With the usage of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) on the rise, the amount of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) produced each day is equally growing enormously around the globe. Recycling of valuable elements contained in e-waste such as copper and gold has become a source of income mostly in the informal sector of developing or emerging industrialized countries. However, primitive recycling techniques such as burning cables for retaining the inherent copper expose both adult and child workers as well as their families to a range of hazardous substances.1 By definition, e-waste or “waste electrical and electronic products” is a term used to cover all items of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and its parts that have been discarded by its owner as waste without the intent of reuse.2 Such wastes encompass wide range of electrical and electronic devices such as computers, handheld cellular phones, personal stereos, including large household appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners, etc.3 E-waste consists hazardous and non-hazardous waste. It consists of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastics, glass, wood and plywood, printed circuit boards, concrete, ceramics, rubber and other items. Iron and steel constitute about 50% of the-waste, followed by plastics (21%), non-ferrous metals (13%) and other constituents. Non-ferrous metals consist of metals like copper, aluminum and precious metals like silver, gold, platinum, palladium and so on. The presence of elements like lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, selenium, hexavalent chromium, and flame retardants beyond threshold quantities make e-waste toxic (Table 1).4 Rapid product innovation, miniaturization and replacement, especially for information and communication technology (ICT) products and consumer equipment, are fueling the increase of e-waste and resulting in immediate and long-term concern5 because of unregulated accumulation, improper collection and treatment approaches that can lead to major environmental problems endangering human health.

Introduction: Dyslipidemia is a known risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. For planning future strategies and approaches for prevention of cardiovascular diseases, it is essential to know the burden of dyslipidemia in the community. Objective: To find prevalence of dyslipidemia and its associated factors in a rural area of Delhi, India. Materials and Methods: It was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted in two rural areas in Delhi among 1005 subjects, selected using systematic random sampling method. WHO STEPS approach was used to collect data. Blood pressure, body mass index, blood sugar and lipid profile were measured. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 16. Odds of dyslipidemia among subjects with risk factors were calculated. P value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: The overall prevalence of hypercholesterolemia, raised triglycerides and reduced HDL was 31.2%, 21.8% and 95.7% respectively. Dyslipidemia was significantly higher in individuals more than 35 years than less than 35 years and among males. It was significantly higher in those who take alcohol, among overweight/obese and in subjects with diabetes mellitus Type 2. In multivariate analysis, age, occupation, tobacco use, BMI and diabetes mellitus Type 2 were independently associated with dyslipidemia. Conclusion: There is significant burden of dyslipidemia in rural areas in Delhi. Age, occupation, tobacco use, BMI and diabetes mellitus Type 2 were independent risk factors of dyslipidemia.

Background: Tobacco use, and its negative health, social and economic impacts, is a significant global health challenge. Tobacco consumption in each age group is emerging as public health problem in all countries. More so often difficult in case of school going adolescents due to the easy availability of the tobacco products. Despite of the well-known fact that tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of premature death, disease, and disability around the world. Objectives: (1)To find out the proportion of students consuming tobacco among the students of government schools of class IX to XII.(2)To find out the age of initiation of tobacco consumption among the study group. (3)To find out the risk factors responsible for the tobacco habits among the study group. Methodology: This was a cross sectional study with multistage sampling method, in which selection of schools was done by systematic random sampling from the list of all government schools of Bhopal district. Results: The proportion of tobacco use among the study subjects in the current study was 22.69% with 46.21% in boys and 5.92% in girls. proportion of students consuming tobacco among the students of government schools of class IX to XII.In the present study, the mean age of initiation of tobacco use was 12+1.23years

Background: Chikungunya epidemic is a public health problem in South-East Asian countries.There was an epidemic of chikungunyain the year 2016 in New Delhi. Therefore, this present study was planned to understand the epidemiological profile of Chikungunya cases attending fever clinic in a tertiary care hospital in New Delhi. Objective: To studyepidemiological and clinical profile of Chikungunya cases attending fever clinic in Safdarjung Hospital. Methods: A total of 200 patients with fever of up to 7days duration were enrolled at fever clinic of VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi from May 2016 to October 2016.Total number of 47874 fevercases were reported in fever clinic from May 2016 to October 2016. A preformed semi-structured, interviewer administeredquestionnairewas used for data collection. Serum specimens were screened for chikungunya infection by serology (IgM). Chikungunya infection was detected in 16.5% patients byanti- CHIKV IgM antibodies by ELISA. Results: Among these 200 suspected cases of chikungunya, fever (96.0%),joint pain (81.0%),Myalgia (77.5%) and lower backache (57.5%) were the major clinical features. Major joints involved were knee joint (45.5%), wrist (32.5%), hand (phalanges) (34.5%) and ankle joints (31.0%). Myalgia, rashes, joint pain and joint swelling was frequently observed among chikungunya confirmed cases (p<0.05). All group of ages, both gender and all class of socioeconomic scale were equally susceptible to chikungunya infection. Conclusion: Chikungunya virus had a wide spectrum of clinical features and all age groups, gender and socioeconomic status people were equally susceptible to Chikungunya infection.All acute febrile illness patients with joint pain shouldbe screened in the laboratory for both Chikungunya IgM antibodies. Predictability of chikungunya is more in presence of joint pain and swelling, myalgia and rashes. This study emphasizes the need for a continuous surveillance on the disease burden

