1,721,110 research outputs found
Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of rabies during an outbreak in Samtse Municipality, Bhutan: A cross-sectional study
Full text linkBACKGROUND: A rabies outbreak in dogs occurred on February 22, 2021, in the Samtse Municipality, Bhutan. A rapid response team (RRT) was activated comprising of human and animal health teams to investigate and contain this outbreak. An assessment of the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) on rabies was elicited during this period to develop evidence-based education material. METHODS: A face-to-face KAP questionnaire was administered to a volunteer member of 55 households in two communities (Norbuling and Xing Workshop areas) following the rabies outbreak in the Samtse Municipality from March 15 to 22, 2021. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the demographic characteristics. The associations between the KAP scores were assessed using the Pearson correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Of the 55 respondents, 63.6% (35) had poor knowledge, 90.9% (50) and 63.6% (35) reported good attitude and practice toward rabies. Three (5.5%) participants had not heard about rabies. The other misconceptions were that rabies can be prevented with antibiotics (67.3%, 37), dressing the bite wounds (20.0%, 11), and seeking treatment from the local healer (5.5%, 3). Correct knowledge was reported on excessive salivation as the sign of the rabid animal (58.2% 32), rabies prevention through vaccination (81.8%, 45), and seeking medical care on the same day (94.5%, 52). Eighty-nine percent (49) vaccinated their dogs and domestic animals annually, 100% received post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) after an animal bite, 78.2% (43) washed the animal bite wounds with soap and water, and 9.1% (5) would consult the local healer for animal bites. A majority (78.2%, 43) of them agreed that rabies is a serious public health problem in the Samtse Municipality and 49.1% (27) agreed that the public was adequately informed about rabies. A positive correlation was observed between the knowledge-practice scores (r = 0.3983, P value = 0.0026), and attitude-practice scores (r = 0.4684, P value < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The poor knowledge of rabies in this study needs to be addressed urgently. The main misconceptions included were that rabies is not fatal, dressing animal bite wounds, and seeking dog and animal bite care from local healers. Health education should focus on these misconceptions
Prevalence and Correlates of Betel Quid Chewing among Bhutanese Adults
No full textBackground: Chewing of betel quid, popularly known as doma khamdo, is prevalent in Bhutan and is associated with Bhutanese customs and traditions. The objective of this paper was to determine the prevalence and explore the correlates of current betel quid use in Bhutan. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective study of secondary data from the National Health Survey 2012 (NHS 2012) of Bhutan. The outcome variable of interest was current betel quid use. The self-reported demographic characteristics were obtained using a questionnaire developed following the WHO STEPwise approach to the surveillance of non-communicable diseases (STEP). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were performed to identify correlates for betel quid use. Results: The prevalence of current betel quid use in this study was 45.0%. The correlates associated with current betel quid use were: being female; having a primary, high school or a monastic education; being professionals in the armed forces, managers, technicians, service and sales workers, and machine operators; being current smokers; alcohol consumption; and intake of drugs. Correlates associated with decreased betel quid use were: having a diploma/certificate-level and non-formal education, and living in urban areas. Conclusion: The findings indicate that betel quid was consumed by nearly half of the Bhutanese population. Bhutan should immediately initiate national prevention programs targeting these correlates of betel quid use
Malaria elimination in India and regional implications
No full textSummary\ud
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The malaria situation in India is complex as a result of diverse socio-environmental conditions. India contributes a substantial burden of malaria outside sub-Saharan Africa, with the third highest Plasmodium vivax prevalence in the world. Successful malaria control in India is likely to enhance malaria elimination efforts in the region. Despite modest gains, there are many challenges for malaria elimination in India, including: varied patterns of malaria transmission in different parts of the country demanding area-specific control measures; intense malaria transmission fuelled by favourable climatic and environment factors; varying degrees of insecticide resistance of vectors; antimalarial drug resistance; a weak surveillance system; and poor national coordination of state programmes. Prevention and protection against malaria are low as a result of a weak health-care system, as well as financial and socioeconomic constraints. Additionally, the open borders of India provide a potential route of entry for artesunate-resistant parasites from southeast Asia. This situation calls for urgent dialogue around tackling malaria across borders—between India's states and neighbouring countries—through sharing of information and coordinated control and preventive measures, if we are to achieve the aim of malaria elimination in the region
The trend of tuberculosis case notification and predictors of unsuccessful treatment outcomes in Samdrup Jongkhar district, Bhutan: A fourteen-year retrospective study
Full text linkTuberculosis (TB) continues to be an important public health issue in Bhutan. This study aims to describe the trend of tuberculosis and investigate factors associated with a unsuccessful treatment outcome in Samdrup Jongkhar District in Bhutan. A fourteen-year (2004–2017) case records in two TB centres of Dewathang and Samdrup Jongkhar Hospitals were reviewed and analyzed to examine trends in case notification and treatment outcomes. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis was undertaken to identify covariates of unsuccessful TB treatment. Of the total of 820 TB cases registered in surveillance record, 729 cases were analysed. Males made up 53.8% (397) of total cases and the median age was 29 years (range: 2–87 years). A gradual downward trend in TB case notification was noticed in the district with overall case notification rate of 139/100,000 during the study period. The annual treatment success rate was over 90% except for years 2013–2015 with overall treatment success rate for the study period at 93%. A re-treatment TB patient, sputum-positive at the second month of treatment and being of Indian nationality were significant correlates of unsuccessful treatment outcomes. The overall TB inclidence has declined and TB treatment success rate was above WHO recommended 90% in Samdrup Jongkhar District during the study period. A special attention should be paid to the poor treatment outcome predictors including re-treatment cases and failed sputum conversion at the second month of treatment
Systematic Mapping Review and Gap Analysis of Australian Research on Climate and Health Interventions
No full text
Spatial and temporal patterns of diarrhoeain Bhutan 2003–2013
Full text linkBackground
To describe spatiotemporal patterns of diarrhoea in Bhutan, and quantify the association between climatic factors and the distribution and dynamics of the disease.
Methods
Nationwide data on diarrhoea were obtained for 2003 to 2013 from the Health Information and Management System (HIMS), Ministry of Health, Bhutan. Climatic variables were obtained from the Department of Hydro Met Services, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Bhutan. Seasonal trend decomposition was used to examine secular trends and seasonal patterns of diarrhoea. A Bayesian conditional autoregressive (CAR) model was used to quantify the relationship between monthly diarrhoea, maximum temperature, rainfall, age and gender.
Results
The monthly average diarrhoea incidence was highly seasonal. Diarrhoea incidence increased by 0.6% (95% CrI: 0.5–0.6%) for every degree increase in maximum temperature; and 5% (95 Cr I: 4.9–5.1%) for a 1 mm increase in rainfall. Children aged <5 years were found to be 74.2% (95% CrI: 74.1–74.4) more likely to experience diarrhoea than children and adults aged ≥5 years and females were 4.9% (95% CrI: 4.4–5.3%) less likely to suffer from diarrhoea as compared to males. Significant residual spatial clustering was found after accounting for climate and demographic variables.
Conclusions
Diarrhoea incidence was highly seasonal, with positive associations with maximum temperature and rainfall and negative associations with age and being female. This calls for public health actions to reduce future risks of climate change with great consideration of local climatic conditions. In addition, protection of <5 years children should be prioritize through provision of rotavirus vaccination, safe and clean drinking water, and proper latrines
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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