Abstract: Background: Health during childhood plays a vital role in the overall development of human being. Though significant progress has been made globally to improve child health, yet vast disparities exist across communities and countries. The present study was conducted to understand the health of the children and its association with socio-economic conditions of mothers. Method: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in 7 randomly selected tea garden areas of Jorhat district of Assam. Data on overall child health, birth-weight, breast feeding practices and socio-economic conditions were collected from each mother. Different anthropometric measurements of each child were also collected. Result: The present study shows that the frequency of underweight, stunting and wasting was 36.67 percent, 40.59 percent and 14.42 percent respectively. 38.63 percent of the children have low birth weight and 13.93 percent of children are suffering from different illness. Conclusion: Educational level of mothers and income level have a positive association with overall health of children. Maternal education is also found to have a significant association with the birth weight of children. Under-nutrition is a serious health concern among the Adivasi children of tea garden areas of Jorhat district.
Key words: Children, health, socio-economic conditions, birth weight

Abstract: Objectives: To study the clinical profile and factors affecting the duration of hospital stay in scrub typhus patients. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital situated close to the forest and foothill areas of Tamil Nadu. Patients aged 18 years and above, and diagnosed with scrub typhus were included in the study. Demographics, comorbidities, clinical features of patients, duration of illness, time of antibiotic initiation, and biochemical parameters were recorded for analysis. Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square tests were used to assess the association between various parameters. P-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Among 143 scrub typhus patients’ records included, 65% (n=93) were from rural areas. All the patients survived and were discharged from the hospital. Fever (98.6%, n=141) and breathlessness (38.5%, n=55) were the most common presentations, along with thrombocytopenia (65.7%, n=94) and pneumonia (30.8%, n=44). Eighty-seven patients were hospitalized for <5 days. The initiation of antibiotics within 24 hours of admission was significantly associated with the duration of illness (?²=4.571, p=0.033), but not with the duration of hospitalization (?²=1.017, p=0.313). Breathlessness (p=0.000), loose stools (p=0.035), comorbid hypertension (p=0.021), and pneumonia (p=0.000) significantly influenced the length of hospitalization. Conclusion: In this study, the time of antibiotic initiation did not influence the clinical outcome in terms of the duration of hospitalization, however, comorbid hypertension and pneumonia did affect the duration of hospitalization significantly. More prospective studies need to be conducted for a generalizable result.
Key words: antibiotics, hospitalization, patient outcome, scrub typhus, retrospective

Abstract: Occupational mental health is a critical concern in India, where a significant portion of the population is engaged in diverse work environments. In the current dynamic economic context, it is essential to identify the factors that contribute to prevalence and rise of mental health issues in the Indian workforce. This review provides an outline of the current state of occupational mental health in India, drawing on relevant literature to highlight current state and determinants of occupational mental wellness in India and interventions aimed at promoting mental well-being among employees. The existing interventions are not sufficient and a systematic survey across different occupational settings to ascertain the real extent of mental health in Indian workspace. The potential solutions for addressing the occupational mental well-being need to be addressed in a concerted manner by the policymakers, employers, and healthcare providers to create a supportive environment that prioritizes the mental health of all workers, irrespective of their employment status or sector.
Key words: Indian workplace mental health, developing economies, occupational mental wellbeing

Abstract: Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) is a medication induced movement disorder characterised by involuntary athetoid or choreiform movements generally of the tongue, lower face and jaw, and extremities developing in association with the use of a neuroleptic medication for at least a few months that persists despite discontinuation or change of the medications. This study was done to help in the early recognition and management of tardive dyskinesia and to obtain useful data to help prevent the same. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of tardive dyskinesia in patients with psychiatric illness having more than 3 months cumulative exposure to neuroleptics, and to determine the clinical correlates of tardive dyskinesia in them. Methodology: This cross sectional observational study was carried out after obtaining clearance from the Institution’s Ethics Committee (YEC2/658) between January 1st, 2021 and April 2022. A total of 207 participants were enrolled who were patients with psychiatric illness having more than 3 months of cumulative exposure to neuroleptics. Participants were then evaluated using the Schooler Kane criteria, Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale and various sociodemographic and clinical variables were assessed. Results: Patients with schizophrenia are most at risk of developing tardive dyskinesia (67.1%). It was also discovered that chlorpromazine comparable dosages were significantly higher among participants with tardive dyskinesia. Orofacial tardive dyskinesia had the highest overall prevalence (23.2%). Conclusion: Many patients with psychotic diseases experienced movement difficulties brought on by conventional antipsychotics, which are viewed as burdensome and stigmatizing events. Designing treatment guidelines, expanding the availability of medications with minimum adverse effects, and providing psychoeducation on related aspects are crucial.
Key words: Tardive dyskinesia, Antipsychotics, Rehabilitation

