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Introduction: Anemia is a common public health problem among children, adolescent girls, women in reproductive age groups, pregnant and lactating women, with an estimated prevalence of 50.3% among pregnant women according to National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4. Iron deficiency is regarded as the most common cause of anemia among pregnant women globally and in India. This study was aimed to estimate the prevalence of compliance to iron folic acid (IFA) tablets among pregnant mothers attending ante-natal care (ANC) clinic in a Sub-district hospital (SDH) situated in north India and the various factors associated with non-compliance to IFA tablets. Methodology: A cross-sectional facility-based study was conducted among pregnant women attending the ANC clinic at SDH, Ballabgarh. A pretested, semi-structured interview schedule was used to obtain socio-demographic data, information related to IFA therapy that they receive, their compliance and the factors that are related to missing of the doses. Data were entered using Epicollect 5 software and Stata version 13.0 was used for statistical analysis. Results: A total of 484 pregnant women were enrolled in our study. More than 3/4th (77.1%) of the pregnant women were compliant to IFA tablet supplement given to them. The compliance was more in the study participants belonging to older age groups, lower socio-economic status and those with hemoglobin levels >11 gm/dl. The most common reason for non-compliance was found to be "forgetfulness" (63.0%) followed by "side effects" (49.5%). Conclusion: Compliance with IFA tablets was better among pregnant women who were non anemic and those with good compliance to IFA tablets had better hemoglobin levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Iron deficiency is the primary cause of anemia among school going adolescent girls in India Objective: To find the prevalence of anemia among school going adolescent girls in selected health blocks of Himachal Pradesh Methodology: It was a community based cross-sectional study where 09 health blocks from 07 districts were selected randomly using probability proportionate to size criteria for selection of blocks. A total of 720 adolescent girls were enrolled for the study. Results: The mean age of the study subjects was 15.82±1.19 years. The prevalence of anemia observed was 31.6% and mean hemoglobin levels observed were 12.73±4.85 gm/dL Conclusion: We observed prevalence of anemia among school going adolescent girls as 31.6% which is lower than that reported in India. A way to reduce this burden of anemia among adolescent girls is WIFS which has reduced anemia prevalence among adolescent girls but still there is a long way to go [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In India, anaemia is the most widespread nutritional deficiency disorder occurring primarily due to iron deficiency. Despite implementation of the Weekly Iron & Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) Programme under NRHM since 2013, the prevalence of anaemia is high among adolescents and pregnant women (PW) Objectives: To assess consumption of IFA in adolescent school going girls and pregnant women in selected health blocks of Himachal Pradesh. Methodology: It was a community-based study which was a part of project under WCD department of H.P. PW and school going adolescent girls of age 10-19 years from 9 Community development blocks were selected randomly using PPS. IFA consumption in last one year among adolescent girls and last 1 month among pregnant women was assessed by interviewing them. Results: Total participants among PW were 180 with mean age of 26.3±4.13, whereas 720 adolescents with mean age of 15.82±1.19 were enrolled in the study. Out of 180 PWs, 160(88.8%) received IFA where majority (156;97%) of them consumed IFA distributed by ASHA worker. On the other hand, majority of adolescent girls (484/720;67%) did not receive IFA, 196/236 (83%) who received IFA was distributed by ASHAs. Mean Hb level of PW was 11.7±1.47 whereas for adolescents was 12.73±4.85. Conclusion: It was observed that most of the pregnant women are utilizing government services, however the services are not being utilized by the school going adolescent girls as WIFS are not provided regularly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Anemia is a manifestation of under-nutrition and poor dietary intake of iron and is a public health problem in India. Iron deficiency is the primary cause of anemia among women in India with a prevalence reported in National Family Health Survey-4 as 54.4% among pregnant women and 52.2% among women of age 15-49 years in rural area. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in selected health blocks of Himachal Pradesh. Methodology: It was a community based cross-sectional study where 09 health blocks from 07 districts were selected randomly using probability proportionate to size criteria for selection of blocks. Considering 50% prevalence, 5% error and 80% Confidence level, a sample size 164 was obtained and taking 10% dropout a total sample size of 180 was obtained. 20 pregnant women from each block were enrolled after written informed consent and screened for anemia. Results: A total of 180 women were enrolled for the study. The mean age of the study subjects was 26.3±4.13 years with mean age of marriage as 22.44±2.97 years. 102 (56.6%) subjects were primigravida. The prevalence of anemia observed was 29.4% and mean hemoglobin levels observed were 11.7±1.47 gm/dL. Conclusion: We estimated prevalence of anemia among pregnant women as 29.4% which is lower than that reported in India but still there are lacunas which are to be filled so as to further reduce its prevalence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this prospective study was to estimate the prevalence and risk factors for maternal anaemia and low birth weight (LBW) in pregnant women living in Maharashtra state, India. Study design: This is a prospective study. Methods: Women between 3 and 5 months of pregnancy were recruited from 34 villages based in Maharashtra state. Baseline data collection, anthropometric measurements and blood investigations were performed. Participants were followed-up to record birth weight. Results: In total, 303 women were eligible, and 287 (95%) provided data. 77% were anaemic, defined as haemoglobin less than 11.0 g/dl at the time of recruitment, with a mean corpuscular volume of 80.5 fl/cell (standard deviation: 7.22, range: 53.4-93.8). The increased risk of anaemia was seen in women with consanguineous marriages (odds ratio [OR]: 2.41, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16-5.01, P = 0.01) after adjustment for potential confounding factors. Postdelivery data from full-term singleton live births demonstrated a 7% prevalence of LBW. Consanguineous marriage was a major risk factor for LBW (OR: 4.10, 95% CI: 1.25-13.41, P = 0.02). The presence of maternal anaemia during 3-5 months of pregnancy was associated with lower risk of LBW (unadjusted OR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.13-0.92, P = 0.03). Conclusion: About 30% of our study participants were in a consanguineous marriage, which was identified as a potentially avoidable risk factor for both anaemia and LBW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mother and child in a community constitute vulnerable group or special risk group, pregnancy and childbirth are special events in a women's life. In India, the utilization of basic maternal health services has remained poor in spite of increase in public and private expenditure on the provision of advanced health care. Objectives: To assess the utilization of antenatal maternal health services under NRHM program in Shirura rural field practice area of S. N. Medical College Bagalkot. To assess the factors responsible for utilisation of antenatal Maternal health Services. Materials and Methods: The cross sectional study was conducted in rural field practice area of S. Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot. The number of postnatal mothers interviewed was 302. Postnatal mothers who were residing in the rural area during their antenatal period and who were within 3rd month of postnatal period were included. Results: Among the 302 mothers interviewed, 50.3% were between 19-23 years of age and 47% belonged to Class IV socioeconomic status. About 98.7% mothers were registered their pregnancy out of which 79.1% registered in the 1st trimester. Mothers with > 4 antenatal visits was 67%, acceptance of inj TT (98.7%) and IFA tablet consumption was only 45.7%. There was significant association between socioeconomic status, age at conception and parity with full ANC coverage. There was no statistical significance between age, religion, type of family, husbands education, mothers education, husbands occupation, mothers occupation with full ANC package. Conclusion: Overall utilization of antenatal services by the study population is satisfactory when compared to national indicators and this positive work should be encouraged and continued with more community awareness and participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Q fever is a zoonotic disease caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetii. Infective endocarditis is the most common form of chronic Q fever. Diagnosis of Q fever is difficult, as there are no pathognomonic symptoms. Methods of isolation of the organism in culture are tedious, hence serological and molecular techniques remain the mainstay of diagnosis. We report two cases of Q fever endocarditis diagnosed by IFA and real-time PCR., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest None., (Copyright © 2022 Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)