement while simultaneously alleviating financial hardship. An understanding of stressors experienced by conflict-affected populations in times of chronic adversity can be informative for the design and implementation of culturally-tailored interventions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Thyroid disease is known to affect brain metabolism and cognitive function, although the recovery of thyroid-induced brain functional changes after treatment remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the alteration in brain functional connectivity and its correlation with neuropsychological variables in hyperthyroid patients before and after anti-thyroid treatment using a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) technique. This is a follow-up rsfMRI study of previous work that showed impaired brain functional connectivity in hyperthyroid patients compared to healthy controls. We included rsfMRI and neuropsychological data from 21 hyperthyroid patients out of an original cohort of 28 patients, before and after anti-thyroid treatment for 30 weeks. Functional connectivity analysis and neuropsychological scores were compared using paired t tests in patients at baseline and at follow-up. Patients showed an improvement in some of the memory (p < .05) and executive, visuospatial and motor (p < .001) functions after treatment, and also showed increased functional connectivity in the regions of the right fronto-parietal network, left fronto-parietal network, and default mode network (DMN) (p < .05). At follow-up, the functional connectivity of the right fronto-parietal network showed a significantly positive correlation with the recognition of objects memory score. The overall findings suggest that anti-thyroid treatment with carbimazole improves the functional connectivity within some of the resting state networks in the hyperthyroid patients, whereas the remaining networks still show impairment., (© 2021 British Society for Neuroendocrinology.)

Background: As much as 80% of global Plasmodium vivax infections occur in South Asia and there is a shortage of direct studies on infectivity of P. vivax in Anopheles stephensi, the most common urban mosquito carrying human malaria. In this quest, the possible effects of laboratory colonization of mosquitoes on infectivity and development of P. vivax is of interest given that colonized mosquitoes can be genetically less divergent than the field population from which they originated., Methods: Patient-derived P. vivax infected blood was fed to age-matched wild and colonized An. stephensi. Such a comparison requires coordinated availability of same-age wild and colonized mosquito populations. Here, P. vivax infection are studied in colonized An. stephensi in their 66th-86th generation and fresh field-caught An. stephensi. Wild mosquitoes were caught as larvae and pupae and allowed to develop into adult mosquitoes in the insectary. Parasite development to oocyst and sporozoite stages were assessed on days 7/8 and 12/13, respectively., Results: While there were batch to batch variations in infectivity of individual patient-derived P. vivax samples, both wild and colonized An. stephensi were roughly equally susceptible to oocyst stage Plasmodium infection. At the level of sporozoite development, significantly more mosquitoes with sporozoite load of 4+ were seen in wild than in colonized populations.

Background: India accounts for nearly 24% of all the new tuberculosis (TB) cases globally. A good core knowledge and a positive outlook towards TB patients among our aspiring doctors and nurses are necessities for India to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) proposed by the WHO as a part of its post-2015 global TB strategy and to successfully combat the newer challenges posed by this disease in the future., Aims: To evaluate knowledge related to transmission, prevention and treatment of tuberculosis amongst medical and nursing students. The study also aims to evaluate the attitude of students towards tuberculosis patients., Methods: A self-administered pre-tested questionnaire was completed by 200 final year undergraduate medical and nursing students at a teaching medical college hospital. We collected information pertaining to general aspects of TB, its prevention and treatment and also the attitude of these prospective doctors and nurses towards treating/nursing TB patients., Results: Most respondents (98.5%) were aware of the person to person transmission of the disease. 20% thought it could spread by fomites, 6.5% by shaking hands and 17% believed kissing could spread the disease. 72% of those surveyed did not think that healthcare workers were at greater risk of contracting TB. Only 52% of students knew that non-DOTS treatment was associated with a greater probability of patient defaults, development of drug-resistance, chronic disease and deaths. 27% of the students chose a simple surgical mask believing that it could protect them against nosocomial TB. Only 50% of nursing students were aware that the sputum smear examination was the diagnostic test required to label the patient as an 'open' or infectious case. A reluctance to interact with TB patients for fear of personal safety was seen in 28% of both groups. 83% of nursing students and 53% of the medical students were willing to attend to TB patients in isolation wards. 98.5% of the participants believed that TB is a disease that can be prevented, treated and cured., Conclusion: There exists considerable scope for improving knowledge in areas relating to disease transmission and the preventive aspects of TB among our healthcare students. Since the present curriculum was deemed as adequate by the students, newer learning methods may be needed to disseminate any additional knowledge. Healthcare students did not display any prejudice towards TB patients which augurs well for TB control activities in the future., (Copyright © 2016 Tuberculosis Association of India. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Dermatitis cruris pustulosa et atrophicans (DCPA) is a distinctive type of chronic superficial folliculitis, with a number of unique features such as its peculiar symmetric localization to legs, extreme chronicity, resistance to therapy, and inevitable alopecia and atrophy., Methods: All patients with DCPA, attending the Dermatology Outpatient Department at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) Hospital, Pondicherry, from December 2006 to June 2008 were included. Parameters recorded were detailed history and examination, hemogram, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, random blood sugar, skin biopsy and cultures from pus and carrier sites (nares, axillae and gluteal fold)., Results: 37 patients were studied (35 males and 2 females). Sixteen patients (43.24%) belonged to the 21-30 year-old age group. The disease most commonly began on the legs (81.1%). Majority (78.38%) had a disease duration of less than 5 years. Itching was the most common symptom (89.19%), followed by bleeding and scaling, with no significant systemic symptoms. The lower limbs were involved in all patients. Eleven patients (29.73%) had involvement of other sites--beard, axillae, chest, moustache, abdomen, and eyebrows. Pustules, papules, and scaling were seen in all patients, followed by wiry roughness, atrophy, alopecia, and pigmentation. Aggravating factors included use of full-length synthetic trousers, occupational exposure to potential irritants, and season (summer). Pus culture from the folliculitic lesions grew Staphylococcus aureus in 32 (86.49%) patients. Twenty one patients (56.75%) were carriers of S. aureus in one or more sites., Conclusion: DCPA is a chronic folliculitis of the legs, with a multifactorial etiopathogenesis, in which staphylococcal carrier status may be a new potential pathogenetic factor.