Abstract: While considerable research exists on interventions to enhance help-seeking rates and reduce treatment gap for common mental health concerns, there remains a scarcity of literature examining the influence of gender in response to such interventions. This paper aimed to examine gender differences/similarities observed while implementing a help-seeking intervention for distressed non-treatment-seeking young adults. Amongst those who indicated an expression of interest, about one-third were men, and two-third were women. The intervention was delivered over eight weeks. Distress, barriers, inclination to seek help and help-seeking from professional sources were assessed at baseline, post and follow-up. Though barriers were significantly higher in women at baseline, there was no difference on distress or help-seeking inclination. Both groups equally initiated and engaged with the intervention and exhibited a significant reduction in barriers, distress and improvement in help-seeking inclination. Findings highlight the need for research on approaches to improve the uptake of help-seeking interventions for common mental health concerns in non-treatment-seeking distressed young men.
Key words: Help-seeking, gender differences, intervention, young adults

Abstract: Introduction: The global public health concern of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) infection and its spread, particularly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), is exacerbated by the emergence of mec-genes, which are considered markers of MRSA. The study aims to isolate MRSA in clinical isolates and detect mec-genes using molecular assays, thereby enhancing infection control programs. Materials and Methods: The study involved 381 clinical samples processed by standard laboratory procedures and PCR was performed targeting 16S rRNA gene as a reference and then with nuc-gene to detect Staphylococcus aureus. Further, MRSA was confirmed by PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) amplification of S. aureus isolates by sub-typing mecA and mecC gene. Sensitivity and specificity of phenotypic methods was calculated using mecA gene PCR as the gold standard. Results: In the present study, 65.85% clinical isolates were found to have similar homology with Staphylococcus aureus. Uniplex PCR results showed that all 162 isolates with S. aureus-like phenotypes were detected as MRSA carrying mecA gene, but none of them was found to carry mecC gene for MRSA. P-value for both the methods was <0.001, which is considered to be highly significant in statistical analysis.Conclusion: The study found that PCR detection of nuc and mec genes is effectively identifies MRSA from clinical isolates, aiding in infection prevention and recommending its use for confirmatory testing. The study recommends using PCR as a confirmatory test method for MRSA detection to prevent the spread of resistant strains in hospitals and communities.
Key words: MRSA, PCR, 16S rRNA, nuc-gene, mecA.

Abstract: Background: To standardize the reporting pattern across various institutions, recently the international system for reporting serous fluid cytology (ISRSFC) was introduced. The objective of the present study was to classify serous fluids into various categories as per the ISRSFC, derive the risk of malignancy for each category and determine the diagnostic efficacy of fluid cytology when ISRSFC was applied. Methodology: Cross-sectional study involving 235 cases of serous effusion over a duration of two years. All the cases were reclassified as per ISRSFC into five categories. Descriptive statistics was derived. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) was determined in 74 cases wherein final diagnosis was confirmed by clinical findings, radiology, or cell block. Results: Out of total 235 cases of fluid examined, distribution of cases in the diagnostic categories were as follows, 11 (4.6%) in nondiagnostic (ND), 208 (88.51%) in negative for malignancy (NFM), 5 (2.12%) in atypia of undetermined significance (AUS), 2 (0.85%) in suspicious for malignancy (SFM) and 9(3.82%) in malignant (MAL)category. Out of 208 cases of NFM, mesothelial cells were seen in only 8 (3.8%) cases. The risk of malignancy was 0% each in ND and NFM, 40% in AUS, 100% each in SFM and MAL. Sensitivity and specificity of fluid cytology was 100% and 96.6% respectively while PPV and NPV was 81.81% and 100 % respectively. Conclusion: ISRSFC is easy to apply and has high diagnostic efficacy. Most of the serous effusions fall in negative for malignancy category. Mesothelial cells are not important for specimen adequacy.
Key words: Fluid cytology, Risk of malignancy, Serous, Effusions

