Browsing by Author "Subramanian, S."
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Item Awareness of tuberculosis among nurses(Educational Society for Excellence, 2018) Krithika, S.A.; Jayanthi, N. Nalini; Subramanian, S.Background: Tuberculosis is a leading infectious killer disease worldwide. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment on the part of the health care providers is essential for TB control. Their knowledge, attitude and practice have an impact on the tuberculosis patients regarding compliance to treatment and follow up. There are limited studies in India assessing the knowledge of nursing professionals regarding TB transmission, prevention and control. This study seeks to assess the same. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at SRM Medical College and Research Centre, Potheri, Kanchipuram district. A pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was given to 224 nursing staff. The responses were then analyzed. Results: A high proportion (71.80%) of awareness was found regarding the causation of TB by bacterium, air-borne method of spread and over-crowding being a significant risk factor. A lesser proportion of the participants were aware that TB does not spread by breast feeding (54.9%) or hand shaking (33%) and that ATT should be continued during pregnancy. Levels of knowledge on the preventable nature of TB infection (56%) and the availability of ATT were also found to be low. Conclusions: This study indicates the need for addressing the gaps regarding the knowledge and transmission of TB among the nursing care professionals. Nursing professionals still are in need of continuing educational programs regarding treatment and control of TB. Improved knowledge on TB will thus contribute to effective TB control and in the long term, will help India achieve the goal of End TB.Item Diethylcarbamazine citrate-fortified salt for lymphatic filariasis elimination in India(Wolters Kluwer – Medknow, 2022-04) Sabesan, S.; Krishnamoorthy, K.; Hoti, S.L.; Subramanian, S.; Srividya, A.; Roy, Nupur; Jain, Tanu; Kumar, Ashwani; Rahi, ManjuLymphatic filariasis (LF) is a vector-borne neglected tropical disease, causing permanent disability. The disease is debilitating and widespread, leading to tremendous productivity and economic loss. The Government of India (GOI) prioritized the elimination of LF through the annual mass drug administration (MDA) programme in 2004 and continued with a single dose of diethylcarbamazine citrate (DEC), 6 mg/kg of body weight, plus albendazole annually over a period of 5-6 years. The GOI had set the target to achieve LF elimination by 2015 and now by 2030. The progress so far has been suboptimal. Much remains to be done as about 84 per cent of the total 328 endemic districts are still under MDA. The major challenge in implementing MDA is poor compliance. It is necessary to have a feasible alternative strategy addressing the above challenge to achieve the desired goal of LF elimination. At this juncture, a well-researched approach, i.e. the use of DEC-fortified salt, also advocated by the World Health Organization, as a unique form of MDA, is proposed. As per this strategy, a low dose of DEC (0.2% w/w) is added to the cooking salt at the manufacturing facility of iodized salt and consumed by the LF-endemic communities for about two years. Many examples of successful use of this strategy for LF elimination in small- and large-scale trials have been documented in India and several other endemic countries in the world. Implementing DEC–iodine-fortified salt is a safe, less expensive, more efficient and prompt approach for achieving the elimination of LF in India. Adverse effects are none or minor and self-limiting. The DEC-fortified salt strategy can easily piggyback on the existing countrywide deployment of iodized salt under the National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme (NIDDCP), which has achieved a great success in reducing iodine-deficiency disorders such as hypothyroidism. This existing robust programme can be leveraged to launch DEC-fortified salt for the community. If implemented appropriately, this strategy will ensure the complete cessation of LF transmission within two years from its introduction. If the said strategy is implemented in 2022, it is expected that India will be able to achieve the LF elimination by 2024, much before the global target of 2030.