Introduction: Menstruation and menstrual practices are still bound by social and cultural restrictions and taboos resulting in ignorance among adolescent girls regarding scientific facts and proper menstrual hygiene practices. The issue of poor menstrual hygiene has been inadequately addressed in our society. Hence, the present study was undertaken to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices followed by adolescent girls in a higher secondary school in North Goa. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 236 adolescent girls studying in XI and XII standards of Science, Commerce and Arts streams of a Higher Secondary School in Bardez Taluka of North Goa. The study participants were interviewed using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 22 and descriptive statistics was used to analyze and present the data. Results: A total of 236 adolescent girls were included in the study. More than half i.e. 130 (55%) of the study participants had heard about menstruation prior to attaining menarche. The source of information among 217 (92%) of them was their mother. The most common custom followed by 109 (46%) study participants was restricted entry to Pooja room and restricted access to Holy scriptures during menstruation. As much as 17 (7%) of the girls regularly used cloth as an absorbent during their periods. 52 (22%) of them reported that they missed school during menses due to various reasons like fear of staining, pain, vomiting, and sometimes lack of proper toilet facility in schools. Conclusion: The study findings revealed that menstrual hygiene was satisfactory among most of the study participants. A few of the study participants were poorly informed about the various aspects of menstruation and menstrual hygiene which should be addressed through extensive information education communication as well as behaviour change communication. Mass media and peer educators can be utilized to bring about an improvement in the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding menstruation and menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls.

Introduction: Noise hearing loss has been long recognized as an occupational disease which is preventable. The health effect of noise exposure depends on the level of noise and the duration of exposure. Thus, understanding noise levels and determining workers’ exposure to different noise levels at workplace is paramount in determining preventable programs at workplace. However, in Bhutan, there is limited or no information or studies on the prevalence of noise exposure level in the industries. Methods: The objective of this article is to ascertain the level of occupational noise exposure in the 26 manufacturing industries in two state of Bhutan and determine the high-risk industry and occupation. Sectors with high risk of noise exposure were selected for the study and similarly, the departments with high noise pollution within the establishment were considered for sampling. The level of noise was measured using NIOSH SLM apps on iOS devices and structured forms were used. Results: 34.6% of industries have occupation noise level between 85 to 90dB(A) and 38.5% have above 91dB(A). By occupation, 43.5% of workers are exposed to occupational noise level more than 90dB(A). Among various occupations, carpenters and operators are found to be vulnerable to hearing loss. Conclusion: Since more than one third of the enterprises have occupational noise level exceeding 90 dB(A), the workers in these workplaces have a higher risk of hearing loss. The situation could be further aggravated due to not using ear protection and not having hearing conservation programs in these workplaces.

Background: Malaria persists to be one of the major significant diseases in the world. A range of antimalarial drugs are readily accessible but management of the disease remains a problem. Despite the broadened spread of resistance to Sulfadoxine Pyrimethamine (SP), it still remains the suggested drug to treat and prevent malaria in expecting women and children below five years. This study sought to assess the current trend of SP resistance markers a decade after it was withdrawn as the first-line anti-malarial in Msambweni, Kwale County, Kenya. Materials and Methods: Smear-positive samples (N=134) collected from June 2013 cross-sectional study amid infants visiting Msambweni District Hospital were evaluated for mutations in dhfr and dhps genes. Extraction of DNA was done using Chelex method followed by PCR amplification of dhfr and dhps genes. Specific enzymes were used to cleave the successfully amplified DNA to establish the samples as either mutated or wild type. Results:Pfdhps/pfdhfr A437G/K540E/N51I/C59R/S108N quintuple mutant linked with SP-resistance did not change significantly (p=0.967). Conclusion:This survey proves fixation of key mutations in the Pfdhfrand Pfdhps genes conferring resistance to SP. Further research involving more samples and endemic sites need to be conducted to endow the stakeholders with information on the emergence and increase of SP resistance.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is an irreversible and progressive reduction of renal tissue function which affects almost all other systems of the body. It often goes undiagnosed and therefore remains undertreated. For this reason, various biochemical parameters such as: serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen, urinary protein, urinary albumin, urinary creatinine and Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) act as baseline predictors in early detection and management of CKD manifestations. Hence the present study was undertaken to find out the outcome of “Renal diet therapy and Deep breathing exercises” on 21 kidney related biochemical parameters among adult CKD patients who were admitted in SKIMS from 5th March 2012 to 31st July 2013.A total of 200 adult CKD patients being randomly selected were studied in two groups (experimental=100; control=100). The findings of the study revealed that CKD patients in the experimental group who received “Renal diet therapy and Deep breathing exercises” reported a considerable improvement (p=0.05) in 11 biochemical parameters including: fasting serum glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, chloride, hematocrit and platelets as compared to CKD patients in control group who received routine care, had shown a considerable improvement (p=0.05) in only 5 biochemical parameters such as: fasting serum glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, calcium and phosphorus. Hence, it can be inferred that “Renal diet therapy and Deep breathing exercises” were effective in regulating various biochemical parameters within normal level in CKD patients. However, the long-term efficacy of these non-pharmacological therapies need to be investigated.