Abstract: Background: Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is very useful for the pre-operative diagnosis of breast cancer. The efficacy of FNAC to determine the prognosis in breast carcinomas has to be explored. Aims: The present study is designed to determine the prognostic role of FNAC by correlation of the cytological features of Invasive Ductal carcinoma of Breast (IDC) with the axillary lymph nodal metastasis, which is a known prognostic marker. Materials and Methods: A total of 68 cases of IDC of breast diagnosed on FNAC with subsequent modified radical mastectomy in our hospital were included in the study group. Both FNAC and histopathology slides were retrieved for all the cases. The FNAC smears were assigned cytological grades according to Robinson's grading system. The histopathological sections of axillary lymph nodes were assessed for metastasis. Correlation was done between cytological grade and lymph nodal metastasis. Results: Cytological grading of IDC and axillary lymph nodal metastasis showed a statistically significant correlation (P <0.05). Individual features like nuclear size, cell uniformity, nucleoli and nuclear margin showed positive correlation with axillary lymph node metastasis (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Positive correlation is observed between Robinson's cytological grading of IDC on FNAC with axillary lymph nodal metastasis, hence cytological grading on FNAC can be used as a prognostic tool. Possibility of axillary lymph nodal metastasis in cases with high cytological grade of IDC on FNAC must be considered by the treating oncologist for the adequate patient management.
Key words: Invasive duct carcinoma, Fine needle aspiration cytology, Robinson's cytological grading, Axillary nodal metastasis

Abstract: Background:. Functional lymphatics at the peritumoral site is mainly responsible for lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in breast cancer. Marginal adipose tissue invasion (ATI) leads to larger area of contact between peritumoral lymphatics and may increase chances of LVI. Objectives: To investigate whether ATI of cancer cells at the tumour margin influenced lymph node status and prognosis in patients with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast.Materials and methods: Cross sectional study involving 33 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma diagnosed over a duration of three years. Clinicopathologic prognostic parameters in 33 cases with marginal ATI was were compared 10 patients without ATI. The value of the combination of ATI and peritumoral lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) was also assessed. Chi square was applied to assess the statistical significance at p<0.05. Results: The frequency of axillary lymph node metastases was 63.63.7% in patients with ATI (21/33) and 0% in patients without ATI (0/10) with a p value of < .001. The frequency of peritumoral lymphovascular invasion was 88.88% in patients with ATI (24/27) and 11.1% in patients without ATI (3/27) with a p value of < 0.01. ATI was an independent factor influencing nodal metastasis. Conclusion: ATI of cancer cells at the tumour margin is one of the biologic indicators of tumour aggressiveness in invasive breast cancer. This study indicate that ATI+ cases were associated with adverse outcomes in addition to the converse. ATI should be incorporated in a standard surgical pathology report of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of the breast as ATI and peritumoral LVI will be useful in the framing therapeutic strategies and in assessment of prognosis.
Key words: Adipocyte tissue, Breast Cancer, Lympho vascular invasion. Metastasis

Abstract: Calcinosis is an uncommon condition characterized by abnormal accumulation of calcium crystals in the body. We describe a case of adult dermatomyositis with calcinosis in unusual locations like the face and submandibular region. We did a literature review of calcinosis in rheumatological disorders.
Key words: calcinosis universalis, dermatomyositis, face

Abstract: Oncocytic carcinomas are rare malignant salivary gland tumor most commonly involving major salivary glands. They are epithelial tumors defined by the presence of abundant eosinophilic granular cytoplasm due to high mitochondrial content. Although most commonly identified in the major salivary glands it can also arise in minor salivary gland tissue in the head and neck regions including paranasal sinuses, nasolacrimal system, and nasopharynx. Here we report a case of oncocytic carcinoma thought to be arising in a minor salivary gland of nasal cavity in a 65 year old gentleman managed by endoscopic resection and adjuvant radiotherapy.
Key words: Oncocytic carcinoma, salivary gland, nasal cavity