Background: Psoriasis can have a profound impact on a patient's quality of life. Very few Indian studies have examined this aspect of Indian patients of psoriasis., Aims: This study was conducted to assess the clinical severity, as well as physical and psychosocial disability, and stress incurred and to analyze their interrelationship in psoriasis patients aged more than 18 years., Methods: This hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology, JIPMER, Pondicherry, India. Clinical severity, physical and psychosocial morbidity, and the stress incurred were measured using psoriasis area severity index (PASI), psoriasis disability index (PDI), and psoriasis life stress inventory (PLSI) respectively, the latter two of which were suitably modified and translated into the local language, viz., Tamil. Appropriate tests were conducted using SPSS for Windows (Release 7.5.1) statistical software., Results: Fifty patients (34 males, 16 females) were included in the study. The clinical PASI scores correlated significantly with the overall physical disability (PDI), individual aspects of the PDI (except the treatment-related activities), and the measurement of stress incurred (PLSI). A PASI score of more than 18 delineated a subgroup of patients with higher overall physical disability and higher stress rating. Among the physical and psychosocial factors investigated, daily activities, employment, and treatment were reported to be affected the most. Psoriasis sufferers are also most likely to feel self-conscious, be disturbed / inconvenienced by the shedding of the skin, live in a constant fear of relapse, and avoid social interactions., Conclusions: The present study provides compelling evidence that psoriasis affects the quality of life, and it highlights the importance of adopting a multidimensional assessment of psoriasis.

We examined the polymorphism of DR2,DQw1 haplotypes in Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B-lymphoblastoid cell lines (HTCs) and unrelated (32 Canadian Caucasians and 24 Asian Indians) individuals by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and oligonucleotide typing. The data demonstrate that three subtypes of DR2,DQw1 haplotypes, DRw15(B1.1501).DQw6a(A1.0102,B1.0602),DRw15(B1.1502). DQw6b(A1.0103,B1.0601), DRw16(B1.1601).DQw5(A1.0102,B1.0502) are present in HTCs and Canadian Caucasians. Of these, DRw15(B1.1501).DQw6a (A1.0102,B1.0602) haplotype was present in majority (81.3%) of Caucasians. Among Asian Indians, this haplotype was present only in one DR2,DQw1-positive individual. In addition, three new haplotypes representing different combinations of DRB1, DQA1 and DQB1 genes were demonstrable in Asian Indians. These new haplotypes are DRw15(B1.1501).DQw6b(A1.0103,B1.0601),DRw15(B1.1501). DQw5(A1.0102,B1.0502), and DRw15(B1.1501).DQw6c(A1.0102, B1.0601). The most frequent haplotypes among Asian Indians were DRw15(B1.1502).DQw6b(A1.0103,B1.0601) and DRw15(B1.1501). DQw6b(A1.0103,B1.0601). The distribution of subtypes of DR2,DQw1 haplotypes in Asian Indians was significantly different from that in Canadian Caucasians. The results in the present study have important implications for HLA and for HLA-disease associations.